John McEnroe feels the Australian Open is missing Roger Federer and Serena Williams

Monday, 23 January 2023 at 23:00

Updated at Monday, 23 January 2023 at 22:57

byTom Grant

Tennis legend John McEnroe believes the Australian Open is missing all-time greats Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

The American seven-time Grand Slam champion was speaking to broadcaster Eurosport about life after arguably two of the greatest players to ever play the sport across both the men's and woman's tours.

This year's event in Melbourne marks the first slam since both Federer and Williams retired, with the both players announcing their decision towards the end of 2022.

And, although Williams enjoyed a run to the third round of the US Open in September, 'Mac' admitted the sport is lesser for it since they hung up their rackets for the last time.

McEnroe said:

"Class act, Roger Federer. Serena Williams - people look at tennis in a different way after all that she has accomplished. So of course, they are missed. How can you possibly gauge how much they are missed? We don't even know. It is a question we don't know the answer to, but we were lucky that last year [Carlos] Alcaraz filled the vacuum at the US Open to a fairly large degree. There were a couple of incredible matches. Serena had that final run, so that was really great, but the truth is, you need stories."

Leftie McEnroe was also pressed about Rafael Nadal, with the Spaniard yet again succumbing to injury as a result of the demands of top level professional tennis, and insisted - with talk of retirement - he thinks the 36-year-old wants to keep on playing and end his career on his own terms - not as a result of his body failing him.

He added:

“My hope is he goes out when he wants to go out, not when we want him to go out. You are talking about a GOAT - greatest of all time - type of athlete. You saw from Murray that he doesn't want to go out on injury-like terms, you know, he wants to go out on his terms when he's healthy and competing and it's just like, ‘I can look in the mirror and know I have done everything I could and that's enough'. Rafa, from what I've heard, wants to keep playing. You know, he loves the competition, he loves the process, and he loves the sport and we love him for that. But if the body doesn't hold up and he feels like he can't get to that type of level health-wise that he needs to, to win majors, then I think he'll quit."