John McEnroe identifies Novak Djokovic’s greatest achievment – and makes contentious choice

Novak Djokovic has achieved so much in tennis that identifying his greatest moment is an almost impossible task, but tennis great John McEnroe believes his most recent accomplishment may mean more than most.

When the Serbian superstar won his first Grand Slam title back in 2008, he would never have believed 23 more would follow over the course of his remarkable career.

Throw in Davis Cup success with Serbia, the most weeks as world No 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings, seven titles in the end-of-season ATP Finals and more Masters 1000 titles than anyone else and you have a body of work that may never be beaten by any other tennis player.

So when seven-time Grand Slam great McEnroe was asked to identify what he believes was Djokovic’s best achievement, he drew breath before considering his answer.

“Oh boy, that’s a question,” he said at a Eurosport event. “It’s hard to pick just one given everything he has achieved.

“You look back at the final where he beat Nadal in almost six hours to win the Australian Open (in 2012).

“Then you look at how he became such a great grass court player and his record of winning seven Wimbledon titles.

Saving the match points against Roger (Federer) in the 2019 Wimbledon final was pretty amazing and he has also saved match points at the US Open before going on to win the the title in New York.

There is a long list because this guy is the most successful tennis player of all-time.

“Yet it seems like because he hadn’t won the Olympics and that was the one missing off his record, his gold medal in Paris a few weeks ago might just mean the most to him.

“He stated how much he wanted to win it, so that might be right up there at the top.

“It was pretty unexpected because he had the issue with the knee and we weren’t sure if he was going to play at Wimbledon.

“Then he gets to Paris and plays the way he did, beating Carlos Alcaraz in a pretty incredible final, so that win will be right up there on his list.”

McEnroe believes tennis fans may only fully appreciate Djokovic’s impact on the sport when he hangs up his rackets for the final time, with his status as the ‘bad boy’ of the sport a point of ongoing annoyance for the Serbian great and his fans around the world.

“He has been under-appreciated,” added McEnroe. “It has been difficult for him to be compared to Rafa and Roger, but he has done an amazing job to put himself ahead of those guys.

“In ten years, 20 years, I think people will love him even more. When he stops playing, people will realise what he brought.

“I think that Djokovic has really tried to step up for the sport on and off the court.

“His actions when he plays and also off the court, he has really been trying to push the sport in the right direction.

“Whenever I see him in the locker room, I know he has the respect of the other players, but it has been tough for him with the fans.

“I know a little bit about what he is going through because when I stopped playing everyone was saying ‘oh what you did was great’.

“Yet while I was playing, they didn’t see it that way. He’s done a lot more than me, but we are a little similar in that sense.

“He is smart, he is interesting and he is one of the players who you know will give you value for money. It makes no sense, but I think people will appreciate him more now because Carlos Alcaraz has come along and he can still compete with a guy from a different generation.

“He’s done an incredible job of handling that negativity. He has this reputation for being the bad guy, the Darth Vader.

“I don’t know if it’s because of the way he looks, where he is from… there are all types of reasons and they make no sense.

“I like to see emotion on the court. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, he is inspired by people booing against him. What more can you ask for from an athlete?

“To me, it is like a no-brainer and for whatever reason, he has been short-changed by the fans.”

McEnroe has long been one of Djokovic’s most vocal supporters and many will agree with his sentiments relating to a player who has given so much to tennis without getting too much back from fans.