"The perfect player" - Patrick McEnroe's verdict on Novak Djokovic

| by Jamie Malachy

Former US tennis player, and brother of tennis icon John McEnroe, has stated that he believes Novak Djokovic to be the perfect tennis player.

Speaking on Courtside: The US Open Podcast, McEnroe heaped praise on the 22-time Grand Slam champion, saying that he believes there are no weaknesses in his game.

Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer have long been considered the three greatest male payers to have ever played the sport, but there is intense disagreement about where they are sit in the list of the greatest of all time.

Novak Djokovic Continues To Write History With Another Week As World No. 1
Novak Djokovic Continues To Write History With Another Week As World No. 1

It's a combination of his size, his eyes, his range and his impeccable technique. If you're putting together, the perfect player, technically, it's [Novak] Djokovic. There's no weakness for Djokovic.

Patrick McEnroe on why he believes Djokovic to be the perfect player

But McEnroe did concede that the Serb is beatable, and will not play perfectly every day, with surfaces and conditions playing a big factor in how imperious Djokovic is on the match court.

He might have a bad day and might just miss because he's irritated or you might out-hit him like Wawrinka did a couple of times in big matches. You're gonna have to play well on any surface to beat him.

McEnroe on Djokovic's weaknesses

McEnroe does believes that Djokovic's return game is the best the tennis world has ever seen, however. He also cites Novak's consistent serve and ability to turn defence into attack as key attributes to his stunning and enduring success.

[Andre] Agassi was the best attacking return. [Lleyton] Hewitt was a better defensive returner than that Agassi, but he wasn't nearly as good offensively. Roger [Federer] was rangey too, it’s very hard to ace Roger. Rafa [Nadal] is not a great returner, he's worked on it. He’s not a great server. And that’s where Novak is at that level defensively but he also can play great offense.

McEnroe on Djokovic's return game
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