Tennis legend John McEnroe believes the race for the title of best tennis player in the world will boil down to the winner of the upcoming US Open Championship.
A four-time US Open champion, McEnroe thinks Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all have legitimate shots at winning the final Grand Slam of the year, while Roger Federer is considered a long shot to win another majors title.
McEnroe, who served as an analyst for ESPN Tennis, thinks the real world's No. 1 will be determined at the conclusion of the US Open Championships in Flushing Meadows in Queens, N.Y.
"There's three different guys, obviously Rafa, Novak and Andy, that have won the three majors, and all three of them feel that if they win the US Open - I think - that they're going to deserve to be called number one for the year," McEnroe said in a statement, according to Tennis Earth.
Djokovic cruised to his third straight Australian Open Championship earlier this year, while Rafael Nadal returned from a knee injury just in time to bag a record eighth French Open crown. Meanwhile, Andy Murray finally delivered the United Kingdom's first Wimbledon Open championship after waiting for a homegrown champion for decades.
Novak still holds the top spot of the ATP World rankings but Nadal is beginning to make his move, winning several big time tournaments lately, including rare back-to-back victory in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Nadal's recent success catapulted him past Murray in the ATP rankings and he can still gain ground in the coming weeks because he's not required to defend a single point.
On the other hand, Federer isn't considered a strong contender in this year's US Open championship mainly because of his on-court struggles of late.
Federer, five-time US Open champion, bowed out to unheralded opponents in two clay-court tournaments before succumbing to Nadal in an epic quarterfinal showdown in Cincinnati a week ago. The 17-time Grand Slam champion is planning to use his old racket after experimenting with new ones with bigger heads for over a month.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
