John McEnroe clearly is sick of all the attention his comments about Serena Williams have gotten on social media and in the media.
"I didn't realize it would create something like this," he said in a conference call to promote ESPN's Wimbledon coverage.
But at ESPN, they're thrilled about this rather ridiculous controversy that sprang from a flip comment taken out of context. It didn't cancel the teleconference with McEnroe. It didn't tell journalists the subject was off the table. (And as unprofessional as that is, it's not unusual for publicists to make those demands for celebrity interviews.)
This is great for ESPN. When was the last time there was this much attention focused on professional tennis?
As with so many controversies in this age of Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, this one was blown completely out of proportion. If you haven't been paying attention, you might think that, in a fit of misogyny, McEnroe insulted Williams. But that never happened.
In the now-controversial interview with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro, McEnroe heaped praise on Williams. He said she is the "best female player ever."
Garcia-Navarro pressed him, however. "Why qualify it? … Why say female player?" she asked.
"Well because … if she played the men's circuit she'd be like 700 in the world," replied McEnroe, who obviously was being flippant. He went on to say that "on a given day, Serena could beat some [male] players" but if she played on "the men's circuit, that would be an entirely different story."
It truly wasn't a big deal. It definitely wasn't an insult. And it shouldn't be controversial that the best women players can't compete with the best men. If they could, they would.
"And the women would not want to do that," ESPN analyst/former tennis pro Pam Shriver said.
It was the facetious "like 700" comment that rankled some. Maybe someone who's been in the media spotlight most of his life, who has a long career as a tennis analyst, should have known better than to say that, even in jest. But that's unfair because no one could have predicted that this would take off the way it did.
In the conference call, McEnroe acknowledged, "It would have been better not to have said it. I didn't realize it would create something like this."
He's been criticized for refusing to apologize, but he didn't have anything to apologize for. He did come close in the conference call, however.
"Maybe it's better if it hadn't been said," McEnroe said, "because I have a lot of respect for Serena. She's been great for the game. I mean, I think people that know me know that."
But "McEnroe says Williams is a great player" wouldn't make headlines. Wouldn't get tweeted and retweeted and shared across the Internet.
ESPN got lucky.
Will all this translate into better ratings for ESPN? Maybe. That would be more likely if McEnroe was working a match that Williams was playing — and given that she's not competing at Wimbledon because of her pregnancy, that's not going to happen.
But even bad publicity can be good publicity, if not for McEnroe then certainly for ESPN.
Wimbledon coverage continues on ESPN and ESPN2 through the women's final July 15, and the men's final July 16.