John McEnroe

I really cannot stand this guy. He is so full of himself. No doubt that he was an incredibly talented player and probably the only multi slam winner in the Open era who succeeded without being a truly outstanding athlete but his foul language and gamesmanship were just beyond the pale and unforgivable.

Now he is at it again as a commentator having a pop at Nadal.

Nadal said he was delighted to be able to return to Wimbledon to defend his title, something which was denied him in 2009 because of a knee injury.
"It's a very, very big emotion to come back to this beautiful court. Everything was perfect," he said.

But Nadal refused to look too far ahead in the tournament and possible showdowns with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

"Let's not talk about what might happen in 12 days. I might be here or I might be home fishing in Majorca," said Nadal.

Nadal has constantly refused to entertain the prospect of chasing down Federer's 16 Grand Slam titles, a show of modesty which sparked an astonishing outburst from former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe.

"I'm getting a little bit tired of him continuing to downplay his chances," McEnroe told the BBC.
"There is definitely an argument for him not only being the best player at the moment, but the greatest of all time.
"Rafa has won things like the Davis Cup and an Olympic gold medal (in singles) that Roger Federer hasn't, and he is right on his tail in terms of Grand Slam titles too - so why can't he just say 'look, I'm the best'."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hwJ1xETzxHAu8MnHaBBsmc6PtvhQ?docId=CNG.0a27e2db6718d56dc91627d03daceda1.a91



Astonishing indeed.

For sure there is a case for Rafael Nadal being the greatest of all time but the last person on earth who should be making that case is ... Rafael Nadal. His genuine humility and modesty are not values to be ridiculed by the likes of John McEnroe. Those are admirable qualities in anyone let alone in a person as ridiculously talented as Nadal who has achieved more than any male tennis player in history at the age of 25.

Sure, John McEnroe is entitled to his opinion but knocking a player for having good personal qualities and values is a new low IMO.

The web stream didn't turn off at the end of the Murray match and there was about 20 minutes of studio talk broadcast that wasn't supposed to air. I was eagerly waiting for someone to say something that'd create a huge controversy. But the only bit of leaked gossip. . . McEnroe wanted some steamed broccoli.

Icecold, McEnroe has been a big Nadal fan boy. He might sound pushy but he really fawns over Nadal.

He's picked Federer as favourite to win though.

No he picked Nadal as always.

I watched him say all that live.

John McEnroe was the first player that I supported as a "fan" in the truest sense of the world ... and never did again until Rafa came along.

But never at any point in how John delivered those lines in his body language or the tone in which he said it made me think for one minute that he was denigrating Rafa. Indeed, John has been one of Rafa's stalwart supporters.

I personally don't think its a big issue, and if anything, it was tongue-in-cheek and not knocking Rafa as a person at all.

Did anyone see him and Jimmy Connors having some banter in the rain break? They were at it again about how there doesn't seem to be any "needle" between the top players, unlike how things were in their day. If anything, John may be guilty of judging too much of how things were in "his" day, but I don't believe he has any ridicule against Rafa.

He did pick Federer to win though.

Ok. Thought he picked Nadal before Wimbledon. McEnroe many times fawn over Nadal. He always says alot like putting Nadal in his top 3 greatest after USO last year. He even called Nadal a great volleyer at the FO when all pundits try to make it sound like he is only good at putting away easy points at the net.

Oh mine, Sue Barker picks Nadal, it's a miracle.

Now McEnroe picks Fed? That's quite a few choosing Fed now, first Sampras, the grass court King and then Borg and now McEnroe and Fed hasn't even played yet! How many Wimbledon titles do these guys have between themselves....15! Oh, and good old Boris picked Fed after the French, so that's another endorsement, so actually these guys hold between them 18, even more.

These are only predictions, so they could amount to nothing but I'm still surprised so many are picking Fed when Nadal seemed to play reasonably well today (although a competent performance against a weak opponent and it's still as early as it can be in the tournament).

Wooffie, Mac and Connors actually talked to each other, they must have been paid a lot of money for putting up with each other. What did they say I would be interested in that little bit of banter?

Believe me if there is one thing you can depend on with J.Mc is that he says it as it is. Yes I did here him say he thought Fed would win this one.. but like Wooffie says he has always been a great admirer of Rafa. He listed off all of Rafa´s achievements amongst which things that Federer had not done... i.e. played twice in DC and one an Olympic Gold. and still at only 25... The Goat debate as far as he is concerned dis "still in progress".
He mentioned that Roger was the most "beautiful" player on court but that Rafa´s approach to the game was something he too admired.. his aggression and determination and power making the contrast

Socal it wasn´t actually "banter" between Connors and Mac it was very interesting talk.. They spoke of their rivalry (comparing it to Rog/Raf)
What each of them brought to the game.. Jimbo seemed to have most to say (so whats new I here you ask).. but there was no biting and it actually was very interesting to listen to their individual version of events.I think that Mac (watching his face and the sly grin that passed over it now and again) would have loved to add a quip or two but decided it might not make good tv

I like mcenroe, he is the best of the commentators. boris is very good as well ,

I saw that segment that McEnroe quoted about Nadal.

I don't think he meant it in the way that some may view he is taking it out of context. I think he see's it that being so talented at tennis that Nadal is, that maybe Nadal himself needs to appreciate his talent more in a more 'open' fashion. As so many people have posted about Nadal's humility making him the person he is. I think Mac was showing enormous respect for Nadal in the sense that he was implying that if he had that talent, he would be more brash, even though he is a multiple Slam winner.

