Novak Djokovic is a big outsider heading into his French Open quarter-final against world No 1 Jannik Sinner, but tennis legend John McEnroe has served up an alternative narrative around how the match might play out.
Sinner has been in sensational form throughout the two weeks at Roland Garros, with his ball striking and consistency allowing him to blow away any opponent that has been placed in front of him.
Sinner has beaten Djokovic in their last three meetings, but McEnroe believes the script could be different this time if the 38-year-old can unsettle his youthful rival.
It may seem illogical to suggest that the veteran Djokovic’s hopes of beating Sinner would have a better chance of winning if the match is extended into a fifth set, but that is the verdict from McEnroe.
Sinner missed three months of tennis due to a doping suspension, with McEnroe giving this verdict on one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the year to TNT Sports.
“Believe it or not, I think that if it went to five sets, I would favour Novak, even though he’s older,” said McEnroe.
“Sinner hasn’t played that much for a while. I think there’s a little bit of a question mark of how he would hold up physically and mentally, having not played a lot of matches, which is pretty amazing to say that if you think about it, when one guy’s 38 and the other guy’s 23.
“He’s not going to be easy to deal with; I can promise you that. He knows that he’s got a limited amount of chances left, I’m guessing unless he’s Superman. Maybe he is. But Sinner’s going to be more aggressive than Zverev. He’s not going to take it.
“Sometimes when you watched Carlos play Tommy Paul, you could say Tommy Paul’s not 100%, so play it safer. But actually what these guys do is play bigger – bigger because you have to make these super fast movements because they’re hitting it so hard.
“And that actually is another way to break someone down. So I think Sinner’s gonna come out trying to play that way and see if Novak can stay with him.”
McEnroe also offered up his views on Carlos Alcaraz’s semi-final with Lorenzo Musetti, as he predicted the defending champion will face a bigger test than his last match, when he demolished American Tommy Paul.
“Carlos played incredible against Paul, but I think that Musetti is doing everything he possibly can,” added McEnroe.
“He’s fitter than ever. He’s more comfortable at net. He’s able to use his, he’s got great hands and skills.
“It’s a little bit like him and Zverev are the farthest back of any top players. And that usually means if you’re playing the best of the best, you’re gonna be doing more running. So I think he showed that Carlos will be able to step forward more and I think he’s gonna need to do more of that.
“Musetti was here four years ago. He got two against Novak and he ran out of gas. And then last year, it looked like he had him. They played until three in the morning. It was crazy. He’s getting closer.
“He’s better than he’s ever been but so is Carlos. That’s the problem. It’ll be interesting to see Musetti does try to do different things and be more aggressive. That’s not easy to do against Carlos because he still hits it so big.”
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