John McEnroe thinks Serena Williams is pretty great, but not the greatest.
While speaking to NPR about his soon-to-be released book, host Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked McEnroe about Williams and whether he believed she holds the title of best player in the world.
Although McEnroe has no doubt Williams is the best female player, he doesn’t think she would fare well competing against men.
The exchange between Garcia-Navarro and McEnroe during the interview went as follows:
Garcia-Navarro: We’re talking about male players but there is of course wonderful female players. Let’s talk about Serena Williams. You say she is the best female player in the world in the book.
McEnroe: Best female player ever — no question.
Garcia-Navarro: Some wouldn’t qualify it, some would say she’s the best player in the world. Why qualify it?
McEnroe: Oh! Uh, she’s not, you mean, the best player in the world, period?
Garcia-Navarro: Yeah, the best tennis player in the world. You know, why say female player?
McEnroe: Well because if she was in, if she played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world.
Garcia-Navarro: You think so?
McEnroe: Yeah. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. 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.
McEnroe’s latest memoir, titled “But Seriously,” is a follow up to his first memoir called “You Cannot Be Serious,” which hit bookshelves 15 years ago.
