John McEnroe on Novak's quest for the U.S. Open title: I see it perfectly

John McEnroe on Novak's quest for the U.S. Open title: I see it perfectly

John McEnroe predicts Novak Djokovic will become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to capture the calendar Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open.

“I anticipate that he’s going to win the tournament, that’s what I anticipate,” McEnroe, a four-time U.S. Open champion, said.

McEnroe believes that the Serbian ace will overcome two more obstacles in order to set the Grand Slam record, with the 21st trophy, ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

He also explained how he predicted the previous two results of the Serbian ace.

"Novak wants to break that record. I see him perfectly winning two or four more Grand Slams. I think he keeps his best version for the end, as the tournament progresses he gets better. He's obviously a human being, but there are no signs that he will fall apart. The way he played against Berrettini in the last three sets was his best in the tournament," said McEnroe.

Djokovic has a chance to complete the "calendar slam" in New York, something that only the famous Rod Laver did.

“I felt before Wimbledon started that he was going to win the Grand Slam. I felt like he was going to lose at the Olympics. The two-out-of-three format, just excessive travel, no fans, et cetera, I think contributed. I think the heat is the big thing. To me it’s going to be him against the field. I pick him right now.”

“There’s a reason it hasn’t been done in 50 something years. It’s tough. It’s really tough. We’ll see how he handles it. He handles it about as well as anyone I’ve ever seen in the last five, 10 years of his career. I think he’s ready for the moment”, McEnroe believes. Novak will go to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, and then to Daniil Medvedev in the potential finals.

"Medvedev is a chess player, someone who is able to think in advance. I think the audience will be 50:50, people want to see history. They know that Djokovic will achieve something very special and historical, and everyone wants to see that." The biggest obstacle for Djokovic will be pressure, the American believes.

“The heat could be an issue for any player, any top player, any player for that matter,” McEnroe said. “That could be a deciding factor if he were to lose to someone, if he got stuck in a situation where he was playing in really hot conditions, if he was playing during the day. Otherwise I think he’s going to do it.”

"Sasha had impressive serves and beat him in Tokyo, even though it was in three sets. When you see the match between Novak and Berrettini, when he lost the first set, Nole answered impressively. He showed strength", he concluded.

The match between Djokovic and Zverev is on the program at one o'clock after midnight.