One look at this list, and it’s pretty easy to see what they each have in common: Muhammad Ali, Diego Maradona, Pelé, Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, Jack Nicklaus, Sir Donald Bradman, Roger Federer.

Whenever the topic of who is the greatest sportsperson of all time comes up for discussion, these are the usual suspects. And there’s no denying that each and every one of them bestrode, or bestrides, their sport in a way most of their competitors have never come close to.

Of course, there’s something else they all share: gender. Traditionally, when we talk of sporting achievement at this level, no female athlete receives a mention – until, that is, earlier this week. In an advertising campaign timed to coincide with the US Open tennis championships, the sportswear giant Nike threw a new name into the argument: Serena Williams.

The first reaction of most people when you concede publicly that Nike may have a point is one of derision and dismissal. “Serena, in the same class as Pelé? You’re mad!” But then, as they listen to the case for the American’s inclusion in such elite company, they begin to realise that it’s not such a preposterous notion after all.

Several characteristics define sporting greatness in an individual: domination, longevity, changing the game, and overcoming adversity; and – of course – the person must win the sport’s big prizes. Who can deny that in each of those categories Serena at least equals, and in many ways surpasses, the aforementioned men?

In terms of domination, Serena has quite simply “owned” her greatest rivals, to the point where even to suggest that there’s ever been any meaningful competition between them is stretching things.

Only two other players have held the No 1 spot more than twice over the past decade, Kim Clijsters and the now disgraced Maria Sharapova. Serena’s head-to-head record against the Belgian: 7-2. Against the Russian, she has been even more destructive: Sharapova hasn’t beaten Serena in 11 years – that’s 18 consecutive matches.

Arguably, only Bolt has proved to be so much better than the opponents he has had to face, and he doesn’t run against them nearly as often as Serena must face her rivals.

Longevity? Again, Serena is right there. She first became world No 1 at the age of 20; she’s now 34, and in the intervening years has held top spot an incredible six times, including for the past three and a half years, a run she will extend should she reach the final of this year’s US Open.