Former player Patrick McEnroe has raved about Novak Djokovic in the latest episode of his Holding Court podcast.
McEnroe, like most of us, watched the Roland Garros final and saw Novak Djokovic make history by winning his 23rd grand slam trophy. The Serbian was amazing at Roland Garros and he once again proved his greatness with the undertaking.
Not only did he outlast Carlos Alcaraz in brutal conditions, but he also downed Casper Ruud comfortably in the final, never seeing any trouble whatsoever. His win was major in many ways but to McEnroe, it proved just why he's the greatest ever. He just has the ability to adjust to any game, any opponent, any conditions, it's just magical.
Novak has that ability, which is part of the reason why he's the greatest ever. Understanding when he needs to be aggressive, when he needs to be neutral, when to be defensive, when to go to the slice, when to come in, when to take chances on the second serve. There's no better adjuster to what's going on, ever!.
Some would say Djokovic was quite lucky in his career and they would be correct. What's also correct is the greatness which is undeniable to a trained tennis eye like McEnroe. He broke down why most people just don't understand how great he truly is.
Part of it is because he's so malleable with his strokes. How can Djokovic be so good? Because they can't see it. They don't really get tennis. They don't get the fundamental, the technique, his ability to calibrate shots with the exact same swings to hit the ball at 55% or 95% and everything in between. That’s his greatness and his ability to manage over the course of a match.
Another huge part of his tennis is his ability to outlast much younger opponents due to his strict approach to his career. He meticulously watches what he eats, he practices with a lot of precision focusing on longevity amongst many things. The longevity part is truly astonishing when you compared it to the rest of the sport.
Not only fitness-wise is he arguably even better than these guys [other players], but because he has so many different ways to play over the course of a long match, it starts to favor him even more and more. Unless he hits the wall physically, which is it in my view is kind of the only way to beat him in best of five.
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