John McEnroe is one of tennis’ most outspoken individuals, willing to dish out praise and criticism wherever he sees fit.
He does not hold back when delivering his assessment on either of these standpoints.
Naturally, when it comes to the Big Three, he reserves his highest form of adulation, given Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are widely seen as the three greatest players in the history of the sport.
However, it was 2016 when the legendary American actually distinguished between this trio, picking who he thought was the ‘best player ever’.
Who John McEnroe named as his tennis GOAT
Speaking to WFAN in a radio interview, over ten years ago now, John McEnroe was unequivocal in his opinion on who reigned supreme back then.
He argued: “Federer, overall, consistency-wise, is the best player ever.
“If you put Nadal, who is to me, the other guy. Those two if they played one-on-one and both guys were playing their best, I would say Nadal matches up better with Federer. Overall, I think Federer’s been more consistent. Nadal’s been more injury-prone.
Who is the greatest male tennis player of all time?
“There’s a void that’s about to occur because of what’s happened with (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal. I mean, they’re at the end, right? You can’t imagine them going on more than a year or two. (Novak) Djokovic (and Andy) Murray are the two best, but they’re not getting younger. I know 29 sounds young, but they’re going to have another couple years, you anticipate.
“So there’s these young guys. There are actually some young Americans that potentially could for sure get in the top 10. Whether they can be Grand Slam champions, that’s the issue I wonder with right now.”
Naturally, he is not the only big name to have weighed in on this debate, with Chris Evert naming her greatest tennis player of all time in 2021.
What has Novak Djokovic said about the GOAT debate?
Unsurprisingly, whenever Djokovic, Federer or Nadal are asked about the GOAT debate, they are standoffish.
The former always reinforces this partisan position in particular, given he remains very much in the public eye as he is still active at the apex of the sport.
Are you more or less confident that Novak Djokovic can win his 25th Grand Slam now?
Asked about it as recently as late last year, the Serbian claimed: “I’ve often been asked this question, listing the various statistics, but the truth is that I’m not in the right position to address this topic. It would also be disrespectful to all the rivals I’ve had during my career. I consider myself a huge tennis fan and I respect all the eras before mine.
“It’s not easy to compare different eras with each other, because tennis has undergone many changes over the years in terms of equipment, balls, surfaces and technology. Everything became more professional.”
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