McEnroe regrets saying Serena Williams would rank 700 among male players
On Wednesday, John McEnroe said that he regretted saying that Serena Williams would be ranked 700 in the world if she played on the men's circuit.
On Wednesday, John McEnroe said that he regretted saying that Serena Williams would be ranked 700 in the world if she played on the men’s circuit.
“It would have been better not to have said it. I didn’t realize it would create something like this,” he told reporters on an ESPN conference call, according to Reuters.
“It would have been easier to leave it. Look, she’s a great player and it’s apples and oranges,” he added.
–Serena Williams claps back at John McEnroe’s sexist comments–
Recently, McEnroe made waves during an interview with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro in which Garcia-Navarro noted that McEnroe had called Williams the best female player in the world and asked why he felt that he had to qualify it with “female.”
–Tennis isn’t the only reason why Serena Williams is the greatest of all time–
“Well, because if she was in, if she played the men’s circuit, she’d be like 700 in the world,” McEnroe said.
The backlash against McEnroe was swift and unforgiving after his comments, with many people speaking out against his apparently sexist stance, and McEnroe said that he was surprised by it.
“This is not something that has been earth shattering, that I feel there’s a difference in the level of the women and the men,” he said on Wednesday.
