"Enough about Federer, Nadal & Djokovic" - John McEnroe throws out 'Big-3' question from Andy Roddick to focus on himself
John McEnroe recently avoided the Big-3 talk in a conversation with Andy Roddick. The former tennis player recently stepped down from the Laver Cup.
McEnroe captained the two-time defending champion Team World for seven years and recently stepped down from the captaincy after facing an unfortunate loss to Team Europe. He has had a stellar career of his own, winning 77 singles titles and seven Grand Slams, which included four US Open wins.
The former player recently appeared on Andy Roddick's 'Served' podcast, where he dodged the question of talking about the 'Big' 3'—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
"One of the questions McEnroe that my mind immediately jumped to in this kind of age of the giants, right, of the Big 3, there aren't really any stats left that were kind of established before the Roger, Rafa, Novak's," Andy Roddick asked. (5:42 onwards)
John McEnroe replied:
"Enough about them; let's talk about me. I've heard about them for the last 20 years."
However, he hasn't always ignored the topic of these stellar players, as he recently spoke about the unfair treatment of Djokovic.
John McEnroe opened up about how Novak Djokovic has received unfair treatment
In an interview with iNews, John McEnroe made his feelings known about Novak Djokovic and said that he was unfairly being villainized. Along with this, he said that he deserves the same respect as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and emphasized the achievements of the Serb.
"“[Rafael Nadal] and [Roger Federer] have legendary reputations, deservedly so. They’ve been incredible. [Novak Djokovic] has not only equaled them but surpassed them in overall achievements, which seemed impossible,” McEnroe said.
He added:
"Both of those guys, Rafa and Roger, they are total class acts," he continued. "They are loved and respected around the world. Novak gets the unfair treatment. He’s the villain, the bad guy."
He further spoke about how the tennis community wanted to have a good and bad balance, and that they added Djokovic in the latter category.
“I guess you need a good guy and a bad guy in a way. It can help the sport when you have rivalries like that. I think it’s been unfair, honestly, because he is great for the game, on and off the court.”
John McEnroe's brother, Patrick McEnroe, recently called Rafael Nadal 'arguably the greatest competitor' in tennis on October 25, days after the Spaniard announced his retirement on social media.