Patrick McEnroe feels Rafael Nadal’s desire to finish ahead of Novak Djokovic in the all-time Grand Slam race is a big reason why the Spaniard is still active. Nadal, who will be turning 36 in June, hasn’t had much luck with his health in the last few years.
But Nadal is still going and he is currently the all-time Grand Slam record holder with 22 Majors. On the other side, 35-year-old Djokovic has 21 Grand Slams in his collection. Whenever Nadal receives a question about the all-time Grand Slam race, he answers that his love for the game keeps him going and that he won’t lose any sleep if Djokovic finishes ahead of him.
McEnroe believes Nadal when he says his love for the game keeps him going but McEnroe also added that a competitor and champion like Nadal is never playing just for the sake of competing.
McEnroe on what keeps Nadal going
“I know that Rafa likes to say that he doesn’t care about Novak’s numbers or Roger’s numbers, but I’m not sure, as much as I love Rafael Nadal, that I totally believe him on that, because yes, he’s always amazed me with his ability to play for the love of the game.
There’s no doubt about it, and the competition. But let’s be honest, the guy loves to win. He’s not going to go to the French Open or anywhere if he thinks he can’t win and he.knows that if he goes to the French or even Australia, the US Open, Wimbledon is obviously his toughest one, that there’s very few guys that can beat Novak Djokovic if Novak Djokovic is at his best, but he’s one of the guys that can, certainly on clay and even on a medium-paced hard court, he can,” McEnroe said, per Forbes.
Last year, Nadal took advantage of Djokovic’s absence and won his second Australian Open title. It remains to be seen if Nadal can defend his Australian Open title and prevent Djokovic from tying his all-time Grand Slam record.
