"Andre Agassi was 5'11" & he hates to admit it"- John McEnroe makes astute observation on how one key physical attribute of tennis players has evolved
John McEnroe recently took a playful dig at Andre Agassi over the latter's height during a candid conversation with Andy Roddick. The overarching discussion between McEnroe and Roddick revolved around how players of differing heights added variety to tennis over the years and brought something new to the sport.
On Tuesday, December 17, the Served With Andy Roddick podcast released a new episode featuring John McEnroe as the guest. During the episode, McEnroe and Roddick touched on the evolution of elite men's tennis players heights. The former talked about how 5'11" was once the predominant height of players who were at the pinnacle.
However, John McEnroe joked about Andre Agassi being "smaller" than him, which drew giggles from Andy Roddick. Both McEnroe and Agassi are listed as 5'11" (180cm) on their respective overviews on the official website of the ATP Tour. The 65-year-old also claimed he is taller than fierce yesteryear rival Bjorn Borg, even though the Swede too is listed as 5'11" on the ATP Tour website.
"5'11" is the new 6'2", 6'5", and so you got guys that, you know, Andre was 5'11" and he hates to admit it, but he was smaller than me, and Bjorn was slightly smaller than me," McEnroe said (at 23:26).
The seven-time Major singles champion went on to talk about Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and how they ushered in a succession of eras where the dominant players became those whose heights were over 6'.
"And all of a sudden you got Pete Sampras, who was 6'1". Rafa's 6'1". Roger's 6'1". Then Novak's like 6'2", 6'2-and-a-half", and you're like 'oh my God! They move as great as the guys before.'," McEnroe added.
He then talked about the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, who are both 6'6". However, McEnroe suggested that despite Medvedev and Zverev's abilities from behind the baseline, they cannot rival Carlos Alcaraz in terms of speed.
"Now you even got Medvedev, these type of guys standing 50 feet behind the baseline, willing to run 25% more than his opponent, and standing as far back as you can possibly stand. They're 6'6". Zverev. Do they have the explosive speed of Carlos Alcaraz? No, because no one does," McEnroe concluded.
McEnroe and Agassi have a history of playful banter. In November last year, Agassi hilariously suggested that his stellar tennis career had given him the opportunity to play pickleball, earn money off of the sport and also deny McEnroe money at the same time. The eight-time Grand Slam champion's statement came ahead of Pickleball Slam 2, where McEnroe was his opponent.
Andre Agassi joked about taking money away from John McEnroe
In the buildup to the second edition of Pickleball Slam, Andre Agassi spoke up about the role tennis played in him picking up the rapidly-growing racket sport. In a cheeky swipe at Pickleball Slam 2 opponent John McEnroe, Agassi suggested that he not only gets to play pickleball and make money from it, but also gets to take money away from his elder compatriot.
"I'm more grateful for the game, it's given me a platform to change so many lives. It's given me a platform to meet my wife, my children, my family, I mean, it’s given me the chance to freakin' play pickleball and get paid to do it and take that money away from John McEnroe at the same time," Agassi said on the Pat McAfee Show.
Agassi eventually won Pickleball Slam 2 alongside wife Steffi Graf, with McEnroe having to settle for second-best with Maria Sharapova. The 54-year-old and his wife will also compete in Pickleball Slam 3, where they will be up against Andy Roddick and Eugenie Bouchard.