Exclusive: John McEnroe on Novak Djokovic returning to Australian Open - 'Easy to be frustrated and angry'
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Updated 08/01/2023 at 09:42 GMT
Eurosport's John McEnroe does not expect it to be an easy ride emotionally for Novak Djokovic as he makes his hotly-anticipated return to the Australian Open this month. After having been deported in acrimonious fashion last year, the 35-year-old could be forgiven for feeling some "bitterness", and even being "frustrated and angry", over the way he was treated, according to McEnroe.
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Tennis legend John McEnroe has told Eurosport that it would be easy for Novak Djokovic to be "frustrated and angry" returning to the Australian Open after having been deported from the country prior to last year's tournament.
The 35-year-old was deported after a protracted saga before the start of the 2022 edition of the opening Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne but had his three-year visa ban overturned in November. He has already received a warm reception at the Adelaide International upon his return this year.
The 21-time Grand Slam singles champion is aiming to extend his record nine Australian Open crowns to double-figures this month, and McEnroe believes he will have to contend with a range of emotions, from feeling "overjoyed at first" to then struggling to contain "a bit of bitterness" over the way he was treated in the country only last year.
"I think he will be overjoyed at first, but then there is going to sort of be a bit of bitterness, I believe, and he has got to get through that," McEnroe told Eurosport's Reem Abulleil.
"I think he can get through that, he’s obviously proven that he has gone through some unbelievably difficult obstacles, none more so than the last 12 months of his career.
"The fact that he was still able to go out and win Wimbledon and go out and play these smaller events in the fall to get his ranking high enough so that he can go and win the event in Turin and the year-end event, and embrace playing and competing, was just incredible because it would have been very easy to be frustrated and angry.
"I can only imagine how he felt when he was deported out of Australia and subsequently dealing with that.
"I don’t think he was right until Wimbledon, but somehow he found it, and again, so few players will ever be able to do.
"There is a reason why these guys ... I used to think, ‘I won seven singles majors’, and now I'm like, ‘oh my god, these guys are at 22 or 21’ or whatever the hell it is.
"You are like, ‘man, I should have tried harder or done something’. They make you think you didn’t do nearly enough and that’s a credit to them."
Another Eurosport expert, Mats Wilander, made it clear that Djokovic has to triumph at Melbourne Park in order to keep pace with his great rival, Rafael Nadal, with the French Open the second Grand Slam of the season and the Spaniard expected to secure more glory in Paris.
"The revenge he most probably wants will be winning in Melbourne," Wilander told Eurosport's Arnold Montgault. "The race is back on. If he wins it, it's 22-22 [Grand Slams tally with Nadal].
"He has got to get to 22 before the French Open comes in May because Rafa might grab another one. You cannot lose in Melbourne and be 21 and Rafa gets to 23.
"I think this is tough, tough, tough for everybody else. Daniil Medvedev would most probably be the biggest threat that I see to him [Djokovic]. Of course, Rafa is going to be there and give a big challenge, but I would think Novak is a pretty heavy favourite this year.
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Novak Djokovic arrives on centre court during a media opportunity ahead of the 2023 Adelaide International at Memorial Drive on December 28, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia.
Image credit: Getty Images
"You can easily compare the record of winning 10 Australian Opens with Rafa Nadal winning 14 French Opens.
"I think that in today's men's professional tennis, a lot of them have grown up on clay, but on hard courts, they are all experts. I think that if you win 10 Australian Opens on hard courts, that means you have to beat maybe the best field in tennis because everybody knows how to play on hard courts.
"So I think that achievement would be unbelievable. Nine is already unbelievable."
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