John McEnroe on playing Serena Williams: ‘I could still take her’

His bold assertion comes as Williams, 23 years his junior, sets her sights on one more tournament victory to complete her set of all four grand slams in the tennis year.

John McEnroe was once the top men’s tennis player in the world. “I think he was humoring the two of us”, the seven-time Grand Slam champion said.

Williams, 33, who heads to Flushing later this month aiming to tie Steffi Graf (22) for second place on the all-time grand slam list, has a 43-2 record this season.

“Fifteen years ago Donald Trump… made an offer which I felt like was not enough”, McEnroe said.

“God forbid I lose to a woman”, McEnroe said sarcastically.

Instead, the bombastic New Yorker told host JImmy Kimmel and the Live audience that he could beat Serena Williams.

“I think I could take her on the court”, McEnroe said.

A battle of the sexes event has happened in the past in tennis.

“If you guys played a serious match, who do you think would win that match?”

‘So that’s part of why it’s intriguing’.

And McEnroe then raised the prospect of a big-money showdown – equating the interest it would generate to the year’s big welterweight boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

I don’t think McEnroe has what it would take, but I would LOVE to watch that match.

Williams participated in a similar event as a teenager after she and sister Venus claimed they could beat any man ranked below No. 200, prompting 203rd-ranked Karsten Braasch to take them up on the challenge.