McEnroe not apologizing, mocks Serena controversy

Luke Kerr-Dineen | USA TODAY Sports

Safe to say, this John McEnroe-Serena Williams debate has gone from an overblown sports controversy to an entirely pointless one.

It started on NPR over the weekend when McEnroe, on a promotional tour for his new book, "But Seriously," caught some heat for a comment he made about Serena Williams:

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.

As I wrote at the time, it was a pretty 'gotcha' line of questioning from the host. McEnroe repeatedly lavished praise on Serena's ability but didn't steer away from the line of questioning above, creating a backlash that Serena responded to on Monday:

Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based. — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017

I've never played anyone ranked "there" nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017

McEnroe could've just left it there, but his tennis player instinct to volley back apparently cropping back up, he did the opposite. McEnroe doubled down on the comment by refusing to apologize.

"Would you like to apologize?" -- @NorahODonnell

"No." -- John McEnroe pic.twitter.com/BFN8w2EyfY — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017

Clarified that he didn't know it would create controversy, and that he didn't intend to bother Serena during her pregnancy.

"It wasn't necessary.... I didn't know it would create controversy." -- John McEnroe on his Serena Williams comments pic.twitter.com/6YAPtZ80mp — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017

Following with a claim that, at 58, he would right now rank 1,200 on the Women's circuit if he played full time.

Where would John McEnroe rank himself?

"I would be, currently, about 1,200 in the world." pic.twitter.com/KJSMBiuBlY — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017

Before concluding by mockingly re-ranking the best tennis players in history, putting Serena at No. 5.