With John McEnroe on punditry, there is always going to be intrigue, and the BBC have pulled a blinder to get him and Nick Kyrgios both aboard for their Wimbledon coverage.
As two of the sport’s most controversial and hot-headed figures across their respective generations, they have transitioned into punditry well, and give insight as well as entertainment from the sidelines.
However, on this particular occasion, the American in question could not help but simply praise Novak Djokovic, once again left stunned by what he managed to do yesterday.
John McEnroe raves over Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon
Speaking live on BBC Sport after Djokovic’s routine first-round win over Vit Kopriva, McEnroe was unsurprisingly complimentary about the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
After all, not only did he crush his opponent with relative ease, but he did so with a visual reminder of the physical turmoil he had been through over the last month: a grey knee brace on his right knee.
Having torn the meniscus in his knee whilst playing at the French Open, his Wimbledon availability was instantly thrown into doubt.
However, after surgery and a double quick rehab, he played like he had never even had a day off.
McEnroe, just like most on centre court who watched him, was stunned: ‘I thought he looked incredible. I thought if he took the knee brace off you wouldn’t have known that anything had happened. I was amazed and pleasantly surprised, I am very happy, as well as everyone here at the All England Club that he is playing.
‘This is another amazing thing about Novak Djokovic. You don’t know what he is capable of. I can’t believe he played so well today because you have to think he is feeling a little ginger, this is so impressive.’
Novak Djokovic had sent a message of condolences to Andy Murray, who too suffered with an injury last month, but could not make it back in time for the Grand Slam.
Novak Djokovic continues to do the impossible
Write off Djokovic at your own peril.
This is a man who was lambasted for gatecrashing the Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer party, criticised for his lack of work ethic and poor attitude early on in his career, scrutinised for the way he then began to win, and now, written off due to injury.
Although at some points these points have potentially been relevant critiques, the most recent one stands out as the most justifiable, given the surgery he underwent just last month.
Many just naturally expected that he would miss Wimbledon in order to favour the Olympics, yet he has once again rewritten the rule book and shocked the tennis world.
Should he win Wimbledon, or even enjoy a deep run in the competition, what he has done across the last month is truly superhuman.
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