Patrick McEnroe hasn’t played a professional tennis match this millennium, but the 59-year-old broadcaster still fancies his chances against Aryna Sabalenka. During a recent episode of his SiriusXM radio show, McEnroe dismissed the world No. 1 as a legitimate threat to his game, citing the gap between men’s and women’s tennis.
McEnroe peaked at No. 28 in the ATP rankings back in 1995. He won a single tour-level singles title during his career, though he won a Major in doubles. Sabalenka, meanwhile, is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion.
Patrick McEnroe Claims Aryna Sabalenka Would Lose to Top 17-Year-Old Boys
The discourse sparked when a caller asked Patrick McEnroe how he would fare against Aryna Sabalenka today, assuming he was in top physical condition for his age. Rather than directly answering the question, McEnroe posed a hypothetical about a different sport. He asked the caller what would happen if the South Carolina women’s college basketball team faced a squad of the top 15-year-old boys in the country.
“They beat them, easily,” the caller replied.
McEnroe went on to elaborate on the disparity between men’s and women’s tennis, arguing that Sabalenka would even be demolished by the top-ranked junior boy.
“It doesn’t matter to me because it’s just a different game,” McEnroe said. “The short answer is that I was a decent pro as a journeyman type player, ranked most of my career between 30, 75, 100, whatever it was. 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 or something. But again to me it’s irrelevant.”
The 59-year-old made sure to clarify that his assessment wasn’t meant as an insult to women’s tennis. He praised the entertainment value of the WTA, but insisted the metrics of Sabalenka and Madison Keys’ powerful groundstrokes were deceiving.
“I don’t say that to denigrate women’s, 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 Sinner. Well, they’re not hitting it with the same spin and the movement’s different,” he added.
Patrick McEnroe’s take echoes the sentiments expressed by his older brother, John McEnroe, back in 2017. The seven-time Grand Slam champion famously claimed that if Serena Williams played on the men’s circuit, she would be ranked around No. 700 in the world.
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Aryna Sabalenka and the Battle of the Sexes Context
Patrick McEnroe’s bold comments do not exist in isolation. They follow on the heels of Aryna Sabalenka trying her hand at cross-gender competition. In late December 2025, she squared off against Nick Kyrgios in a highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition in Dubai.
Even with adjusted rules and court conditions designed to narrow the physical gap, Kyrgios secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over the World No. 1. However, Sabalenka wasn’t deterred by the crushing loss, as she eyed “revenge” in a rematch.
