John McEnroe: Serena Williams over Martina Navratilova, Nadal still the French Open favorite
By Mark Carman
Tennis legend John McEnroe called Serena William the greatest of All-time, still picking a healthy Nadal over Djokovic at French Open
John McEnroe was in suburban Chicago for a series of exhibition matches as part of the PowerShares QQQ Challenge. McEnroe made it to the final after beating Jim Courier 7-6 (5), but then lost to Andy Roddick 6-3. Roddick had beaten James Blake.
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The matches had an interesting twist, no linesman with players calling their own lines. Almost on cue on the first point versus Courier, McEnroe served down the T, Courier called it out, McEnroe challenged, and was proven right by the Hawk-eye. The crowd loved it as McEnroe waved his hands gaining approval. The ball had skidded off the line.
Before the match, McEnroe sat down with FanSided and touched on a variety of subjects starting with how he loves to play the game now perhaps more than he ever has,
"“I like playing the game. The body is holding up. In certain ways, I like it more than I ever did. Your goals are different when you are younger, you put a lot of pressure on yourself, tougher for me to smell the roses then. It’s a lot easer to enjoy it now.”"
McEnroe still has plenty to offer on the court. His touch and feel for the game will probably never leave him and there were a couple spectacular plays at the net.
As for whether Novak Djokovic is the game’s clear #1, McEnroe would not go that far,
"“At the moment Novak is the guy, but that doesn’t mean I would pick him to win the French (Open) if Nadal was healthy. I think Roger (Federer) has his best shot at Wimbledon. You can’t assume (Djokovic) at the top for too long, but he has been tremendously consistent and awesome.”"
Martina Navratilova recently said she would love to play Serena Williams in her prime. McEnroe gave the edge to Serena,
"“To me Serena is the greatest to ever play the game when she is on. Martina would try to do something that people don’t do, which would be to attack her which is what I would try to do. I would say she wouldn’t have a lot of success. If they played 10 times, maybe she could win a couple. I think it would be tough to win a majority for sure.”"
To listen to the entire interview with John McEnroe click here.