Twelve per cent of men believe they could take a point off 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams, according to a recent YouGov poll.
Williams came up short of equalling Margret Court's Open era record on Saturday when she lost the Wimbledon women's final 6-2, 6-2 to Simona Halep in under an hour.
The 37-year-old American is widely considered one of the greatest players - male or female - to ever step on court, yet according to a YouGov poll, one in eight men who answered think they would score a point off her.
By comparison, just three per cent of women among the 1,732 British adults polled felt confident they could do the same.
Survey respondents were asked: "Do you think if you were playing your very best tennis, you could win a point off Serena Williams?"
One in eight men (12%) say they could win a point in a game of tennis against 23 time grand slam winner Serena Williams https://t.co/q0eNBjn7Vu pic.twitter.com/3InBOWdYwh
— YouGov (@YouGov) July 12, 2019
The response on social media has described those men who answered "yes" as "delusional", "ridiculous", and "embarrassing".
Awww, male fragility and self-delusion all rolled into one... 💙 pic.twitter.com/6RhOMtGCLp
— WG Saraband 🏴🇵🇹🏳️🌈 (@wgsaraband) July 12, 2019
1 in 8 wouldn’t win a point against the Wimbledon girls champion.
— Des (@fulham2020) July 12, 2019
Men are ridiculous
— Iris (@Demandor) July 12, 2019
Turn this into a TV show, not just with tennis.
— Dr Eggman Stan (@MattresSalesman) July 12, 2019
Regular Cocky Man VS Female Athlete
Id watch it every week.
To be fair, anyone facing Williams would get at least 48 bites at the cherry to take a point off her. She could double fault, trip over an untied shoe lace trying to return a ball or make an unforced error.
The question is about a match, not a game.
— Fabius Maximus (@Fabius039) July 12, 2019
Winning one point vs 48 points is not so impossible.
Note that 3% of women also believe so.
Double fault or unforced error? Not impossible are they.
— Charlie Bowman (@bowmanator97) July 13, 2019
“She’s bound to serve a double fault, you know” pic.twitter.com/K6t6Z3fgyY
— Mrs Gladys Steptoe (@GladysSteptoe) July 13, 2019
To be fair all she has to do is double fault once
— Unknown 💤 (@BeardedCaviar) July 12, 2019
Only 1 unforced error in a whole game? I’m not gonna compete but she’d probably play 1 loose shot at some point
— Unknown 💤 (@BeardedCaviar) July 12, 2019
Williams has been outspoken in the past in the fight to see women's tennis given parity with the men's game.
During this year's Wimbledon, Williams said women’s matches "aren’t pushed as much as the men’s matches to be on the marquee courts" and called for "equality" in tennis.
