- One in 20 sport-playing Brits believe they can go all the way and beat Williams in a match
- A similar amount think they’d topple Andy Murray too – at least with a bit more training
- An overconfident 7% of sporty males think they’d rank in the women’s top 10
With the Wimbledon Championships fast approaching, new research reveals that more than a quarter of sporty Brits believe they could take a point off tennis great, Serena Williams, and an overconfident 5% believe they could win a whole match against her.
The study by BonusCodeBets examined how the average Brit thinks they’d stack up against sporting royalty, finding that 26% of respondents who at least occasionally play sports believe they would be able to take a point off the 23-time Grand Slam winner.
The delusion doesn’t stop there, with 4% of those who refrain from all sporting activity still believing they’d be able to take a point off Williams, despite never picking up a racket.
Of all UK cities, it’s Londoners who are the most confident – or deluded – of them all, with 24% convinced they’d hit a winner against the US star. Residents of Southampton and Edinburgh also strongly believe they’d score a point off Serena, with 21% and 20% respectively backing themselves to win at least one point.
Top five cities where Brits believe they can take a point off Serena Williams
| Rank | Cities | % of people who would at least take a point off Williams |
| 1 | London | 24% |
| 2 | Southampton | 21% |
| 3 | Edinburgh | 20% |
| 4 | Birmingham | 19% |
| 5 | Sheffield | 19% |
When quizzed on where they thought they’d rank compared to all female pro players, 7% of men who regularly play any sport believe they would rank inside the women’s top 10.
But, delusions aren’t exclusive to the UK’s thoughts on women’s tennis. More than one in 20 Brits who play sport say they could win a match against Andy Murray now, or at least with a bit more training (6%) – a higher proportion than for Williams.
Sport-playing Brits from Birmingham (21%) join Londoners (21%) as the most confident cities to take a point or more off the former two-time Wimbledon Champion.
Murray apparently also needs to worry about total novices as 6% of Brits who don’t even play sports are absurdly confident of taking at least a point off the Scotsman.
A spokesperson from BonusCodeBets said: “We’re all for having a bit of confidence in yourself, but the amount of Brits who think they’d beat – or even take a point off – Serena Williams and Andy Murray is shocking to see.
“I know Andy’s got a dodgy hip these days, but I think it’s going to take a fair bit more than that to let me return even one of his serves.”