World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is not playing in the Australian Open 2022. Amidst a slew of controversies around his admission in the tournament and the country, the Serbian left Australia.

However, the one thing that continues to remain on people’s minds, is the ATP rankings. This is because Djokovic did not play any of the lead-up tournaments or the Grand Slam itself. Thus, his rivals, particularly Daniil Medvedev, have racked up points that he couldn’t get a shot at.

In that vein, tennis legend John McEnroe shared his opinion on what that would mean for Djokovic to lose out the top spot.

 John McEnroe calls Novak Djokovic the best player of all time

Even though Novak Djokovic will continue being the World No. 1 at the end of the Australian Open, Medvedev isn’t far away. The Serbian has held the ATP top spot for a record 357 weeks across his career.

According to the ATP, if Daniil Medvedev were to go on and win the Australian Open, he could take the top spot by February 21. However, for tennis legend and 7-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, that won’t matter.

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McEnroe stated that Djokovic losing the top spot in the ATP rankings would not mean that he is no longer the best player of all. “You cannot tell me that Djokovic, who has won three of the last four majors, is not going to be the best player of all,” John McEnroe said.

“That’s ludicrous,” he continued. Then, McEnroe stated that Novak Djokovic will “continue to be the best, even if he is not number one”. Clearly, the 62-year-old legend favors Novak Djokovic and has spoken in his support numerous times.

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Moreover, McEnroe also said that what truly matters is who holds the No. 1 spot at the end of the year. “It’s a long year,” McEnroe stated, describing how the rankings matter at the end of the year, “when all four majors are played, when all the tournaments have been played.”

McEnroe heaps praises upon Daniil Medvedev

Even though McEnroe clearly prefers Novak Djokovic over the rest of the active players, he does not cut corners in praising the World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.

McEnroe praised the way Medvedev has improved his game. He likens Medvedev’s game to “the way you try to teach kids”. After they “get a foundation,” McEnroe described, “you start adding to your game, and that’s what he’s done”.

Then, McEnroe recalled when Medvedev played Novak Djokovic four years ago, and was quite aggressive in the match. McEnroe initially thought that Medvedev would pay for pushing Novak, “but he got in Djokovic’s head.”

Thus, “he got a lot of respect in the locker room.” Finally, McEnroe praised Daniil Medvedev’s mental toughness. “He’s become an absolutely tremendous player,” McEnroe appreciated the Russian.

In fact, he even said that he could argue that the World No. 2 is the best hard court player in the world right now. That’s certainly some tall praise from one of the greatest to ever do it.

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