Wimbledon 2017: John McEnroe and Tracy Austin disagree over his Serena Williams comments
JOHN McENROE's recent comments about Serena Williams were once again a topic of discussion this morning on the opening day of Wimbledon.
John McEnroe's comments about Serena Williams were discussed on today's Wimbledon coverage
McEnroe said last week that Williams would "be like 700 in the world" if she played on the men's circuit.
The claim from the seven-time Grand Slam champion did not go down well with critics and he has been pressed on the subject in most interviews since.
Wimbledon presenter Sue Barker did not take long to bring it up this morning giving McEnroe a chance to apologise and explain his point of view.
But it did not go down too well with former US Open champion Tracy Austin, who was working alongside McEnroe on BBC's coverage.
We could offer to have the men and women play together on the same circuit
"Not this again," McEnroe said on the BBC when quizzed on the comments about Williams.
"Everyone knows that I believe that Serena is a magnificent champion and she is the greatest female player in my mind that has ever lived.
"Perhaps the number that I came up with would have been better left unsaid and said 'look, it's apples and oranges'.
"But I would suggest that if the women are up in arms about it, we could offer to have the men and women play together on the same circuit for the next two years, starting in 2018.
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Tracy Austin did not take a liking to all of John McEnroe's comments
"Tracy, tell me what you think about that."
Austin did not like McEnroe's suggestion that women and men should play together, responding: "I like the first part of your paragraph better than your second.
"You were healing things at the beginning, it's all good."
She clearly did not want to discuss it anymore, concluding: "Let's move forward."