‘What the Heck Were You Thinking?’- John McEnroe’s Sly Dig at Serena Williams Was Met With Intense Criticism From Martina Navratilova in 2017

American tennis great, John McEnroe, is among the most controversial tennis characters. In his playing days, the former world number one carried a bad boy tag because of his attitude on the court. However, after retirement and growing age, McEnroe reinvented himself as a good tennis analyst. He is among the most trusted and accurate tennis pundits currently.

While it was going all good for the American, his unnecessary remark yet again created a controversy. This time he said something, which sounded demeaning to the female tennis players. Later, Martina Navratilova reprimanded him for stirring unnecessary controversy. Here’s what happened!

Navratilova’s advice to John McEnroe

Back in 2010, just before the US Open, McEnroe made a remark about female players, which earned him a tag of a knuckle-dragging misogynist. McEnroe was not happy with the WTA schedule. The former world number one, said that it was unfair to ask female tennis players to play an equal number of matches as their male counterparts. He further added that one shouldn’t push them to play more than what they are capable of. Later, in 2017, he took a sly dig at Serena Williams, saying that she would rank over 700 if she competed in the men’s tour.

McEnroe questioning the ability of female players created a huge controversy. Later, Martina Navratilova came up with a strong-worded suggestion for the eight-time Grand Slam champion.

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“You just don’t go there. You don’t go there, you just don’t go there! There’s no need to go there. What the heck were you thinking? It’s that you were not thinking. That’s the problem. John has a knack for creating controversy where there is none. He needs to do it on his own dime, not at somebody else’s expense,” she said.

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Although the statement from McEnroe could have been in a different context, it ended controversially. In the age of social media, it doesn’t take much time for such things to turn into a controversy.

McEnroe remained unfazed by his own anger

John McEnroe was a name synonymous with anger. In his playing days, the American had some popular clashes with umpires and his opponents.

However, the legend claimed that he did it when he was genuinely angry about something and not to deliberately take an advantage of the situation.

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Further, the former world number 1 added that he had a great focus on the game. Even after his angry outbursts, he would easily draw his focus back to the game and play good tennis. According to McEnroe, it was what actually made people furious.