John McEnroe refused to answer a question live on air about Serena Williams’ possible retirement, after she suffered a heartbreaking three-set defeat to Maya Joint at Wimbledon. When asked if the 44-year-old returning star had now played her last singles match, McEnroe did not feel comfortable giving a response.
As Williams walked off Centre Court she gave a big hand to the crowd to say goodbye, possibly for only a few days as she could yet return in doubles with sister Venus, but also potentially forever, having made a return to professional tennis almost four years after stepping away.
When put on the spot and asked whether Williams may retire for good, McEnroe replied: “You think I know? Come on, don’t ask me a question that’s unanswerable.”
The same question was put to American pundit Tracy Austin, before McEnroe interjected and said: “I never thought that she would come back in the first place, but go ahead Tracy…”
She explained: “I think we have got to celebrate Maya Joint now and celebrate Serena coming back.”
Joint then walked over to the podium to begin her speech, interrupting Austin’s diplomatic answer, and revealing how she felt after beating one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” Joint said in her on-court interview. “Wow. I don’t know what just happened to be honest. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up til like 2am just thinking about it. Walking out… I forgot the warm-up. I don’t know what happened. My legs weren’t moving.
“I don’t know how I got a pretty good start in the match. She has such an aura. She’s such a legend. This court has so many huge names that have played on it. I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid. This is pretty crazy.”
When asked about the most difficult part of playing an icon such as Williams, Joint replied: “I think just trying to come out on court and play a match against her. Just the start was very nerve-wracking. Then trying to finish out the match as well. She definitely lifted her level. She played some really great tennis there.”