John Mcenroe's statement that Serena Williams would rank 700th if she was a part of the ATP tour has certainly made quite an impact on the tennis world and it wasn't long before Serena Williams hit back with the fiery response.
What did John McEnroe say to Serena Williams?
Before delving into Serena's response, let's recall what John McEnroe had to say about her on Sunday. He said in his interview on National Public Radio that, although there is no doubt that she is the best female player ever to play tennis, he wouldn't consider her the best tennis player of all time as playing on the men's circuit is something entirely different.
But it was John's next comment that rocked the tennis world. He went on to suggest that Serena would be ranked around 700th place in the world if only she played in men's category.
The fiery response of Serena Williams
As previously stated, it wasn't long before Serena Williams came up with a fiery response. She addressed John McEnroe's comments on Twitter writing "Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based."
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
She continued by saying "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,' concluded Serena on her Twitter account.
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
The support for Serena
Soon after the response came the reaction of Serena's supporters.
As reported by Daily Mail, T Kyle responded to Serena's tweet: "he's jealous b/c you're literally the greatest tennis player of all time." Also, Dale Luffman was also very supportive of Serena as he shared: "Very confused @serenawilliams being compared to male players have I missed something."
Serena's pregnancy
Let's remember, Serena Williams won her 7th Australian Open in Melbourne which also meant her 23rd Grand Slam title.
Serena is the first female tennis player to achieve this feat in the Open Era and she is now just one major title shy of the all-time Grand Slam record set by Margaret Court.
To make matters even more interesting, in April she accidentally revealed her pregnancy on Snapchat where the caption stated that she was 20 weeks pregnant. That further implied that she was pregnant during her dominance on Australian Open in January, which is a nice touch to her already impressive Grand Slam record. Serena Williams is said to hit back the tennis courts in 2018.