“They have no respect for anyone in the game!” When John McEnroe hammered Venus and Serena Williams for calling him an ‘old man’
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Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and John McEnroe
Regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams broke out onto the scenes as a teenager with her sister Venus Williams. During the late 90s and early 2000s, two teenage girls- Serena and Venus dominated everyone on the tour including the then legends of the game who were nearing retirement.
Serena Williams won her first major title in 1999 but had already started beating big names like Steffi Graf while Venus Williams won her first major title in 2000. They were considered to have a ‘bad’ attitude and weren’t much popular amongst contemporary and former players.
It was said around the time that their father, Richard Williams is a very outgoing man and has a very bad attitude which he embarks through Serena and Venus. The two girls were beating everyone on the women’s tour and hence Serena once said that she would like to play in a couple of men’s tournaments.
This statement did not do well with American tennis legend John McEnroe, who himself had a ‘bad boy’ attitude. In a column that he wrote for The Telegraph in 2000, McEnroe bashed out the Williams sisters. He wrote that they do not have respect for anyone and have a very bad attitude. “What they have achieved is great, but they have no respect for anyone in the game,” McEnroe wrote.
He questioned whether legendary female athletes in her respective sports- Marion Jones or rather female golfers ever comment to go up against the men. “I didn’t hear Marion Jones saying she could beat Maurice Greene at the 100 meters. Do women golfers say they could go out and beat Tiger Woods?” he asked.
‘Why in tennis do the women think they can beat the men?’: John McEnroe
He further asked why the women think they can beat the men in tennis and if they do, why don’t they start competing against them in reality rather than only speaking about it?
“It only seems to happen in tennis. Why in tennis do the women think they can beat the men? If they think that they should go and play in the men’s tournaments. Step up and play somebody,” he said.
McEnroe was even offered to was offered $1 million by Donald Trump to take on one of the pair but he refused to state that such type of match doesn’t interest him. “I have no intention of getting involved, nor do I particularly want to have anything to do with them until they start to show people in the sport a little more respect,” McEnroe said.
The 7-time grand slam champion also accused Venus Williams of showing no respect after winning Wimbledon in 2000. She even called him an old man and McEnroe addressed it.
“But it’s okay for her (Williams) to insult me and call me an old man. She’s too great a player to insult somebody. Enough is enough,” McEnroe wrote. “Would it kill them to say hello to people in the locker room?”
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)