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Watch: McEnroe vs. Serena Reaches "Ridiculous" Stage


John McEnroe’s new book is titled “But Seriously.”

Two of his ESPN colleagues suggest the Hall of Famer is seriously out of line with his comments to NRP that if Serena Williams played the ATP Tour “she'd be be like 700 in the world."

Serena To Mac: Respect Me

Asked about McEnroe’s statements during an ESPN conference call to promote the network’s Wimbledon coverage, which begins on Monday, former No. 1 Chrissie Evert called it “irrelevant”, while fellow ESPN colleague Brad Gilbert said the comparison is “ridiculous.”

“I feel like it's irrelevant. I feel like we've been through this story before with Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf,” Evert told the media. “They were questioned, too, where would they be in the men's ranking. I feel like it's irrelevant. It doesn't mean anything.”

Evert asserts it’s unfair to make generalizations since game styles factor into the outcome of matches.

“I also feel if, and I hate to say it, but if Serena Williams played the No. 200 male player, she might beat him,” Evert said. “If she played the No. 500 man, she might lose to him. It depends on their styles, how the games match up. So that's my answer. My first answer is, who cares, it's irrelevant, we've been through it before.”

Gilbert, who faced McEnroe 14 times on the ATP Tour and is now his ESPN colleague, believes it’s “totally ridiculous to ask or think about” Serena’s place on the ATP Tour and called the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s reply to McEnroe a “beat down.”

“First of all, I don't know what the context of why he said it, why he double downed on it,” Gilbert said. “I will tell you (Serena) is the greatest female athlete in any sport ever, and maybe Steffi Graf is the second best athlete.

“Let's say a 130-pound boxer might be the best ever. You don't ask if he could beat, like, a heavyweight. He might be a better boxer than the heavyweight, but obviously he wouldn't beat him. It's totally ridiculous to ask or think about it. They don't compete against each other. I thought Serena had a 6-1, 6-1 beat down on her tweet to John. I thought it was tremendous. I thought that said everything, and nothing else needs to be said after what she said on Twitter. It was perfect.”

In an interview with CBS This Morning hosts Charlie Rose and Gayle King, McEnroe did not back off his comments to NPR, but he did say “I respect Serena very much so. She’s the greatest female player that ever lived.”

The Hall of Famer said he made the remark only after the NPR host wondered why he wasn’t rating Williams as the best tennis player ever saying he took the opportunity to “say what I really felt which is about what I think she would be.”

Asked his response to Serena’s tweets, McEnroe said: “Serena has a way with words. I don’t want anything to go wrong with Serena because she’s pregnant. I don’t want to upset her or whatever it was. I think she was doing it tongue and cheek as well. I can’t even believe we’re talking about it.”





While McEnroe initially declined to apologize to Serena he ended the interview telling King, who is Williams’ friend, “I will be happy to apologize to Serena, Gayle, if that makes you feel better. I think Serena is incredible.”

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