Women's tennis is a little boring, says Margaret Court

Former world number one and Australian icon Margaret Court believes women's tennis has become a "little bit boring", though she heaped praise on Serena Williams.

Court, who holds the record for most grand slams won with 24 major titles, said players on the WTA Tour are not attacking enough.

Speaking ahead of the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday, Court told BBC she preferred watching Novak Djokovic and Co. in the men's game.

"I think women's tennis is a little bit boring with just hitting up and down all the time," said the 73-year-old, an 11-time winner of the Australian Open.

"I hope it goes back more to the artistry side of volleying. Billie Jean [King] and I were much more aggressive I think than a lot of players today."

Court added: "The men's game is very exciting in the top four or so and you'd like to see that a little bit more in the women."

Despite her relatively blunt words, Court did reserve a special mention for world number one and 21-time grand slam champion Williams.

Williams came within a whisker of claiming the coveted Grand Slam - winning all four majors in a calendar year - after failing to reach the US Open final in 2015.

Court, who achieved the feat in 1970, does not see why the 34-year-old American cannot surpass her record for most major championships.

"There's not a whole lots of players really knocking on the door, the others under that are all changed hats, who might win with the [Maria] Sharapovas, [Victoria] Azarenkas, they've been around a lot but they don't really seem to have proved anything," she added.

"Unless there's some really young ones coming through that cause upsets, you can't see any reason why she shouldn't."