John McEnroe's brother Patrick on Novak Djokovic: "There's no better adjuster to what's going on, ever!"
John McEnroe's brother Patrick has heaped praise on Novak Djokovic for his ability to adjust his game depending on his opponent or the surface he's playing on.
Djokovic's 2023 French Open success saw him become the first man to win all four Majors at least thrice. He now holds an Open Era record (jointly with Serena Williams) of 23 Grand Slam titles.
In the Roland Garros final last weekend, Djokovic found himself on the backfoot slightly as Casper Ruud came out all guns blazing. The Serbian, however, played well when it mattered, recovered from a break down early in the match, and came through with a straight-sets victory.
“Novak has that ability, which is part of the reason why he's the greatest ever. Understanding when he needs to be aggressive, when he needs to be neutral, when to be defensive, when to go to the slice, when to come in, when to take chances on the second serve. There's no better adjuster to what's going on, ever!” he opined in an episode of the Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe podcast.
McEnroe further explained that Djokovic's strength lies in varying his technique and managing his physical effort from point to point over the course of a match.
“Part of it is because he's so malleable with his strokes. I've talked to sports people who love watching Roger [Federer], we all did. [Rafael] Nadal’s got this intensity. How can Djokovic be so good? Because they can't see it,” he said.
“They don't really get tennis. They don't get the fundamental, the technique, his ability to calibrate shots with the exact same swings to hit the ball at 55% or 95% and everything in between. That’s his greatness and his ability to manage over the course of a match,” he added.
Novak Djokovic ‘hitting the wall’ physically is how he can be defeated in best-of-five sets, according to Patrick McEnroe
Patrick McEnroe further stated that the only way Novak Djokovic can be defeated in best-of-five sets at a Grand Slam is if he struggles physically or emotionally. He pointed to the 2021 US Open final as an example, where Daniil Medvedev defeated the Serbian in straight sets to deny him the elusive Calendar Slam.
“Not only fitness-wise is he arguably even better than these guys [other players], but because he has so many different ways to play over the course of a long match, it starts to favor him even more and more. Unless he hits the wall physically, which is it in my view is kind of the only way to beat him in best of five,” he explained.
“[Daniil] Medvedev, when he beat him at the [US] Open [final in 2021], Novak hit the wall emotionally, physically in that match. And then Novak of course gets him back shortly thereafter,” he added.
McEnroe believes that only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, for different reasons, could match Djokovic in marathon matches.
“Unless you're Roger, you just beat him because you're Roger. Or you're Rafa, you grind them down because you can do that, he can do that on clay and to a certain extent he can be there on a hardcourt,” he stated.