McEnroe: “Djokovic still manages to raise the level. And Sinner will win a Grand Slam”
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Roland Garros is over, conclusions can be drawn. And who, if not John McEnroe, who followed the red Grand Slam for Eurosport, can make some reflections?
John, you have the microphone.
“Well, I congratulate Novak Djokovic, really great. But for me, Nadal remains the greatest player who ever lived on clay. I put Novak on concrete, and I choose Federer on grass”.
In the end he won.
“Nole solved the dilemmas of who wanted Alcaraz to win this tournament with ease, in a way that was disrespectful to him and canceled too quickly”.
What did this Slam say?
“That Djokovic has confirmed that he is the most technically valid player: he needs to feel inspired to have the chance to break some records: when it happens, he raises the level”.
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Yet it remains unloved.
“There’s always going to be that little angst against him. For political positions, for the country of him, but to be respected and loved to have together are impossible. And he handled it very well. He now he is turning lemons into lemonade…”.
She too was criticized…
“And because of that I can relate to that part of her. I deserved it more than he did, but you know this isn’t frustrating for him, and I give it a lot of credit. He’s better than anyone I’ve ever seen play at finding the quick fix.”
But Nadal wasn’t there, posterity will say.
“I know one thing: if I were a player I would never want to play with Rafael Nadal at the French Open. I know I probably wouldn’t want to play these, wholesome, at any Grand Slam. Although Alcaraz is good and I’ve never seen such a good player, more complete at 20 years old. Maybe Boris Becker was like that at that age, but not competitive on all surfaces. Anyway, that’s how it went.”
But technically? We’ve seen some players make different tactical choices, shall we say.
“Different tactical choices? Well, definitely more drop shots, drop shots, and I like that we saw more net play. Intelligent tactic, because in the end you have to have a good shot, close with a drop volley also because the opponent is so far behind”.
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As an Italian, and Sinner?
“About Sinner I say that Ivan Lendl has never scored, but he was mentally strong enough to win from the baseline. Last year, at the US Open, he played the best match of the tournament, with match points with Alcaraz. He has changed coaches, he has a good team and we will have to wait and see, but I still believe he will win a Grand Slam.”
And Runes?
“He has an arrogant attitude, but I think he needs it. Last year he was disrespectful to Casper Ruud, but in the end he’s 20 and I like his attitude. Good for the game, he’s a good contrast to the others, we need to see him, so I hope he does well.”
However, it divided the audience.
“Players complain about people. Not sure if they are more or less engaging. If they did it when I was playing it was partly my fault, but things can turn very fast: the field is hot, it’s difficult to maintain composure and it’s probably the same for the fans: it’s like a roller coaster, if you tease then you don’t know what will happen next, why first they are yelling at me and the second they are yelling at me. The French crowds have always been very passionate, they love tennis. So keeping nice and cool is not what we want.”
Lastly, how did it go with your Eurosport colleagues? Suggestions, messages?
“Tell him to be a little nicer. I’m joking, they worked a lot, held on and did a good job to promote tennis in the best possible way in difficult weather conditions: promoted for the next Grand Slam”.
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