French Open: Novak Djokovic has 'a lot of guts' to want to be considered the GOAT -John McEnroe exclusive
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ByEurosport
Updated 05/06/2023 at 17:12 GMT
Novak Djokovic is chasing his 23rd Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros this year. Should he win the French Open for the third time in his career, he would edge in front of Rafael Nadal for all-time Grand Slam titles. McEnroe says he is impressed by Djokovic's open desire to be considered the greatest male tennis player in history and says no one is better at turning criticism to his advantage.
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John McEnroe says he has been impressed by Novak Djokovic's honest ambition to want to win 23 Grand Slam titles and be considered as the greatest men's player to ever play tennis.
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are currently tied on 22 Grand Slam titles each, but Djokovic has a great opportunity to move in front of the Spaniard at this year's French Open.
Djokovic is in the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros this year, while 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal is out with a hip injury that has kept him out since January.
Nadal plans to retire at the end of the 2024 season, while Djokovic says he "does not know" when he will decide to retire.
McEnroe says Djokovic has "a lot of guts" to want to be considered the greatest to have played the game.
"You can easily make an argument for all three [Federer, Djokovic, Nadal]," McEnroe told reporters.
"It certainly would have more people talking about that because he would be the only one that would win all four of them [Grand Slams] at least three times.
"I don't have the records in front of me, but he has talked about it so openly, that it's a goal of his and he embraces that. I think that takes a lot of guts in itself to say 'I want it' rather than just say 'I want to do the best I can and whatever happens happens'.
"At the moment for me, Nadal is the greatest player that has ever lived on clay. Novak would be the same on hard courts. Roger on grass, even though Djokovic has beaten Roger a few times at Wimbledon.
"Certainly he's right there, and I think it's amazing because he was trying to get into that mix for so long. To be playing so well at his age is hard to believe, actually."
McEnroe defended Djokovic over boos from fans after his celebrations and a medical time-out during his third round win against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Philippe-Chatrier.
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'It's absurd' - McEnroe defends Djokovic over boos from fans after celebrations and time-out
The American believes Djokovic uses taunts and criticism as "fuel" to keep winning matches and that no one is better at playing under external pressure than the Serb.
"Djokovic rises to the occasion," he said. "He needs to get inspired or have someone write him off. Some type of chance to break an amazing record. No one is writing Djokovic off.
"Sometimes his attitude on the court fuels him. You'd rather be respected than loved. You'd rather have both if possible, but he's handled it well. He has been mature about it and he's been pretty successful turning lemons into lemonade.
"Even when people were getting on him, for calling on the trainer for example, it's almost like people are looking for an excuse to get on him.
"I can relate to that. I deserved it more than he did. It's not easy to take that to use it and fuel you. To me, he's better than anyone at that to ever play the game."
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