John McEnroeis speaking out about fellow tennis legendSerena Williams.
McEnroe, 60, shared his reaction to the controversy surrounding Williams’ U.S. Open loss last fall when a caller asked him about it during the aftershow portion of Thursday night’sWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Speaking to hostAndy Cohen, McEnroe — who was famous for having outbursts on the court during his tennis heyday— said, “I could totally relate to what she was feeling.”
“I thought it was a bulls— call that they called her out on the coaching, because all the other players are getting coached all the time, so why all of a sudden did they do it at that point?”
“Then she lost it,” he continued, “and she was thinking that she could get away with losing it, and then she broke a racket and she got a point penalty, which she deserved, and she knew it.”
“And then she started going after the umpire, which I know nothing about but I’ll try to figure out what was in her head,” he joked, referencing his previous outbursts.
“The umpire, to me, should’ve said, ‘Look, that’s enough. If you keep going I’m going to take a game from you.’ But he didn’t do that and suddenly did, so I thought he went overboard,” McEnroe said. “I didn’t like what he did to her. It was a lose-lose, because she f—d up and he f—d up.”
“I guess women are brought up differently than men,” he continued. “To me, between female athletes and male athletes, I think the expectations are a little bit different.”
“But that doesn’t mean it should be always that way,” the tennis star added. “I’m willing to allow it to be exactly the same. You can put men and women in the same tournament, as far as I’m concerned.”
Serena Williams.ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty
Earlier in the night, McEnroe said that he thought he could still beat Williams in a one-on-one match.
“I think she’s a fantastic player,” McEnroe admitted. “My daughters don’t think I can beat her at this present time.”
“I was number one in the world at one stage, but I’m a little past it,” he added. “So I’m not quite as sure I used to be … But I’ve gotta be honest, I still think I have a chance to win.”
source: people.com
