John McEnroe Ranks Serena Williams as 5th-Best Ever After Controversial Remarks

When asked to rank the top tennis players of all time Tuesday on CBS This Morning, John McEnroe reversed his previous course and gave Serena Williams the No. 5 spot on his list.

As seen in the following video courtesy of CBS News, McEnroe placed Serena behind only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver and Pete Sampras:

The comment came after McEnroe said Sunday that Williams would be ranked "like No. 700 in the world" on the men's circuit, according to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

McEnroe originally praised Williams but expressed his belief that she would struggle as part of the men's tour:

"That doesn't mean I don't think Serena is an incredible player. I do, but the reality of what would happen on a given day is Serena could beat some players, I believe, because she is so incredibly strong mentally. But if she had to just play the circuit—the men's circuit—that would be an entirely different story."

In the wake of McEnroe's comments, Serena fired back with a pair of tweets:

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

With 23 career Grand Slam singles titles, Williams is the winningest player in the Open Era.

She trails Margaret Court on the all-time list by just one Grand Slam title, but her pursuit of the record has been halted temporarily because of pregnancy.

The 58-year-old McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles during his career, and he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.