Watch: When John McEnroe was taken aback by Novak Djokovic being called "potentially the best clay-court player of all time" by Mats Wilander
Former tennis player Mats Wilander once opined that Novak Djokovic had the potential to be the 'best clay-court player of all time.' His comment, however, took John McEnroe by great surprise.
Before the 2015 French Open, Rafael Nadal had secured nine titles at the clay-court Grand Slam, having faced just one defeat over 10 years. Meanwhile, Djokovic, who was without a title at Roland Garros at that time, seemed to struggle the most on clay of all surfaces.
Despite Nadal's clear dominance on clay, Wilander predicted at the time that the Serb was destined for greatness on the surface. At the 2015 French Open, the Swede said:
"When you see him play like that, he could potentially be the best clay court-player of all time, cause how can you beat that? He's better now than he was before."
Shocked by Wilander's statement, McEnroe sprung out of his seat to express his disapproval.
"Wait a minute, hold on!" McEnroe said.
Wilander defended his statement, saying that the Serb's level of tennis on clay could emerge as a threat to Nadal in the following years.
"I'm just saying not in wins, the level of tennis! He could really hurt Nadal and I think four years ago, if Djokovic was at this level, he could have sort of been in a similar situation although we never talk about that but what I'm saying is how do you beat him when he plays like this," Wilander added.
John McEnroe's reaction to Mats Wilander's statement can be watched here:
While Nadal failed to win the 2015 French Open, he continued his dominance on clay, ending up with a record 14 Majors (and counting) on the surface. At the 2015 edition, he did end up to losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals. The Serb reached as far as the final, but fell to Stan Wawrinka in the title clash.
Novak Djokovic has won three French Open titles since 2015
Novak Djokovic has improved his record on clay since 2015. He has claimed three French Open titles in the last eight years.
The World No. 1 won his first clay-court Major in 2016. He rallied from a set down to defeat Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the final.
However, he suffered back-to-back quarterfinal exits in the subsequent two seasons.
Following a semifinal and runner-up finish in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the Serb bounced back in 2021. He defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the summit clash to claim his second French Open title.
Djokovic lost to Nadal in the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals. He then beat Casper Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 in the 2023 final to claim his third Grand Slam title on clay.