“If [Serena Williams] played the men's circuit she'd be like 700 in the world. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player, I do.”

John McEnroe, in interview with NPR

“We never said we’re better than the guys in any way,I think she’d be better than 700. But, the best women cannot beat the best men … ever. So we never argued that.”

Billie Jean King

“You just don’t go there. You don’t go there. You just don’t gooooo 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.”

Martina Navratilova

“Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based. I’ve never played anyone ranked ‘there’ nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I’m trying to have a baby. Good day sir”.

Serena Williams, on Twitter

“It would have been better not to have said it. I didn’t realise it would create something like this.”

John McEnroe at ESPN conference