Leader comment: Game, set and match, Serena

Tennis legend John McEnroe has revived the Battle of the Sexes narrative by telling a US radio station that Serena Williams would 'be like 700 in the world' if she played the men's circuit. McEnroe does have a book to sell, but his comments undermine both women's sport and Williams' own achievements.

John McEnroe's comments fail to respect Serena Williams' record.

But more significantly McEnroe fails to respect Williams record.

When fans ask “who is the greatest tennis player of all time?”, this typically sparks a debate about Federer or Nadal. But actually the answer is Serena Williams. She has won more Grand Slams than Federer and dominated for longer.

She has also has a winning record against all her rivals (Federer has a losing record against Nadal and Djokovic).

But few ever immediately cite a woman as being the greatest player to play the game.

It is true that Williams would struggle against the power in the modern men’s game. But forget brute force, Serena has it all and McEnroe’s comments simply serve to undermine the position of women in sport.