Nadal is very humble until he starts losing.

Does anyone remember his presser after the Sod loss at the FO - sour grapes or what? He barely mentioned anything about Sod playing well.

Also who can forget him going beserk vs Berdych at last year's WTF. Infact he threatened to stop playing, like a spoilt child.

Emancipator, what you see as 'sour grapes' others may see as disappointment in a loss.

As for going 'berserk', he's neither the first nor I am sure will be the last to react in a way that some might not necessarily agree with - you don't have to even go outside of the top 4 for examples. This just shows passion in what they do. And who hasn't, in any walk of life, lost it a bit if they feel they have been wronged.

Not sure how McEnroe’s comments yesterday are anything to do with words uttered in one press conference back in 2009 after one of the hardest defeats for Nadal to take in his career, but saying this …

Had I played my best level against Soderling maybe the result would have been different… I didn’t play at my best level and was playing someone who was playing very well today. I’ve seen him play many times so his playing level was not a surprise. My playing level was a surprise today.

… makes appropriate reference to his opponent. From whom should he take his lead in responding to questions after a defeat? Hhmmm?? His on-court behaviour in the WTF match against Berdych was inappropriate, and like most things, I am sure he learnt from it.

Haddie, I don't know as great as Rafa and Roger is the mac and connors rivalry had a little bit more spice and tension.

This is a bit unfair on Nadal, it is true that the way Nadal behaves on court is very different to how be behaves off it. I've noticed this and have been at a loss as to why there's such a contrast. In every respect off court, he's a great guy, on court he's irritating, walks with a swagger and looks like he could murder someone. Inevitably, most of what we see of Nadal is on court which is why I think it's harder to warm to Nadal than compared with Federer or Djokovic or many other players.

Nadal is far from perfect and I'm sure we can find occasions for all tennis players when they behave a bit less than we expect of good sportsmen, Nadal included.

I think the reason Nadal always downplays the idea he's the greatest of all time is because until he's actually reached 16 or gone beyond the tally Federer has achieved, Nadal doesn't want to claim something he doesn't feel he is. He knows that the greatest of all time is decided predominantly by who has the most grand slams and until he's reached or surpassed it, he isn't it. He wants to demonstrate it first and it seems like a reasonable thing to me. Most of the discussion about why Federer isn't the GOAT revolves around the fact he has a bad head to head with Nadal while this overlooks that Nadal doesn't have more grand slams. I certainly agree Nadal has the potential to acquire more slams than Federer but until he has or comes close, the debate about GOAT is silly, it's no contest for now and that's exactly how Nadal sees it (as far as I can see). The way many talk about it, it's as if Nadal already has those slams in the bag and McEnroe's comments just adds to that. McEnroe is doing what many in the media love doing, speculating, it's not something limited to sports, it's the same in many areas, celebrities, politics, sports and other areas the media cover. We're better off avoiding it.

I think McEnroe was saying it tounge in cheek, as Nadal always downplays his chances. Besides I think they've been friends for a while now:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T3fKSKXzeA&NR=1

socal1976 wrote:Haddie, I don't know as great as Rafa and Roger is the mac and connors rivalry had a little bit more spice and tension.

Socal ... lets put it this way.. better ?? worse?.... what I do know is it was certainly different. Looking back on it .. it was almost funny. They were a comedy duo really.
I mean in their talk in the studio yesterday Jimbo came close to saying that he knew he could wind up McEnroe and Mac knew he annoyed Jimbo.. they said they even used to psyche one another out in the tunnel before coming on to court. Just looking at each other would get the pulse racing..

They admitted that the rivalry Rog/Raf have is a friendly one and they cannot see how that is possible ...when you were No.1. in those days all players hated you because they wanted to be No.1. so being at the top was not a place to be if you wanted to be popular.

Their rivalry was something special socal.. so glad I never missed it

he wants Nadal to show some arrogance in his interviews, much like they have in boxing.

Nadal may be the best around but he is quite boring in interviews.

Why ??? because he answers truthfully every question asked of him.
Because he isn´t arrogant. ? because he does his best with the command of English that he has to remain pleasant, patient and humble.

If thats boring.. then I wish there were a few more champions like him.

If thats boring.. then I wish there were a few more champions like him.

Then tennis would be dead if there was no characters.

Nadal just says what is he told to say rather than what he wants to say.

You know that do you ???? And where did you get that little pearl of wisdom.. So if he does then who else does...ever asked that question.
So back it up with facts and then you wont be accused of wumming

Simple_Analyst wrote:Oh mine, Sue Barker picks Nadal, it's a miracle.

Did she? OMG - Sue, the Fed worshiper, picked Nadal

LOL ok then.

it's my opinion that he says what he is told to say.

wipe ur eyes.

Remember that we are listening to these most of these guys responding to questions in someting other than their native language. As such, you shouldn't expect too much Earth-shattering to be said - simply follow the PR script.

My personal opinion is that the top players of today usually come across as good winners (i.e. not over-hyping themselves or being derogatory to opponents), but are perhaps not such good losers because of their competetive instincts.

I get the point Mac was making - Rafa could play up his chances a bit more, but perhaps it doesn't work to motivate him in the way it did for MacEnroe.

A tennis player being told what to say in an interview regarding his life?

I have heard it all now.

legendkillar wrote:A tennis player being told what to say in an interview regarding his life?

I have heard it all now.

Don't be so sure LK. Sure there'll be more gems coming our way.