By Perry Green, AFRO Sports Editor
Most folks who’ve seen tennis superstar Serena Williams play before thinks that she could probably beat just about anyone, men included.
Williams is the only tennis player ever, male or female, to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades, and her 23 career Grand Slam championships are the most won by any single player in the Open era, so it’s easy to imagine Serena showing up a man on the tennis court.
Tennis superstar Serena Williams and former tennis star turned sports commentator, John McEnroe. (YouTube Screenshot)
Well according to former tennis star and current sports commentator John McEnroe, President Donald Trump not only wanted to see Serena face a male tennis player, but was willing to pay top dollar to make another “battle of the sexes” themed tennis match happen.
“I was calling a match and suddenly I get this envelope, and it’s from Donald Trump, who is promoter galore… So he wrote me a letter, it went, ‘Dear John, I want to offer you $1 million to play either Serena or Venus,” McEnroe said during an interview on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.”
McEnroe said the offer came way back in 1998, long before Serena was the dominant player that she was today. She was just 16 at the time and had only been a pro for just two years. Serena’s older sister, Venus, was just 17 while McEnroe was 39 and retired.
Trump’s offer apparently came after the Williams sisters had publicly claimed that they could beat any man not ranked amongst the top 200 pro players in the world.
McEnroe turned down the offer because he was never into a “battle of the sexes” contest, but he admitted he did believe at the time that he would’ve beaten either sister. His kids, however, believed otherwise.
“‘Over the course of time, my kids, my daughters will say: Dad, I don’t know if you can beat Serena,’” McEnroe said. “I’m like, ‘God. I can’t even get my kids on my side.’”
See video of the interview here: https://youtu.be/5VPvumRsPG8
