“He’s always looking for some fuel,” John McEnroe believes Rafael Nadal’s absence at French Open will give extra motivation to Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal shocked the tennis world after his withdrawal from Roland Garros. With the defending champion out of the race, the next leading contender for the crown is Novak Djokovic. During the interview with Eurosport, John McEnroe stated that Nadal’s absence will prove to be a motivating factor for the Serbian to claim his 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris.

The Spanish player decided to pull out of the French Open due to persisting problems with his iliopsoas injury. The 14-time Roland Garros champion stated that he would focus on his complete recovery and hinted at his comeback in 2024. With the crowd’s favorite withdrawing, Djokovic is expected to have a victorious triumph at the major. Both players hold the record for 22 Grand Slams. The championship in Paris would provide the World No. 3 with an opportunity to move ahead of Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles.

TFormer tennis player John McEnroe cited Djokovic as the person who could break more records in the tennis arena. During his conversation with Eurosport, the channel’s expert stated that Nadal’s missing the major will act as motivation and fuel for the Australian Open champion.

It’s his quest to be the best ever and win the most majors so right now it looks like he’s the only guy left who could break more records. He’s tied with Rafa so this is an opening. He’s had a tough year and a half in a lot of ways and he’s also done some incredible things. Novak, he’s always looking for some inspiration, some fuel, and he’s got some now and he’s got a great chance,” he said.

Djokovic faced a tough loss after his Rome Open quarter-final defeat at the hands of Holger Rune.

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John McEnroe expresses his viewpoint on Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune ahead of Roland Garros

Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have entered the race as potential contenders for the French Open. With the new generation of players leading the tennis world, John McEnroe says that the ‘Big 3’ era is coming to an end.

The Spaniard reclaimed his World No. 1 spot after his debut at the Italian Open. The 20-year-old has established his dominating game on clay after winning back-to-back titles at the Barcelona and Madrid Opens. With a record of ten ATP Tour singles and four ATP 1000 Masters titles, the US Open champion is a leading favorite for the championship in Paris.

On the other hand, Holger Rune is the newest addition to the list of potential contenders. After playing back-to-back finals on the ATP Tour and winning the second consecutive Munich Open title, the Dane will be a huge challenge to all the competitors.

In his interview with Eurosport, McEnroe said that the tournament will be exciting. The 64-year-old said that young players like Alcaraz and Rune have emerged as great competitors in the sport. He further added that Alcaraz does have a better chance of winning the trophy in Paris.

“The young bucks are finally starting to emerge, but you have to wait and see if they’re mentally ready to you know, Alcaraz proved he was at the US Open but now you have to see if Rune is capable of making that step to win something like this, but right now if you asked me, I would say Alcaraz would be the slight favourite to win this,” McEnroe said.

The French Open main draw will be taking place on Sunday, 28 May 2023.

In case you missed it:

• Barbara Schett grounds Carlos Alcaraz’s hype train claiming he ‘has a long way to go’ to be compared to Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic
• Simona Halep ACCUSES the ITF for killing her reputation and hampering her mental health by denying her the right to be judged

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