John McEnroe has hailed Novak Djokovic as the “Lebron James of tennis” as he questioned why some people were discussing the possibility of the Serbian retiring.
No man in history has won as many Grand Slam singles titles as 24-time major champion Djokovic, who turned 38 last month.
The former world No 1 has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2023 US Open, with his last final coming at Wimbledon twelve months ago.
Djokovic was forced to retire injured in his Australian Open semi-final versus Alexander Zverev in January, and was then beaten by world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of Roland Garros.
However, fresh from winning his 100th career title at the Geneva Open, the Serbian impressed at the French Open, dropping just one set on his way to the last four.
That set dropped came against third seed Zverev in the semi-final, with Djokovic losing serve in the opening game of the match but largely outmanoeuvring his 28-year-old opponent after that.
A seven-time Wimbledon champion, Djokovic is widely considered among the leading contenders to triumph at SW19 again this summer, with many placing him as the third favourite behind Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
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In quotes first reported by Corriere della Sera, seven-time Grand Slam singles champion McEnroe not only hailed Djokovic’s longevity, but revealed the advantage he had over his two younger rivals.
He said: “It’s impossible not to admire him. I consider him the Lebron James of tennis.
“Due to his age, he struggles more and more to keep up with Carlos and Jannik’s pace, but he remains a prodigy, someone science should study.
“Why should he retire if he continues to be so competitive? He is still the best competitor against the top two, and he has two major advantages: his experience and the ability to recover from tough moments.”
Djokovic’s straight-sets loss to Sinner in the last four of Roland Garros was a fourth straight defeat to the Italian, who now leads their overall head-to-head 5-4.
However, the Italian has never reached the final of Wimbledon, and was beaten by Djokovic in the 2023 semi-final – the world No 1’s best showing at the tournament to date.
It has been Alcaraz who has prevented the Serbian from winning a historic eighth Wimbledon title in recent years, with the Spaniard beating Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals.
However, Djokovic holds a 5-3 lead in their overall head-to-head record, and has won their last two encounters.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion beat Alcaraz in a memorable Olympic final last summer, and beat the Spaniard in four sets in the quarter-final of the Australian Open.
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