French Open 2023: Novak Djokovic ‘the greatest returner I’ve ever seen’ says John McEnroe

Djokovic, aiming for a historic 23rd Grand Slam, survived an early scare on Court Philippe-Chatrier after losing the opening set to win 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4 and reach the semi-final at Roland-Garros.

The Serb underlined his quality by dishing out a 7-0 ‘bagel’ in the second set tie-break before comfortably seeing out the match.

“He’s the greatest returner I’ve ever seen. It shows you what Karen’s up against, but it’s a decided edge for him in that department,” said McEnroe.

The American was asked to clarify if he meant Djokovic was the greatest “because he gets everything back, or he can be devastating on return”.

He responded: “Both. Before it was that he got everything back. The last four or five years, a la Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors – the two greatest I ever saw and played against – now he can be offensive or defensive. Plus, he’s taller than those guys, so he can reach a lot more balls at 6’ 2.5.”

McEnroe also praised Khachanov for playing the “best set I’ve ever seen” the Russian play but feels the ‘bagel’ in the tie-break was the turning point in the match.

“His best shot was to go big, and he did that,” said McEnroe.

“He had to serve better than he ever [had], and that’s the best set I’ve ever seen Khachanov play in my life. Most of the second set [too].

“He used the drop shot exceptionally well, and he surprised me with how well he returned, returning like his opponent for most of the first couple sets.

“Unfortunately for him, he got bagelled in the breaker at 7-zip, and that knocked the wind out of his sails a little, allowing Novak to relax more, and the serve went a little. It was curtains after that.

Khachanov battled hard, played well, but when it mattered, Novak lifted his game.”

To perform as well as Khachanov did in the opening two sets and still lose convincingly will be tough for the Russian to take, said Tim Henman.

“It’s incredible. That is the challenge,” Henman remarked.

“Khachanov played incredible tennis in the first two sets. If anything, it’s demoralising to play that well and be a set all, with not much to show for it.

“When the going gets tough, there’s no-one better than Novak Djokovic in these tiebreaks. He played faultless tennis and he knew how important it was to come away with that tiebreak. It’s phenomenal to win it 7-0, and then huge momentum for him going into the third set.”

Mats Wilander remarked that Djokovic was “subdued” in his post-match interview “because we had to speak in English, but also because it was job done.

“He didn’t play well in the opening two sets, Karen played well,” said Wilander.

“I thought ‘wow, he’s so calm, so focussed’; maybe sluggish, like he [Djokovic] said. That’s five sets for you.

“Most people don’t enjoy playing games because every point is not as important, but in the tiebreaker, every point [matters]. How can you play smart when you have to win every point? It’s unbelievable.”

Henman concluded: “It emphasises how high your level has to be [to beat Djokovic] – or to even take a set.”

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