John McEnroe responds to Rafael Nadal's bullish claim about Novak Djokovic's Grand Slam record - 'Never anticipated that'

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Tennis legend John McEnroe gave his verdict on Rafael Nadal's claims that his record of 14 French Open titles is harder to beat than Novak Djokovic's 24 Grand Slams.

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Nadal earned his reputation as the 'King of Clay' by winning his 14 Roland-Garros titles in the space of 18 years, spanning his debut in 2005 all the way until his last-ever major triumph in 2022.

The Spaniard claimed on his Netflix documentary 'Rafa' that his record on the Paris clay courts will be harder to overtake than Djokovic's 24 major titles, the all-time record he shares with Margaret Court.

McEnroe, who himself won 17 Grand Slams across singles and doubles, feels the records held by Nadal and Djokovic will both be near-impossible to better.

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"Just for the record, either one of them is incredibly hard to beat," the TNT Sports expert said. "It would be hard to believe that either one of them would be beaten.

"But I used to say that when [Pete] Sampras had 14, I said who's going to get 15? And then three guys got 20, so I never anticipated that to happen.

"But I would say I'd agree, if someone is that great and is able to even think about doing what they did, I'd say it's harder to win 14 French Opens than it is 24 overall.

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"But either one of them would be one in a billion, or one in 100 million."

While Nadal has retired and recently said "I don't miss" being on the court, Djokovic persists in his pursuit for a 25th major which would see him pull clear of his joint all-time best.

His latest opportunity passed him by. And it may well be considered among his best, with Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing before the French Open and Jannik Sinner exiting in the second round, before Djokovic crashed out with a third-round defeat to Joao Fonseca.

But Wimbledon kicks off later this month and, with Alcaraz also out of the grass major, another window of opportunity has opened for the 39-year-old.

With seven titles at the All England Club, McEnroe feels this may be Djokovic's strongest opportunity to finally clinch the record.

"I don't know about the final [chance] but probably the best," McEnroe said. "He knows how to play on it [grass] almost better than anyone and there are not many players that are comfortable on it.

"Also, the points are shorter. He is 39 now. At some point, it seemed like he was going pretty well, but the heat got to him a bit. There's no question about that.

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"But he still looks in great shape. He can't be quite as quick, his endurance is a little bit less, so this seems to be his best chance to me for sure."

Should Djokovic take another major title before he retires, he will be the oldest men's Grand Slam champion in the Open Era. And McEnroe said he is in awe of the manner in which the Serbian keeps on going.

"This is somewhat superhuman, he's still doing it," McEnroe said. "It's crazy. He seems to still be motivated and God bless him if he still wants to be doing it."

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