American tennis gets high praise from John 'you cannot be serious' McEnroe

Former world number one John McEnroe believes that America’s tennis star Taylor Fritz has ‘maximized’ himself on the court during the recently concluded US Open 2024. The 26-year-old is regarded as one of the best players from America currently playing in men’s singles category.

Fritz once again showcased that during the recently concluded fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, where he finished as the runner-up after losing in the final to the world number one Jannik Sinner in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday. Despite that result, Fritz became the first American player in 18 years to play in the final of the US Open. The last player to do that before him was former world number one Andy Roddick, who achieved that in 2006 when he lost to Switzerland’s legendary tennis star Roger Federer.

While speaking to ESPN, as quoted by Daily Express, former world number one McEnroe was quoted in a report where he praised Fritz for maximizing his talent during the recently concluded mega-event. The 65-year-old was also of the opinion that someone like Ben Shelton could learn from Fritz and produce a better outing next year. He also stated that American players are ‘a lot closer’ than they have been in a ‘long time’ to win a Grand Slam.

“Taylor Fritz to me has maximized what he can do on the court,” said McEnroe. “He has done a tremendous job improving himself. The guy with the biggest upside right now to me would be Ben Shelton. He is the guy, perhaps, who can learn from a tough loss to Tiafoe. A semi-finalist last year. He has got the ability to do some really big things. Tiafoe, maybe get a little bit fitter would help him. They are a lot closer than they have been, absolutely, in a long time.”