re: John McEnroe: I would beat Serena Williams if we played today

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by Y.A. Tittle

But could he take Ronda Rousey?

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In a game of chess maybe

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I don't see how

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You don't see a lot of things Peej

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He could return her serves, no doubt. He has the stride length, volley game, and endurance to take her in straight sets.

She'd get some, but he wins.

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No way is Serena is better than the top 1000 men in the world. Top 100 is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while. Jeez. She competes against and even loses to women, women much weaker and slower than her. Granted she beats them more than she loses.

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if Serena William played Men's tennis, She would be Top 100 in the World. I believe she has the potential to be in the top 25.

Why is that?
Tennis is the one of the few sports in the world in which the physical differences gender isn't as huge.

Tennis Major Serve Average (Quick estimate made looking at matchstat.com)
Serena William's average first serve was 180ish Km/h
Roger Federer's average first serve was 185ish Km/h

Serena is one of the Women on tour who on par with the guys in serve speed.

It would really come down to whether or not Serena can adapt to play opponents who has a serve speed like hers and a few like Djokovic who can average 190 km/h on his serves on a good day.

Maria Sharapova first serve average is about 160 Km/h
Only a handful of women can play at Serena's level in serve speed. Mostly Eastern European Chicks and her sister. Most of them aren't even ranked that high.

The average man on tour serve speed is about 180 Km/h
The average woman on tour serve speed about 160 Km/h

Reason for the relative small differences between serve speed compared to gender differences in baseball pitch speed.(based on some article I remember from a while back)

1) The equipment, technique, and play-style in tennis isn't really optimized to put a lot of emphasis on raw power. (Remember Maria Sharapova does not have that much upper body strength and she even admitted it in interviews. Even so, she can still hit a tennis ball for 160 km/h on an average serve)

2) The average pro male tennis players in the world is not the best male athletes in the world when compared to their peers in other sports. The average pro female tennis player is among the best female athletes in the world when compared to there peers in other sports. (If the top NFL, MLB, and NBA players in the USA chose soccer as a career ,the USA would be a soccer juggernaut. The top male tennis players don't look particular special.)




Novak Djokovic isn't overflowing with muscle.

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muscle

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tennis

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Of course he can beat rousey. All of us male posters can beat any female in any sport then make them get us a beer and sandwich after.

There's a thousand ranked men in professional tennis?

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Based off the stats she could easily be a top 100 male tennis player.

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Stats? Her stats and W/L record accumulate against women

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Karsten Braasch v the Williams Sisters

During the 1998 Australian Open, sisters Serena and Venus Williams boasted that they could beat any man ranked outside the world's top 200. The challenge was accepted by Karsten Braasch, a German player ranked No 203 (his highest ranking was No 38). Before the matches, Braasch played a round of golf in the morning, drank a couple of beers, smoked a few cigarettes, and then played the Williams sisters for a set each, one after the other. He defeated Serena, 6-1, and Venus, 6-2. Serena said afterwards "I didn't know it would be that hard. I hit shots that would have been winners on the women's tour and he got to them easily."



and More ...

Bobby Riggs v Margaret Court

Probably the most famous tennis battle of the sexes took place in 1973, between Bobby Riggs, winner of the Wimbledon men's singles title in 1939, who was aged 55 and still playing some tennis in 1973 but was well past his prime. He defeated female player Margaret Court in a match on Mother's Day 1973, the score 6-2. 6-1. Court had achieved the Grand Slam in 1970, so was at her peak.

Bobby Riggs v Billie Jean King

Immediately after Bobby Riggs had beaten Margaret Court, he challenged the current women's champion Billie Jean King. The match against King was highly hyped in an endless series of press conferences and feature articles, with King becoming the poster child for the entire women's liberation movement. The match was held on September 20, 1973, with King easily beating Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. If you watched this match, you wil easily see that Riggs was either so out of shape (he jogged) that he lost, or he pretty much laid up

When former number 1's Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt were dating, she said that she struggled to win a point of Hewitt, let alone a game.
When female player Chris Evert-Lloyd was at her peak, she said her brother who played low level college tennis beat her (from her autobiography).

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LINK

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When former number 1's Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt were dating, she said that she struggled to win a point of Hewitt, let alone a game. When female player Chris Evert-Lloyd was at her peak, she said her brother who played low level college tennis beat her

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Focus on this Socratis. Don't embarass yourself further

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'Serena - she's got a lot to lose by losing to an old fart like myself. And I've got a lot to lose, because if I lose to, God forbid, a woman, then I'm not allowed in any men's locker room for the next 15 years, or possibly the end of my life.

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McEnroe is an aging blowhard who was once pretty damn good at tennis. Other than Navratilova, Venus is the greatest women's tennis player ever.