Poor John stepped in it, but he was completely right!
During an interview with NPR as a part of his promotional tour for his upcoming memoir titled But Seriously, John McEnroe was asked about a part in his book in which he says Serena Williams is the best female tennis player in the world. While McEnroe also believes she's "no question" the best female player ever – this comes a couple of years after he said she's "one of the all-time greatest athletes, period" – he feels like the qualifier is necessary because she wouldn’t be able to match up with the best male tennis players in the world.
In McEnroe's mind, Williams would be lucky to crack the top 700 in men's tennis.
"Well, because if she was in, if she played the men's circuit, she'd be like 700 in the world," McEnroe said.
"That doesn't mean I don't think Serena is an incredible player," he continued. "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."
http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/j...tennis-w489717
In McEnroe's mind, Williams would be lucky to crack the top 700 in men's tennis.
"Well, because if she was in, if she played the men's circuit, she'd be like 700 in the world," McEnroe said.
"That doesn't mean I don't think Serena is an incredible player," he continued. "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."
http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/j...tennis-w489717
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