Novak Djokovic ‘has helped’ Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in GOAT battle – John McEnroe and Mats Wilander

Eurosport experts John McEnroe and Mats Wilander have given their thoughts on the fascinating battle for the Australian Open 2023 title with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal set to lead the other contenders.

“The greatest single quality an athlete can have is that hunger, and no matter how successful you are, just being willing to do the hard yards and the work it requires to even give yourself a chance, and Rafa does that better than anyone,” McEnroe told Eurosport’s Reem Abulleil.

“He keeps a humbleness and a cockiness at the same time, which is a tricky thing to manoeuvre, and he does an incredible job of that.

“He’s able to figure out a way to make every match seem like he’s got to pay respect to his opponent, and he’s got to give 100 per cent effort. Very few players can do that, it’s an amazing quality and that’s why he’s won as much as he has.

“You do believe with him that he’ll do anything and everything to get back and give himself that chance, and there are very few players you can say that about, that’s why there’s so much respect for Rafa.

“With the players and anyone that watches the sport, you look at the guy and go, ‘oh god, how can that guy want it so much still, it looks like he’s never won a major’.

“It looks like every point he plays is the last point he will ever play. I try to teach that to my kids at my academy every day: if you go out and do that, good things will happen, and he’s the greatest example ever.

“He’s forced Novak to give more, and he’s better because of it, and then Novak has helped Rafa get better because he doesn’t want Novak to go by him, and that helped Roger, so this was a beautiful thing to watch for the last 10, 15 years.”

Wilander believes that Nadal is “going to be an absolute animal” at Melbourne Park this year and that his victory in 2022 will have given him great confidence for the tournament Down Under.

“Rafael Nadal is going to be there from the first point of the year at the Australian Open, I am 100 per cent sure because of the sun, because of the conditions, because having won there is huge,” Wilander told Eurosport’s Arnold Montgault.

“Having won there for the second time for someone like him, now he has won all of the majors twice or more, that’s massive. That’s where he separates himself from the great Roger Federer, who only won one French Open. So Rafa now knows how to win in all the different venues.

“The sun starts coming out and his tennis ball is suddenly bouncing higher than normal, or at least he feels like he can grip the ball and spin it. That is going to increase his confidence level by maybe 25-50 per cent compared to playing indoors where the sun is not shining. I think that is the big difference.

“He just has to get there healthy. He is going to be an absolute animal and I’m sure that he is going to play his best tennis. He has a big chance to win the Australian Open, as he does the French Open.”

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