Written by Jake Becker at NY Daily News.com
John McEnroe was on defense Tuesday after Serena Williams responded to his statement over the weekend that pegged the female tennis great as “like No. 700 in the world” if she played on the men’s circuit.
In an interview with CBS This Morning, McEnroe declined to apologize for the comment he made on NPR, which placed Williams above some male players but dismissed her chances in the field.
“It wasn’t necessary,” McEnroe said. “I didn’t know it would create controversy.”
On Sunday, the contentious former tennis said Williams is the greatest female player that ever lived, but Williams didn’t thank McEnroe for the compliment. Instead, she sent him a public message on Twitter Monday.
“Dear John,” she wrote, “I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based.
“I’ve never played anyone ranked ‘there’ no do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I’m trying to have a baby. Good day sir.”
McEnroe said Tuesday he has no ill will toward Williams, who he believes was not entirely serious in her response.
“I don’t want anything to go wrong with Serena ’cause she’s pregnant,” McEnroe said. “I don’t want to upset her or whatever it was. I think she was doing it tongue-in-cheek as well, and I think that deep down we’re talking about something — I can’t even believe we’re talking about it.”
The 58-year-old who won seven Grand Slam titles, estimated that he would currently be ranked about 1,200 in the world.
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