'This will never, ever, ever happen again' - John McEnroe on Rafael Nadal's tally of French Open titles
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Updated 05/06/2022 at 17:59 GMT
Eurosport's John McEnroe has said he is as sure as he possibly could be that no player will ever come close to replicating what Nadal has achieved in Paris. The King of Clay saw off Casper Ruud in straight sets on Sunday to secure his 22nd Grand Slam singles title – moving him two clear of his great rivals, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and extending his tally at Roland-Garros to 14.
'The legend continues to grow!' - Watch Nadal win 14th French Open title
Eurosport expert John McEnroe has given his thoughts on Rafael Nadal's incredible tally of French Open titles at Roland-Garros and if it will ever be beaten.
Nadal received an ovation he will likely never forget as he walked out onto the court for the French Open final with Casper Ruud, and the King of Clay sealed his latest historic triumph at Roland-Garros after putting on an absolute masterclass to triumph 6-3 6-3 6-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Spaniard now has a staggering 22 Grand Slam singles titles to his name, which puts him two clear of the tallies of his great tennis rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the all-time race. It is also the first time Nadal has won the Australian Open and the French Open in the same year.
Talk of a potential retirement has been swirling around the tournament given Nadal's prolonged injury struggles and even the legendary Spaniard's own words about the pain he has to endure to compete at the highest level.
Given all the rumours, McEnroe paid tribute to the remarkable number of titles the King of Clay has racked up at Roland-Garros and said he was as certain as he could be that the tally would never be beaten.
“It’s beyond belief," McEnroe told Eurosport before the match. "It took a player - [Pete] Sampras - 35 years to catch Roy Emerson. We were thinking it would be another 30 years [before the record was broken again], and now it’s one, two, three guys.
"Most of us thought it would be Novak [Djokovic], but then there was that horrible debacle in Australia. I don’t think Novak thought that Rafa would go and win [the Australian Open].
"Djokovic came [to Roland-Garros] thinking ‘I’ve got to catch this guy’, and then Rafa stepped up to the plate again. If anyone comes close to this, I will stand on my head and do an entire telecast - if Eurosport invites me back in 15 years and Casper Ruud has just won his 14th straight French Open - I will stand on my head the entire telecast.
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'It's a big surprise!' - Nadal talks through emotions after French Open triumph
"This will never, ever, ever happen again in our sport, that one male - or female - will win as many of these events, so enjoy it while we can. [Rafa] has been giving signs that maybe he might not play anymore, possibly. I don’t know if that’s true, but it sounds conceivable that it’s going to be his last match.
"He’s talked about not playing Wimbledon… why would he not play Wimbledon if he’s won the Australian and the French? He could win the Grand Slam, so we’ll see.”
Fellow Eurosport expert Chris Evert added: "I thought two years ago that it would be Novak [who would win most Grand Slam titles], he was No. 1 in the world, Rafa was starting to only win the French Open and we weren’t sure if he could win on the hard courts as well.
"But now he’s two ahead, his body seems to be holding up pretty well. I think this title is the most meaningful ever, going through adversity. Four or five weeks ago, did we even think he was going to play the French Open? But he comes back, he goes through a lot of tense matches.
"Today he came out, full of freedom, very relaxed – I think he knew Casper didn’t have that one shot that could hurt him. Rafa played within himself, played solid and that was good enough for him to win the match against Casper."
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'He's a phenomenal tennis player but he's an even better person' - Henman on Nadal
Tim Henman added: "If Nadal is healthy, which is a big challenge now with this foot injury, can he win Wimbledon? Absolutely.
"That is incredibly exciting. In terms of who is going to end up with the most amount of Grand Slams, a couple of years ago I would have said Djokovic, for sure. But right now, with that little bit of distance, I think Nadal has got a great chance.
"It’s going to be fascinating to see. You have got another opportunity in three weeks’ time so fingers crossed, I so hope Rafa can be there on grass.
"When you have won as much as he has, you just never know what’s around the corner. I think he has been very frank, and very honest, to say that he doesn’t know if he is going to be back here.
"But when you see a performance like that, it was just another clay-court masterclass. You would have thought that when he wins these big titles – don’t forget he’s won the Australian Open, the French Open, now you can talk about the Grand Slam being on.
"Surely it is going to motivate him to keep on going. That’s what we are keeping our fingers crossed for because it’s a privilege to see one of the greatest champions in our sport playing like that."
Mats Wilander added: "I would think it must be the sweetest title [that Rafa has won at Roland-Garros]. First of all, he didn’t even know if he was going to be able to play.
"Let’s now not just focus on 14 [French Open titles], but 22 [Grand Slam singles titles]. He is ahead of Roger and Novak now. Maybe this could be the main reason why he will be the greatest player of all time.
"But again, he’s so humble and so in the present moment that it sounds like he is going to keep going."
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'This has to be the most meaningful ever' - Evert on Nadal's 14th French Open title
Alex Corretja weighed in: "I don’t understand anything. How Rafa wins, how he could barely walk a couple of weeks ago. The first week he was okay, and then all of a sudden he raised his level against Novak and then again against Zverev.
"Today, to me, it seemed like he was not even at 100 per cent, and that is with respect to Casper, who did what he could. I don’t understand how he did it. One day he needs to tell us how this is possible because I don’t get it."
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