"John McEnroe said if Serena Williams played in men's circuit, she would be 700th" - When Bill Maher slammed transgender athletes in sports

Bill Maher once criticized transgender athletes using a comment made by John McEnroe about Serena Williams.

In 2017, during an interview with NPR as part of a book tour for promoting his memoir "But Seriously," former World No. 1 McEnroe opined that if Williams were to play in the men's circuit, she wouldn't achieve the same success and might be ranked around World No. 700. However, he also gave credit to the 23-time Grand Slam champion for her accomplishments in the WTA Tour.

"If she played the men’s circuit, she’d be like 700th in the world. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower," he said.

Famous American comedian and writer Bill Maher made an appearance on boxing legend Mike Tyson's 'Hotboxin' podcast in 2022 and discussed the controversial topic of transgender athletes competing in women's sports. He used John McEnroe's comment about Serena Williams as an example to highlight why he believed it was unfair.

"Obviously, Mike, can you imagine going into the ring against a woman with you in your prime? Or even now? It would be a bloodbath. Or playing football, exactly! Men and women are different. John McEnroe I think it was who said that if Serena Williams played in the men's circuit, she would be 700th in the world," Maher said. (Quotes via Marca)

Maher then brought up a comment made by Serena Williams when she and her sister Venus were defeated by a male player ranked 203rd in the world, Karsten Braasch, in an exhibition event during the 1998 Australian Open.

The American said:

"And Serena Williams is obviously a powerful and amazing athlete. She even said once that when she played against a man, she didn't realize. Serene said she hit shots that no woman can get to and he got to them easily. So, obviously, there are differences between men and women. Could we just agree on that?"

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Serena Williams hit back at John McEnroe's controversial comment

Serena Williams pictured at the F1 Grand Prix of Miami

In 2017, Serena Williams wasted no time in hitting back at John McEnroe after his comment about her potentially being ranked around 700th in the men's circuit came to light.

The American ace, who was pregnant with her first child with husband Alexis Ohanian, took to X (formerly Twitter) and politely asked that the seven-time Grand Slam winner refrain from using her name in his statements which she believed were not based on facts.

"Dear John, 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" nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir," Williams wrote.

The 42-year-old retired from tennis after losing in the third round of the 2022 US Open to Ajla Tomljanovic. She is now giving more time to her family, which includes her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their two daughters, Olympia and Adira.