John McEnroe, winner of seven Grand Slams, doesn’t hold out much hope that anyone either than Serena Williams or Rafael Nadal will win the French Open.
The tournament will begin at Roland Garros on Sunday.
Nadal has won seven French Opens, and Williams has won one as part of her 15 Grand Slam titles.
McEnroe offered his take on the dominant duo, as well as the future of Cobb County’s Melanie Oudin in a teleconference earlier this week. Some questions have been rewritten and some of McEnroe’s answers have been paraphrased for clarity and brevity.
Q: Can anybody beat Serena?
A: I mean it's been done before. I've done it myself, but you sort of have to beat yourself. The level she's at when she's playing well, I don't think anybody can beat her. Anybody, no matter great they are, everybody has bad days.
On clay, it’s her worst surface. The odds would increase. The pressure is greater obviously at the French because she’s only won it once. I would say at some stage in the event, it would be likely that she won’t have one of her best days. Depending on her opponent that day, someone might have a shot at her.
Q: Who is your favorite on the men’s side?
A: I think it's pretty obvious who the favorite is (Nadal). I mean, I'm really happy for him and impressed that he's come back. It seems like he's barely lost anything, if at all. Right now he seems to be finally, he says, playing the best he's been playing the whole year, which is sort of frightening for the other players.
Unless something happens that’s unforeseen, it would be pretty hard-pressed to make an argument for anyone other than (Novak) Djokovic to beat him. It would have to be one of those swing for the fences-type players like (Robin) Soderling was that one year, and the conditions would have to be extremely heavy so his ball wouldn’t have the type of jump it normally does.
Again, it’s similar to Serena. It’s possible because maybe mentally he’ll have a slight letdown because he’s won it so many times, and maybe there will be that day where he has that off day.
He has played a lot recently, which he traditionally does because he’s winning almost everything on clay before he plays. It’s possible he might be caught off-guard in a match, but it’s unlikely that someone can still beat him in a best of five.
Q: What do you expect in Roger Federer’s 15th French Open?
A: Roger is working harder than ever, I'm sure, physically to maintain the type of fitness level he needs to be able to go the distance at least against guys that he's better than.
I would think at some stage for anybody, even Roger, the motivation of playing in the smaller events becomes an issue. Then if you string a couple of mediocre results, it gets frustrating. Then it’s difficult for him at his age that he could go past like a Djokovic and Nadal to win something on a clay court.
I think his best bet, as I’ve said for years, is Wimbledon. I would be amazed if he would be able to beat both those guys at the French.
I saw him beat Djokovic a couple years ago. He’s had incredibly solid results. I think at this stage for him, if he got to the semis, it would be a solid result. You never know, maybe he wouldn’t have to play one of those guys. That would be his best bet.
Q: Have you seen any young up-and-comers that might make their mark?
A: I'm always looking around for those guys. Obviously there was that group of four or five guys. (Grigor) Dimitrov has finally taken a step in the right direction. I think he was certainly top-five material. I think (Milos) Raonic has the ability to break easily into the top 10, top five potentially.
The other guys, it’s a little bit more clear. (Bernard) Tomic has issues with his father. Certainly we want and need desperately for Americans (to contend). Ryan Harrison, I always felt was a solid player, top-20 potential. I didn’t see that individual sort of trait that would separate him with some of these other guys. There’s something about some of these guys that they have that extra potential gear.
I like Jack Sock quite a bit, but I don’t know exactly what’s happening as far as his commitment, training. I think at times he’s made some positive steps. But I’m clearly hopeful that someone comes along that will shake things up, particularly if he’s American and sort of brings some juice back to what’s going on in America, bring some more interest. Obviously right now you’re just talking about sort of the other four guys, who, if anyone, can possibly win a major.
I think it’s pretty clear to see when you watch the sport that it appears to be more difficult than ever for a teenager, even someone in their early 20s, to break through the way (Boris) Becker did, (Mats) Wilander at the French, (Pete) Sampras.
You always say it’s impossible. It does seem because of the physicality of the game, it’s difficult to see those 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds be able to jump and win majors.
At the same time something is going to change. I keep saying this. In the next year or two, someone is going to make that breakthrough. I wish I knew who it was. I don’t know yet. I would still go with the first two I mentioned.
Q: Was Oudin’s performance in 2009, reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, a flash or do you see her being able to come back and match at some point?
A: I think she started to turn things around. She had a lot of emotional things going on I believe right around that time that she had that success. It sort of blindsided her.
Physically, obviously she’s a small girl. If you look at the average height of a female player on the tour, it’s about eight or nine inches taller than she is. That makes things pretty difficult.
If you’re not in incredible shape, for little people, boy or girl, you’re asking for some major trouble. What she relied on to a large degree to me, from what I saw, was foot speed, a big forehand and a lot of enthusiasm. She seemed to lose some of that, and foot speed also.
I know my brother (Patrick) has been working with her for quite a while, along with some of the other USTA pros. Seems like she’s making some headway. I don’t know what people are expecting as far as how far back. I think certainly she could make some more inroads. I don’t think you’re going to see her winning major events or being at the end of those tournaments. In my opinion, she could be a solid pro and have success.
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