Novak Djokovic might only be the best tennis player of all-time, but he could be edging himself towards the title of the greatest athlete of the modern era, according to Patrick McEnroe.
Speaking exclusively to Tennis365 at Indian Wells in his capacity as International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) President, McEnroe suggested the time has come to put Djokovic in the mix for the title of the ultimate athlete in the history of all sports as he suggested his longevit at the top has taken his reputation to the next level.
Djokovic has already won his battle to be etched into the tennis history books as the most successful player of all-time after he claimed more Grand Slam titles than his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Now McEnroe has told us that the Serbian’s achievements may be even more remarkable than enduring champions like soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, NFL star Tom Brady and basketball giant LeBron James.
“You are seeing this kind of longevity from great athletes in a few other sports, but what Novak is doing may be the best of the lot,” McEnroe told Tennis365.
“We have Cristiano Ronaldo at the age of 40 still playing on the biggest stages. Tom Brady continued his career for a long time, then you look at LeBron James doing what he is doing in baseball, but I would argue what Novak is doing is even more impressive.
“With tennis being an individual sport, it is harder to compete for as long as Novak has done and given everything he has won in the sport, his passion and drive for more is so impressive.
“There’s nowhere to run or hide in tennis. If you are Ronaldo, you have some protection from your team mates and may only need to contribute for sections of a game.
“Tom Brady has all that protection from his teammates and LeBron is a team player, but tennis is all about doing it on your own.
“That’s why I would say what Novak Djokovic is doing is one of the greatest achievements in the history of sport.
“He is about to be 38 and the fact that he is still competing as well as he did in a major as he did in Australia was amazing.
“He obviously hasn’t won a major in over a year now, but he did win the Olympics last year and he is still beating players like Carlos Alcaraz, so he is still right there.
“Who knows whether he will win another major. Wimbledon may be his best shot this year, but he obviously still loves the game and he is doing everything he possibly can to win again.
McEnroe went on to suggest Djokovic’s drive to improve and grow as an athlete has allowed him to stay focused on tennis, as he cited an example of his attention to detail as he prepared for a Grand Slam tournament. “I remember last year at the US Open in the week prior to the tournament, we were doing our shows on ESPN and he was going through his return of serve in incredible detail,” said McEnroe.
“He had his team filming him, what position his elbow was in and where his wrist was. It was really detailed stuff.
I was looking at it and thinking this is the greatest tennis player of all-time, with the greatest return of all-time and he is still dissecting his game and trying to get better. I guess this is one of the reasons why he has been so successful. His attention to detail is like no other.
“Great players I played against like [Pete] Sampras, [Roger] Federer or my brother, they had so much natural ability and you didn’t feel they were dissecting the ins and outs of it as much as someone like Djokovic.”
The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) officially opened its Letters to Greatness booth at an event hosted by ITHF Presidents, Patrick McEnroe and Kim Clijsters.
McEnroe and Clijsters were joined by ITHF CEO, Dan Faber and upcoming 2025 Inductees, Bob and Mike Bryan, to kick off the event by recording their own Letters to Greatness – congratulatory messages to Maria Sharapova and the Bryan Brothers ahead of their formal induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame later this summer.
The Letters to Greatness booth will remain open throughout the remainder of the BNP Paribas Open, where tennis fans will have the chance to record or pen their own personal messages to the Class of 2025.
