John McEnroe says Trump once offered him 'sums of money' to play Serena Williams but McEnroe didn't want to 'mix the apples and oranges'

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June 27, 2017 5:51 PM

John McEnroe was recently asked about Serena Williams' place in the tennis world and said he thought she would rank "like 700" in the world if she played men.

John McEnroe shakes hands with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

John McEnroe started a firestorm when he was recently asked about Serena Williams' place in the tennis world and said he thought she would rank "like 700" in the world if she had to compete against men.

Serena fired back at McEnroe, saying, "

When asked if he would face Serena for "a sum of money," McEnroe said he doesn't think it would be a worthy comparison, but also seemingly opened the door to doing it now.

"I never really thought that was something, to mix the apples and oranges," McEnroe said. "I should probably suggest now that it might not be a bad idea if everybody is up in arms about it."

Tennis does have a long history of men facing women in exhibitions. The most notable would be the original made-for-TV event, "Battle of the Sexes," in which Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in 1973 and later, the "Battle of the Champions," when Jimmy Connors faced Martina Navratilova in 1992. Connors won that match.

The Williams sisters themselves even got in on the action in 1998 in a quiet match against . He faced both in a single set on an outer court at the Australian Open after they had noted they thought they could beat a men's player ranked around 200th. Braasch beat both sisters in a single set each, 6-1 against Serena, and 6-2 against Venus.

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