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| | Monday, 4 September, 2000, 11:29 GMT 12:29 UK McEnroe offered Williams clash  Could John McEnroe defeat the world's top women? Real estate mogul Donald Trump has approached John McEnroe about a million-dollar Battle of the Sexes clash against one of the Williams sisters. Trump claims to have put $1m on the table for a winner-take-all battle between 41-year-old McEnroe and either 20-year-old Wimbledon champion Venus Williams or 18-year-old Serena Williams, the defending US Open champion. If both parties agree to the challenge, the match looks set to take place at Trump's Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Trump said: "I wrote a letter to my dear friend John making him the offer. "I have not heard back from him, but I think it would be a great event, great for the game, and very exciting." But Richard Williams, father and coach of Venus and Serena, has already said that his daughters would not be interested in any such challenge. Smart "I knew Richard was a smart guy and this only reinforces that fact," McEnroe said.
Earlier this week, Venus Williams shrugged off remarks made by McEnroe in a New Yorker magazine article about how men's college players and senior tour players could beat the leading women's players. "I don't know if I could fit him in my schedule right now," she said. "I don't think it's fair to put a 20-year-old against a 40-something person. So I'll let that pass." It was only three years ago at the 1998 Australian Open that both sisters were busy proposing their own Battle of the Sexes, claiming they could beat a player from the men's tour. Serena went down 6-1 to 203rd-ranked Karsten Braasch. Venus was able to get one more game but also lost, 6-2. The most famous Battle of the Sexes took place between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in 1973. A TV audience estimated at 90m tuned in to see King win. More recently, Jimmy Connors defeated Martina Navratilova in an exhibition match in Las Vegas. | | See also:  Other top Tennis stories: Links to top Tennis stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||
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