When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. But who’s toughest among all the next-gen big guns to be consistent among the Top 10 in the tennis world? While several names of the rising stars have popped up recently in the Top 10, most of them have failed to hold it for a long period. What might be the reason for that and how hard it’s to stay at the top for a longer period?

Recently, John McEnroe’s brother Patrick McEnroe appeared at The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast. During the conversation, the former tennis player came up with a reality check for youngsters like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, and a few others. What did he say?

“Take a step back before you can take those two steps forward” – John McEnroe’s brother’s advice to all the youngsters

During the interview, Patrick McEnroe’s brother took the example of the Greek tennis star, Stefanos Tsitsipas. He said, previously Tsitsipas was among the Top 10 and even fighting in a couple of major finals. But now he’s dropped down to the 11th spot. “So unless you’re one of these guys who’s going to be an all-time great a Hall of Famer dare I say, you know whether it’s the Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev, and so on. It’s hard. It’s hard to stay at the top,” John McEnroe’s brother’s advice to the rising stars.

McEnroe went on to add, “Is Taylor Fritz gonna be able to stay there, Tommy Paul, these guys are doing great. But you know, sometimes when you see that carrot like I want it so bad. I want to get the top five I want to you know, win a major sometimes you take maybe some risk, and what you’re doing with your game with your mindset that you can sometimes take a step back before you can take those two steps forward.” Talking about how hard it is to stay at the Top level, who knows it better than the current world number one, Novak Djokovic?

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Even a few months ago, the 36YO gave an interview to Jon Wertheim where he revealed these young guns have kind of awakened a beast in him. Djokovic’s hunger and the motivation to stay at the top and perform constantly at the highest level even at this age, is truly admiring. But what keeps him going, what’s his mindset?

“I don’t think that the comfort zone exists really” – Novak Djokovic

Almost four years ago, during an interview, Novak Djokovic revealed, “I adjust every single season, every single year to the changes that I experience as a person and as a player. I don’t believe in such things as stagnation or comfort zones. I don’t think that the comfort zone exists really. You’re constantly challenged on every level I think every single day.” He reflected on how he trains his mind and body to fight all the battles and a combination of all those is the secret formula to his success.

How to stay focused on your goals over a longer span of time? Novak Djokovic has a medicine for this as well. He said, “So what I think is well, probably one of the biggest lessons I have learnt about, I guess, mental strength is that, you know if you lose your focus, if you, you know, you’re not present, things start to go the wrong way for you, it’s fine. Accept it and then come back.” What are your thoughts on the advice straight from the horse’s mouth?