During an exchange on his podcast “Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe”, the host and consultant returned to the final of the Masters 1000 in Paris where Holger Rune, to everyone’s surprise, managed to beat Novak Djokovic after a sacred duel.
But according to Patrick, the Dane would have a lot more trouble repeating this type of performance in a Grand Slam tournament. Tournaments in which the Serb and Rafael Nadal are almost untouchable.
“This guy, Holger Rune, is a phenomenal athlete, amazing legs, amazing shot selection, an electric player to watch. But I don’t see him beating Djokovic best of 5 in Australia. Of course, he can put in some effort over the next few months, and I expect him to do so. But the thing is, if the Australian Open started next week, Djokovic would be the big favorite for me. It has been proven in recent years that it is much more difficult to beat Rafa and Novak in the best of five sets if they are healthy and ready to play. We’ve seen them get knocked out in these tournaments, like the Masters 1000 or the Masters, and more in the last 3–5 years, by the Tsitsipas and the Zverevs. But can they make it best of 5 sets? That’s why for Rune, he will have to work a little more physically.said the former 28e world who nevertheless forgot the victory of the Greek against Rafa at the Australian Open 2021, a performance all the more exceptional as Nadal led two sets to nothing during this quarter-final…
Published on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 6:18 PM
