Not a lot fazes John McEnroe but, when asked if he felt, “uncomfortable” about being paid “10 times more” than Martina Navratilova to lend his magic to the BBC commentary box at Wimbledon he delivers the sort of cheeky look he once reserved for chair umpires.

“The way you presented that, it seemed like a trick question,” he says, smiling weakly. “The mature man that I am at this stage, the knowledgeable man I am about the way things can be presented, leads me to believe that it’s best if I stay out of this particular issue and let the BBC handle it right now.”

Of course, the most garrulous man in tennis – who has become an institution on his annual visits to Wimbledon on behalf of the BBC and various American broadcasters – cannot leave it there. “I think people know how I feel, it’s not a black and white issue. I don’t think it’s simply, like, people receiving the same pay. You’re not going out and playing Wimbledon or the US Open. This is a totally different animal. We can agree on that, right?”

The players, of course, will receive the same prize money when this year’s Wimbledon begins on Monday. The provision of equal pay by the All England Club in 2007 – the last grand slam event to do so – was the culmination of a decades-long fight by the Women’s Tennis Association founder, Billie Jean King, champions such as Chris Evert and Navratilova herself, and, latterly, Serena and Venus Williams.

Navratilova’s reaction when she discovered the discrepancy in the commentary box suggested she did not agree the situation was so different. In March in an interview for Panorama: Britain’s Equal Pay Scandal, she revealed she was paid only £15,000 at Wimbledon and accused the BBC of valuing male voices over female ones.

The BBC, no stranger to the matter of gender pay equality, pulled up the drawbridge on the controversy but McEnroe’s pay has been publicly listed in the corporation’s bracket of £155,000 to £200,000 – even though Navratilova won nine singles and seven doubles titles at the All England Club, to his three and five there. All the BBC said at the time was that the pair were on “different types of contracts” but Navratilova will be working at Wimbledon again this year after an unspecified pay rise led to her tweeting “good to see the BBC taking gender pay equality seriously” this month.

In the wake of the appointment last week of Amélie Mauresmo as France’s Davis Cup captain and the continuing discussions surrounding the seeding of Serena Williams on her return to the Tour after a long absence while giving birth to her first child, McEnroe knows this is a political hot potato. The fact that he supports the case for Williams to be seeded at Wimbledon – to be announced on Wednesday – only underlines the perversity of his stance on equal pay.

“If you work at a magazine or a paper and there’s a woman and man you’re going to get paid based on the job that you do, in the opinion of the paper. Right? And, if the girl does the better job, she should get more money. That’s what it boils down to.

“As far as the other stuff? I don’t know. I don’t know what she gets and she doesn’t know what I get and I don’t know what most people get. I’ve not spoken to her - but we’re not in the same place that often. It doesn’t come up.”

Asked if would he be doing the same job this year – droll asides during and after match commentary – McEnroe says: “I believe so. That’s up to the BBC. But I’ve been fortunate that over at least 15 years it has given me the opportunity to present myself in a different way. At least people see me in a slightly different light than they saw me on the court. I think it’s been mutually beneficial.”

McEnroe, by general consensus, has been a breath of fresh air in the BBC commentary box – but so, too, has Navratilova. Her frankness and depth of knowledge bring something well suited to television.

What McEnroe does bring to the job is fearlessness. Such is his status and personality, he gets away with a lot that some others might not – “constructive criticism” is how he describes it.

“I wouldn’t like it if some guy laid one on me, or a girl, like an ex‑player, [did so] unfairly. But sometimes you’ve just got to accept it. First of all, you’re obviously entitled to your opinion. And that’s sort of the game. I know guys coming after me was frustrating. But you at least think about it. Ultimately what I want to do is actually help that person down the road, as opposed to hurt them. But I do not like it when I do not see people giving the all-out effort.”