John McEnroe once sparked controversy by predicting how Serena Williams would fare if she competed on the men’s tour. McEnroe’s remarks did not sit well with fellow tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who chastised the American for the thoughtless comment.
McEnroe, who was no stranger to controversy during his playing days, was embroiled in drama when he expressed his belief that Serena Williams would be ranked as low as No. 700 if she competed on the ATP Tour.
Speaking to NPR in 2017, the seven-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged that Williams was a remarkable player with elite mental strength but stuck by his assessment that her skills wouldn’t do her any good if she had to play on the men’s circuit.
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If [Serena Williams] played the men's circuit she'd be like 700 in the world. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player, I do. On a given day, Serena could beat some players," he said.
"I believe because she's so incredibly strong mentally that she could overcome some situations where players would choke, because she's been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, etcetera. But if she had to just play the circuit - the men's circuit - that would be an entirely different story," he added.
Martina Navratilova was unimpressed by John McEnroe's words and questioned why he would choose to start the unnecessary conversation. She also said that while McEnroe thrived on controversy, he should create drama without dragging Serena Williams' name into it.
"You just don’t go there. You don’t go there. You just don’t gooo there! There’s no need to go there. What the heck were you thinking? It’s that you were not thinking. That’s the problem. John has a knack for creating controversy where there is none. He needs to do it on his own dime, not at somebody else’s expense," Navratilova said (via The Guardian).
Billie Jean King, who famously won the 'Battle of the Sexes' against Bobby Riggs, also weighed in on John McEnroe's comments and pointed out that WTA players had never denied that the "best women cannot beat the best men."
"Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby" - Serena Williams on John McEnroe's controversial comment
Serena Williams was pregnant with her and husband Alexis Ohanian's first child when John McEnroe involved her in the controversy. The 23-time Grand Slam champion did not take kindly to McEnroe's remarks and urged him not to mention her in statements that were not based on facts.
Williams also asserted that while she "adored" the former World No. 1, she wanted him to respect her privacy during her pregnancy.
"Dear John, I adore and respect you, but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based," she posted on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2017.
"I've never played anyone ranked "there" nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir," she commented further.
Following Serena Williams' rebuttal, John McEnroe admitted that he didn't expect his remarks to cause such a furor and said "it would've been better" if he had never made the statement in the first place.
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