"Serena Williams is not better than any of Big-3";"Absolute stupidity" - Fans disagree over American being ranked No. 2 in Athlete of the Century list

Serena Williams has been placed second in the list of Top 100 athletes of the 21st century by ESPN, behind only Michael Phelps. Fans, however, believed that Willams should not have outranked some of the sporting greats of this century.

On July 18, ESPN released the complete list of the top 100 athletes of this century decided by over 70,000 votes from their contributors. It was kept in mind that the accolades of the athletes that were being considered needed to be achieved from 2000 onwards.

23-time Grand Slam champion Williams was ranked above the ATP's 'Big 3' Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. The trio, however, appeared in the top 15.

Williams also outranked the likes of record eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi (3rd), NBA's all-time highest scorer LeBron James (4th), and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady (5th).

Several fans took to X to express their disagreement with the list.

"Serena Williams over Messi? This is ridiculous," one fan wrote.

"Serena is certainly not better than any of the big 3, argue with a wall," another fan wrote.

"Joke of a list, Serena WILLIAMS number 2 🤡" a third fan wrote.

Here are some more reactions to Williams' ranking on the list.

"Serena is higher than the big 3? 😂" one fan wrote.

"Serena being 2 is absolute stupidity. Let me not even get started on Federer’s rank," another fan wrote.

"In what way is Serena better than the big 3 and how is Djokovic and Nadal behind Federer when they literally exceeded all his numbers??" asked one fan.

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Serena Williams and Roger Federer are among six tennis players who made ESPN's Top 100 Athlete of the Century list

Roger Federer and Serena Williams at the Wimbledon Championships 2012 Winners Ball.

Six tennis stars made ESPN's list of Top 100 Athletes of the 21st Century. The group was led by Serena Williams who was in the second spot.

ATP's 'Big 3' followed the American with 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in the sixth spot, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in the 11th spot, and 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal in the 12th spot.

With four of the greatest tennis players of this century, the sport was the most represented in the top 15. The next tennis player on the list was Andy Murray occupying the 80th spot. Lastly, Serena's sister Venus Williams also made the list in the 86th spot.