Andre Agassi explains what was ‘unbelievable’ about John McEnroe’s tennis and what was so ‘underrated’ about him

Follow us on Google Discover

Andre Agassi and John McEnroe have both gone down as tennis legends, such were their stunning efforts on the court for many years.

Since retiring, McEnroe has been heavily involved with media work, with his current focus on the French Open.

McEnroe is worried about Jannik Sinner’s lack of matches ahead of his semi-final with Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros.

The Italian is number one in the ATP rankings, and is into the last four in Paris in just his second tournament back from a three-month suspension.

He reached the final of the Italian Open in his only other appearance since the ban, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.

Andre Agassi explains what was ‘unbelievable’ about John McEnroe’s tennis

The duo have formed a superb rivalry in their relatively brief careers so far, with Sinner finding it difficult to beat Alcaraz.

Legendary figure Agassi has now been tasked with sharing his thoughts on McEnroe, having been asked about many iconic players on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.

READ MORE: John McEnroe names the man who he believes is going to win the French Open title this year

“You know, Mac had an incredible ability to offset power, right, to neutralise power,” Agassi explained to Roddick.

“So he could keep the ball down with no pace, which kind of affected the way I came into the game. Because I came into the game kind of going through guys, and Mac was that generation where I felt like maybe I can go through this guy, but I couldn’t quite go through him, because the balls he would hit were not only not much pace to it, but they were always low.

“He never… you felt like you were lifting on every ball that you hit against the guy. Plus his ability to cut angles was a joke.

“His speed was way underrated, too. I mean, he was quick. The guy had unbelievable footwork, and he took unbelievable angles to the ball.

“Especially in the forecourt, but even in the backcourt. If he shoveled a forehand from the lefty side right, he shovels a forehand towards down the line and gets bad direction, and you crank it cross, he’s already committed to an angle at that ball, and he’s buttoned that thing down and coming in.

“So now you’re actually behind. You’re having to lift it and having to generate, and he’s on top of the net. You always feel like you were lifting the ball against him.”

What was the head-to-head record between Andre Agassi and John McEnroe?

Agassi and McEnroe now share a connection following their fantastic careers, with the former taking over from the latter as Team World captain at the Laver Cup.

McEnroe has backed Agassi for Laver Cup success, with the eighth edition of the team event set for San Francisco later this year.

READ MORE: Andy Roddick predicts who will have the better tennis career out of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

And he will be hoping for a better record than McEnroe, who won just two of his seven events as Team World.

Bjorn Borg was his Team Europe nemesis on every occasion, but he is also stepping aside to be taken over by Yannick Noah.

McEnroe did, however, have a better record against Agassi in terms of their playing careers, with the pair having met four times.

Of those four meetings, Agassi won two and McEnroe won two, with all four matches coming in the quarter-finals or later.