McEnroe stands by Serena comments

The controversy surrounding John McEnroe’s unflattering assessment of Serena Wiliams simply won’t go away.

And that’s partly because McEnroe has refused to re-work his comments.

The American legend caused a stir when in an interview with NPR on Sunday he said if Williams “played the men’s circuit she’d be, like, 700 in the world.”

RELATED: Serena hits back at McEnroe comments

The comments drew Williams’ ire, who fired off a pair of tweets in reponse.

Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based.

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017

I've never played anyone ranked "there" nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017

Williams is currently pregnant and not competing on tour; she’s expected to welcome her first child into the world in late August.

Yet McEnroe defended his comments when asked about them on CBS This Morning on Tuesday and said there was one way to definitely back up his statements.

"Would you like to apologize?" — @NorahODonnell
"No." — John McEnroe pic.twitter.com/BFN8w2EyfY

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017

“I’ve got a solution. Solve the problem, and I’m sure the men would be all for this – the men and women play together. And then we don’t have to guess,” he said.

“I felt the need, however unfortunately, to defend myself and say what I really felt, which is about what I think she would be. I didn’t know it would create controversy. I’ve said this 1,000 times.

“I don’t want anything to go wrong with Serena because she’s pregnant, I don’t want to upset her.

“I think she’s doing it (tweeting) tongue in cheek as well and I think deep down we’re talking about something… I can’t even believe we’re talking about it.”

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, was at age 35 ranked No.1 as recently as April.

She won her most recent major title at Australian Open 2017, while two months pregnant.