McEnroe says Serena should be seeded at Wimbledon

The two have had their go-rounds in the press over time – see exhibits A, B and C – but with Wimbledon around the corner, John McEnroe has high praise for Serena Williams.

Williams, the seven-time Wimbledon singles winner presently perched at No. 183 in the WTA Tour rankings, will find out her fate pertaining to seeding when those are announced June 26.

To his credit,McEnroe weighed in that she deserves special consideration: "I don’t think there would be a player that would complain, especially the top ones, if she was one of the top eight. Why in the world would they want to play her in the first, second, third round? Nor should they, in my opinion."

Asked in Birmingham last week where she thinks the 23-time major singles champion should be inserted in the seedings, two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova paused and then called for Williams to be placed at No. 9, one spot below her.

Currently stationed at No. 9 in the rankings: Venus Williams, herself a five-time solo Wimbledon champ, also with six doubles titles to her credit at SW19 alongside her younger sister.

Those who might take umbrage with Williams receiving an exalted seeding despite her triple-digit ranking: current No. 8 Petra Kvitova, No. 16 CoCo Vandeweghe and No. 32 Dominika Cibulkova. Kvitova just won her field-leading fifth tour-level title of the season in Birmingham, while an unseeded Williams beat world No. 17 Barty in three sets at the French Open. A determined Cibulkova has recovered a Top-32 ranking this season.

It's well worth noting that McEnroe was fairly measured in his appraisal of where Serena Williams should land with a preferential seeding, saying, "Somewhere between one and 10 – one and 16 at the worst."

Despite that heralding, McEnroe has sharper words for one of Wimbledon's homegrown contenders, 2017 semifinalist Johanna Konta.

As reported by the UK's *Guardian*: "As for the argument that seeding Williams might be unfair to the player edged out of the top 32 – which the British No. 1, Jo Konta, thinks ought to be considered – McEnroe says: 'What’s her name? No offense. You’re talking about Serena.'"

Play in Wimbledon's main draws begins on July 2.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.

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