John McEnroe: Serena Williams Would ‘Be Like No. 700 In The World’ On Men’s Tour

Serena Williams is widely agreed to be the greatest female tennis player in the world right now, but John McEnroe doesn’t believe she would fare well on the men’s circuit.

John McEnroe is Promoting New Memoir, ‘But Seriously’

The retired 58-year-old German-born American tennis star — a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles — said in an NPR interview on Sunday to promote his new memoir But Seriously that he thinks Williams would rank very low if she played on the men’s tour. How low? In 700th place, according to McEnroe’s prediction, which would put her just below Brazilian Wilson Leite in the men’s world rankings.

“Perhaps [her ranking] would be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower,” McEnroe said of Williams. “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 because she’s been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, the US Open etc. But if she had to just play the circuit — the men’s circuit — that would be an entirely different story.”

Just days prior, McEnroe had called himself a “proud feminist,” which only provided more fodder for fans and publications to criticize the retired tennis star for making comments many perceived as sexist.

McEnroe stressed that he still held great respect for the American star, who is the world’s highest-paid athlete: Williams boasts career earnings of $84.4 million.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player,” he said. “I do, but the reality of what would happen on a given day is Serena could beat some players, I believe, because she is so incredibly strong mentally.”

McEnroe — who won seven grand slams during his playing career — added that he believes a female tennis player could potentially one day be better than anybody.

“I just haven’t seen it in any other sport, and I haven’t seen it in tennis,” he stated. “I suppose anything’s possible at some stage.”

Williams has won 23 grand slams — plus 14 in women’s doubles and two in mixed doubles — to pass German former World No. 1 Steffi Graf for the most victories in the Open Era by one title. (Graf won 22 titles). By comparison, Roger Federer has won 18 grand slams and none in doubles.

The 35-year-old’s most recent major victory came in January at the Australian Open, a tournament she has won seven times. In April, it was announced Williams and her fiancee — Reddit co-founder Alexis O’Hanahan — are expecting their first child together. Thus, Williams — who was spotted attending the French Open a few weeks ago — said she will take a break from tennis, and will likely return to the ATP tour in 2018.

Two years ago, McEnroe claimed he believed he could still defeat Williams. “My daughters are over there,” he said during a 2015 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “I think it’s mixed, they think I’d probably lose to Serena. I believe that I could still take her.”

That same year, Williams won Wimbledon and McEnroe called her “arguably the greatest athlete of the last 100 years.” With that 2015 title, Williams became the oldest woman at 33 to win a grand slam: she surpassed Czech-American former player Martina Navratilova, who won Wimbledon in 1990, by 26 days.

McEnroe also praised Williams in a similar way after she won the U.S. Open in 2012: “You’re watching, to me, the greatest player to ever play the game,” he said.

However, Williams herself admitted four years ago that she believed she would lose very quickly to the current World No. 1, British star Andy Murray.

“For me, men’s tennis and women’s tennis are completely, almost, two separate sports,” Williams said. “If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0 in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes. No, it’s true. It’s a completely different sport. The men are a lot faster and they serve harder, they hit harder, it’s just a different game. I love to play women’s tennis. I only want to play girls, because I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Williams has actually played male opponents in the past: At the 1998 Australian Open, she faced German Karsten Braasch — who was then ranked the World No. 203 — in a friendly single-set match. Braasch defeated Williams 6-1and her sister Venus 6-2.

“In the end I won, but neither myself, nor Venus or Serena took the game too seriously – we were just having a bit of fun,” Serena Williams said in 2001.

McEnroe’s book will be released on Tuesday (June 27).

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 26: Serena Williams of the United States serves in her semifinal match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia on day 11 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 26, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)