John McEnroe salutes Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer for doing what he did not do after tasting success
John McEnroe is an iconic former tennis player who has established himself as one of the more recognizable tennis voices in recent years. The American is remembered not only as a fierce competitor but also as a media member who doesn’t mince his words.
He proved it recently during an appearance on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast where he candidly spoke about some of the mistakes he made in his career, comparing them to some contemporary players who did much better than him in that regard. Back in 1984, McEnroe finished the year with an 82-3 record, and the mistake was simply resting on his laurels and not pushing forward to become an even better player.
"I was playing at a different level than other players... I felt like I had this dream come true. The mistake that I made after that year was sort of like, instead of continuing to try to work on my game and improve certain parts of it, I sort of sat back and said okay, let's see what others got, what are they gonna do," McEnroe said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast (9:34).
He contrasted that with the approaches of modern players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, adding:
"I have a lot of respect for the players that don't do that. Look at Novak and Rafa, even Roger to a degree... Roger went to a bigger racquet to handle the backhand. Novak learned to be more of an aggressive player. Rafa learned how to serve bigger."
Who knows what might have happened if McEnroe had that urge to further improve, because ultimately, he did keep the level high for the first half of 1985 after which it cooled off a bit. He would never regain that sort of level, and he's on record saying that he regrets it.
McEnroe's 1984 magic
That 1984 season was pure magic from McEnroe. Not only was it magic, but it was a record season which still stands as no player ever in the Open Era did what he did that year. It remains the highest single-season win rate ever and it's a year he'll never forget.
"It was a year that I'll never forget. It was incredible. I backed it up for another six months... It was something to strive for but never really duplicate. But at least I was able to get to that level where I felt like all that work that I put in over the course of the first 25 years of my life paid off," he said (10:30).
There have been legendary seasons after that, such as Federer's 2006 season where he posted a 92-5 record. Djokovic's 2015 season was another one, as the Serbian went 82-6. Both are quite iconic but not as good as McEnroe's 1984 season, where he won 96% of his matches. Federer's season comes close at 94%, with Djokovic's coming in at 93%.