Former seven-time Grand slam champion John McEnroe believes Novak Djokovic has helped Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the GOAT battle. Djokovic made his professional debut back in mid 2000s and gave a stern competition to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The Big 3, as they are famously known, shared a great rivalry with each other. In fact, the trio won 59 of the last 71 Grand Slams since 2005 and dominated the tennis world with their complete game.
Meanwhile, the American also showered praise on Rafael Nadal for his hunger in the game. Nadal is known as a bull on the court and hardly gives up on a point. The Spnaird is highly competitive, which has helped him savor success at the top level.
“The greatest single quality an athlete can have is that hunger, and no matter how successful you are, just being willing to do the hard yards and the work it requires to even give yourself a chance, and Rafa does that better than anyone,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“He keeps a humbleness and a cockiness at the same time, which is a tricky thing to manoeuvre, and he does an incredible job of that.
“He’s able to figure out a way to make every match seem like he’s got to pay respect to his opponent, and he’s got to give 100 per cent effort. Very few players can do that, it’s an amazing quality and that’s why he’s won as much as he has.
“You do believe with him that he’ll do anything and everything to get back and give himself that chance, and there are very few players you can say that about, that’s why there’s so much respect for Rafa.
“With the players and anyone that watches the sport, you look at the guy and go, ‘oh god, how can that guy want it so much still, it looks like he’s never won a major’.
“It looks like every point he plays is the last point he will ever play. I try to teach that to my kids at my academy every day: if you go out and do that, good things will happen, and he’s the greatest example ever.
“He’s forced Novak to give more, and he’s better because of it, and then Novak has helped Rafa get better because he doesn’t want Novak to go by him, and that helped Roger, so this was a beautiful thing to watch for the last 10, 15 years.”
Roger Federer retired in 2022 owing to his knee injuries whereas Nadal and Djokovic are still going strong. Djokovic and Nadal will be seen in action in the upcoming Australian Open, which will begin on January 16.
