John McEnroe has come out to make clear that nobody should ever bet against Rafa Nadal following the high level he showed against Novak Djokovic.
When playing the Serb on Tuesday, the Spaniard overcame world number 1, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7-4). It was a marathon encounter lasting 4 hours and 12 minutes and keeps him on track for a possible and historic 14th Roland Garros title.
This comes as many people were doubting Nadal coming into the tournament due to recent injury worries, but the man from Manacor has put them in their place by showing he is still at the very top of the game.
This was an opinion shared by somebody who knows the sport better than most. Ex-pro John McEnroe, while commentating for Eurosport, made it clear that Nadal is far from over in this sport as he is certainly someone who can never be written off.
"Well, I would say I made the mistake a couple of years ago thinking the colder conditions would hurt him against Novak. Now, it seems like you would have to be crazy to bet against him [Nadal]. His birthday is Friday, when he plays Zverev."
In awe of the match and the performance he had just witnessed, he continued praising the Spaniard's level given his age, saying he is arguably better than ever:
“He will be 36, and I’m not sure that I have seen him play better than what I witnessed last night. I’m sure there has been close, and there have been a number of times where he has played at an extraordinary level. That was one for the ages! If that had gone five [sets], I might have slept here in the booth. It ended at 1:15am. Certainly, a lot of fans here not forgetting.”