Patrick McEnroe made the assertion during his Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe podcast when asked if he could beat the current best women's tennis player. He described a scenario where the best 15-year-old boys played against the top WNBA team, with a caller suggesting the boys would win easily. He then said it doesn't matter to him because it's a different game, and claimed a top 17-year-old junior would beat Sabalenka.
He clarified he wasn't trying to denigrate women's tennis, noting tennis is a totally different game where factors like spin and movement differ, despite some women hitting as hard as top men like Jannik Sinner. Sabalenka has been one of the most in-form players this year, extending her lead at the top by completing the Sunshine Double with wins at Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back. She is world No.
What would happen if the best 15-year-old boys played against the top WNBA team?
1 with almost 3,000 ranking points clear of No. 2 Elena Rybakina, has not lost a match in over two months, and has already won three titles this year, including Brisbane, while finishing runner-up at the Australian Open. She prepared for the season by facing Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes match in Dubai in December, with Kyrgios ranked outside the top 600 then due to injury layoffs and now unranked from inactivity.
In the current ITF boys junior rankings, Bulgarian 17-year-old Ivan Ivanov sits at No. 1, having won back-to-back junior Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open last year and two ITF titles. McEnroe, the brother of tennis legend John McEnroe, described himself as a decent pro journeyman type player ranked most of his career between 30 and 75 or 100.
It doesn't matter to me because it's just a different game. The short answer is that I was a decent pro as a journeyman type player, ranked most of my career between 30 and 75, 100, whatever it was.
It remains unknown whether Sabalenka or other tennis players have responded to his claim, and how the tennis community or fans have reacted, nor if Ivanov or other top junior boys have commented on playing against top women.
But if you took the top junior player in the world, the top 17-year-old and put him up against Sabalenka, they beat her 6-1 6-1.
But again, to me, it's irrelevant. I don't say that to denigrate women, because I love women's tennis.
I'll watch that if there's a great matchup more than I'll watch a men's blowout match. It's just a totally different game. And tennis for some reason, people don't look at it the same way because they see Madison Keys or Sabalenka hit their forehand as hard as [Jannik] Sinner. Well, they're not hitting it with the same spin and the movement is different. But anyway, that's neither here nor there.