Retired tennis ace John McEnroe has caused a huge publicity stink by suggesting that while Serena Williams is the “greatest woman to play tennis”, she wouldn’t stand a chance in the men’s circuit.
He made the comments during an interview to promote his book ‘But Seriously’. When he was asked why he specifically said “greatest woman” and not “greatest player” (Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles after all), McEnroe said: “If she was in the men’s circuit, she’d be like 700 in the world.”
He continued:
“That doesn’t mean she’s not like an incredible player, but the reality of what would happen on a given day — Serena could beat some players because she’s so incredibly strong mentally, but if she just played the men’s circuit, it’s an entirely different story.
“Maybe at some, a woman can be better than anybody. But I haven’t seen it in any other sport and I haven’t seen it in tennis.”
Serena, in true Serena no-nonsense fashion, was quick to respond to the comments, telling McEnroe in no uncertain terms to leave her out of it.
But some people couldn’t let it go, it would appear…
3AW‘s Tony Jones said that if Serena Williams were to play in the men’s division, she would beat Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
And Kyrgios was none-too-happy about it.
(Side note: We really don’t know why Kyrgios is so shocked by the prospect of a woman beating him but hey ho.)
He shared the 3AW link on Twitter, commenting: “And now we have seen it all,” accompanied by a laughing emoji and a face palm.
Then, he suggested Djokovic, Federer and Nadal would also struggle to beat Serena:
And fellow Aussie and retired-tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt chimed in too:
May we suggest to the male tennis players, as per Serena’s request, that they respect the AMAZING tennis star’s privacy and let her get on with having her baby.
You boys run along now…
