Tennis legend John McEnroe completely put his foot his mouth, to say the least; while giving an interview to NPR about the impressive career of Serena Williams. Here’s what he had to say:
Yeah. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower. And on a given day, Serena could beat some players. I believe because she’s so incredibly strong mentally that she could overcome some situations where players would choke ‘cause she’s been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, The U.S. Open, etc. But if she had to just play the circuit — the men’s circuit — that would be an entirely different story.
Although he pointed out she was the “best female tennis player ever“, he also pointed out that she’d be “like 700th in the world” if she played on the men’s circuit.
Ridiculous.
Serena has arguably been the most visible & accomplished tennis player in the sport, men’s or women’s the better part of the last decade, so McEnroe’s comments (even if well intentioned) were pretty useless. To marginalize what she’s done by suggesting she’d be a lowly men’s player (there’s NO way to every prove this), does absolutely nothing but make him seem bitter & sexist.
Anyways, hit the flip to see Serena’s classy response to McEnroe’s interview: