"Serena Williams was a lot bigger than the sport, she inspired a lot of people across the world" - Andy Murray

Andy Murray recently spoke in admiration of Serena Williams as he stated that the 23-time Grand Slam champion was an inspiration to people across the globe.

During an interview with Sky Sports, in celebration of Black History Month, the three-time Grand Slam champion was asked to comment on former World No. 1 Serena Williams' legacy.

The 36-year-old recalled the crowd's reaction to Williams' retirement at the 2022 US Open. Murray also added that the seven-time Wimbledon champion inspired a generation of female players to take up tennis.

"The response to her [Serena Williams] retiring at the US Open, the atmosphere during her matches was incredible. You listen to all of the players talking about her and so many of the young up-and-coming female players talk about how much she inspired them to pick up a racquet," Murray said.

The two-time Wimbledon champion hailed Serena Williams' long and illustrious career and said she was a lot bigger than the sport for her ability to inspire the world.

"Serena has been a huge part of all of their careers, that's how long she dominated for and how long she was on the tour for. It's obviously sad for tennis that she chose to retire but what an unbelievable career she had, and she did a lot for the sport, but she was a lot bigger than that. She inspired a lot of people across the world," Murray said.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray is currently competing at the Swiss Indoors Basel. He beat German Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round. The Brit is set to play against Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round on Wednesday.

Serena Williams and Andy Murray both won the 2016 Wimbledon Championships

Serena Willaims and Andy Murray pictured after winning the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

Former World No.1 Serena Williams and Andy Murray both won the singles titles at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. It would be the last time either of them won the grass court Major, as Williams won her seventh and Murray won his second Wimbledon singles title.

At the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, Serena Williams was the top seed in the women's singles event. She defeated Swiss Amra Sadikovic in straight sets in the opening round.

Williams' opponent in the second round, Christina McHale, was the only player to win a set against her in the entire tournament, as the American won 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Williams then beat German Annika Beck and Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. After defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the top seed beat Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in the last four.

Serena Williams' final opponent was three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber, who she beat 7-5, 6-3 to clinch her 22nd Major.

In the men's singles event at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, Andy Murray was seeded second. He beat compatriot Liam Broady, Taiwanese Lu Yen-Hsun, Australian John Millman and 15th seed Nick Kyrgios in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

The former World No. 1 went on to beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 to reach the semifinal. Andy Murray then beat Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets to reach the 2016 Wimbledon Championships final. He defeated sixth seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in the final to clinch his third Grand Slam title.