07/19/2022 at 1:50 PM
IT IS
“I had never seen someone like him. I thought Jimmy Connors tried hard until I saw Rafael Nadal,” he said.
American legend sees Manacor man as ‘a role model’
John McEnroe is one of the most unconditional admirers of Rafa Nadal in the world of tennis. And these are not minor words, since the American is a living legend who has seven Grand Slam tournaments.
In statements to ‘Tennis 365’, the man from Wiesbaden pointed out that “Nadal is a role model for other tennis players, and it’s thanks to his fight and his efforts on the court. It’s not easy that at 36 you are able to win the Australian Open and then Roland Garros, then reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon. It is not easy”.
And it is that John McEnroe values, above all, the agonistic capacity and the effort that Rafa Nadal always shows: “I had never seen someone like him in this aspect. When I played with him, I always thought Jimmy Connors tried hard until I saw Nadal. This is his greatest quality, because the fact that he can go out on the court and put in that kind of effort, play and play, is something that tennis players always aspire to, but it is very difficult to achieve. .“.
The American tennis player also highlighted the differences he appreciates between Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic: “They are totally different in many ways. Djokovic talks openly about his desire to have the most Grand Slams in the history of the tennis, while Rafa acts like nothing It doesn’t matter in that aspect except to go on the court, play and work hard for every point and every game.
McEnroe does not put one above the other by calibrating this approach: “It worked out pretty well for both of them if you look at their history and the number of grand they won.so whatever makes you happy and brings out the best in you is probably what you should be doing.”