John McEnroe knew a thing or two about Grand Slam finals, having clinched 17 during his glittering career.
McEnroe secured seven Grand Slam singles titles, along with nine doubles titles and one mixed doubles title.
Four of his singles successes arrived on home soil at the US Open, with his other three coming at Wimbledon.
And it was at Wimbledon that the American icon claimed he witnessed the “greatest match ever played anywhere”.
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John McEnroe called the 2008 Wimbledon final ‘the greatest match ever’
The 2008 Wimbledon final has gone down in history for its epic nature, when legendary figures Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal came head-to-head.
With rain delays playing a major role in London, the unforgettable encounter took almost seven hours to play.
Finally, Nadal emerged victorious, defeating defending champion Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5-7), 6-7(8-10), 9-7.
As quoted by BBC Sport, McEnroe said of the match: “What made the final so great was a combination of things.
“It was obviously the players, the magnitude of the situation, playing the Wimbledon final, and certainly the way it panned out.
“The battle that Roger was having with Rafa but also with himself, squandering the lead in the second set and getting way down and then having to pull out two sets in the tie-break.
“I was fortunate enough that people talked about my match with Bjorn (Borg) in 1980 as one of the great matches.
“But I was watching the 2008 final and sitting back and saying to myself: ‘This is the best match I’ve ever seen at Wimbledon.’
“To me, it was the greatest match I’d ever watched, the greatest match ever played anywhere.”
Rafael Nadal stopped Roger Federer’s Wimbledon dominance in 2008 epic
ATP legend McEnroe was involved in many epics himself, but perhaps none quite compares to that of the 2008 Wimbledon final.
It was a match for the ages, with Nadal finally claiming his first Wimbledon title after final losses in 2006 and 2007.
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He lost both of those finals to Federer, but then managed to stop the Swiss star from winning a sixth successive Wimbledon title in 2008.
Federer returned to winning ways the following year with the 2009 title, and Nadal followed suit by lifting the iconic trophy again in 2010.
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