Novak Djokovic (Photo : Getty Images)
Former world No. 1 John McEnroe believes Novak Djokovic is capable of becoming the best tennis player of all time, but not at par with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's.
McEnroe, who now coaches Canada's Milos Raonic, has an interesting insight about one of the Open Era's greatest and richest on-court rivalries. In an interview with French media outlet Le Figaro, McEnroe said that despite of Djokovic's impressive overall game, the Serb still lacks the dimension Federer and Nadal have when playing the sport.
"He still does not have the dimension of Nadal and Federer even if he already is the best defender in the history. He's improved a lot in his offensive game. If he does not get injured, he will dominate tennis for many years," McEnroe said as translated by Tennis World USA.
With 11 Grand Slam wins on his record, Djokovic certainly still has plenty of catching up to do before equaling Nadal's 14 major titles and Federer's all-time record of 17 Grand Slam titles. But Djokovic's gap is not only in terms of titles won and victories over one another.
Djokovic's impressive run at the French Open is being overshadowed by Federer and Nadal's withdrawal from the second Grand Slam event of the year, with the Swiss Maestro skipping the event because of a back injury, while the King of Clay retiring midway thru the tournament due to a left wrist injury.
Djokovic has been displaying another masterful performance at Roland Garros, but there is little attention of him making progress to winnings his first ever French Open title. This implies that, despite Djokovic dominating the tennis scene in the past few seasons, fans are still hooked up to Federer and Nadal's charm, which draws thousands of fans whenever the two plays an event.
Nevertheless, Djokovic seems more focused on his quest to become one of the greatest tennis players to surface the earth, after winning four of the last five Grand Slam tournaments, most recently at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Winning this year's French Open would certainly put Djokovic closer to becoming on equal terms with Federer and Nadal, and with the two out of his way, Nole has a better chance of making Roland Garros his stepping stone to catch up.
