Australian Open 2023: John McEnroe is suffering from a marathon match with Andy Murray and is worried about Novak Djokovic

Even before the start of the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic’s damaged left thigh was the big topic.

Both in training and in his previous matches, the Serb wore a bandage on his left leg. The tennis world is speculating how serious the Serb’s injury really is.

“It’s a situation that nobody can really assess – maybe not even Novak Djokovic himself,” says Eurosport expert John McEnroe in an exclusive interview. However, Djokovic knows his body very well.

“Two years ago in the match against Taylor Fritz you thought he couldn’t play anymore and then he even ended up winning the whole tournament. That’s my hope again this year from a fan point of view,” said McEnroe.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner is not quite so sure about this: “There is a good chance that his leg will not hold up. That then opens the door for players who have never been able to win the tournament.”

Nadal before the end of his career? “Then he stops”

However, McEnroe does not believe that the clay court king will resign due to the Mallorcan’s recent injury break. “My hope is that he retires if he wants to. We’re talking about one of the best players in history. He doesn’t want to retire because of injury, he wants to retire when he’s healthy and competitive.”

Nadal loves competition and sport. He is a fighter and wants to continue playing, so McEnroe, who, however, adds a “but”. “If the body doesn’t keep up and he doesn’t feel like he can play at the highest level anymore, then I think he’s going to retire. The question is: when is that time?” Nadal could just as well continue playing “two or three years”, but also resign after the French Open (May 28 – June 11).

McEnroe criticizes tennis until the wee hours

His long-time rival Andy Murray can also show a similarly battered body as Nadal. The Scot has now been playing with an artificial hip for a number of years and, even if he hasn’t had great results in the recent past, he keeps flashing his class. This is also the case with his two previous appearances in Melbourne in 2023.

“It’s absurd to me. Of course people are talking about it, but it’s also clear that it’s making it difficult for Murray to get deeper into the tournament. There have been matches like this in the past and it always had an impact on the players. In what other sport do they play until 4 a.m.? And we’re talking about two players, not teams. Nobody can be substituted. It’s absolutely absurd that something like that is happening.”

The reasons for the late start of the match are understandable for McEnroe and yet the sport has to introduce a kind of “curfew”. “I hope that we will see some duels between the two in the future. Because that would also mean that Emma is back where she belongs: at the top of the world.”

McEnroe hopes for great rivalry in the future

In the past few months, Raducanu has been looking for the right team around her and has had many different coaches. If she regains continuity within her team, then she can achieve this goal again.

Gauff, on the other hand, is developing excellently, albeit more slowly than some had expected. For McEnroe, it’s more of a good sign than a bad one: “It will help her in the long run.”