‘Humblest, Classiest Champion I’ve ever seen in any sport!’ John McEnroe LAUDS Rafael Nadal, says everyone forgot about him amidst Novak Djokovic saga
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Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe
Spanish legend Rafael Nadal has had a dream run at the 2022 Australian Open so far. He was coming back after a foot injury after almost 6 months and is yet to lose a match in 2022. He started the season at the Melbourne Summer Set event where he won the tournament without dropping a set.
He was then handed a very tough draw at the Australian Open after which not many predicted him to go deep in the tournament. But he has made it to his 6th Australian Open and 29th grand slam final where he will face second seed Daniil Medvedev for the title.
Talking to Eurosport, American legend John McEnroe spoke about how the Big 3 have been incredible over the years. He said that coming Down Under, all focus was on Novak Djokovic’s participation and his visa debacle. Such was the hype that everybody forgot that Rafael Nadal is out here to win.
“I don’t know what it means for the history of tennis, these guys are just incredible what they keep doing,” McEnroe told Eurosport. “It started out as a complete and utter train wreck with Djokovic when he was down there. All we were talking about was him and how he was the guy who was going to go and make history and break the record. Well, they forgot to mention that Rafael Nadal was there, who has not played in six months.”
Rafael Nadal to repeat what Roger Federer did 5 years ago?
McEnroe further recalled that 5 years ago Roger Federer came back on tour at the Australian Open after 6 months and won the title and Nadal is going in the exact same direction.
“Who was the last guy who was 35 and did not play for six months, and then went on to win the Australian Open? His name was Roger Federer,” McEnroe said.
He further said that according to him, Nadal is the humblest and classiest champion across all sports. “All of a sudden, things have fallen into place for Rafa, who has to be the humblest, classiest champion of almost any athlete I’ve ever seen in any sport. “It’s well-deserved for a guy to do this like Rafa Nadal. You can see how much it meant to him to get to the finals again,” he said.
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Lakshya Chopra
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