"Booing fuels Novak Djokovic" - John McEnroe ahead of Nadal clash

John McEnroe has said that Novak Djokovic feeds off negativity 'better than anyone after the world number one received a hostile reception at the French Open.

Djokovic was booed against Diego Schwartzman at Roland Garros and he might expect a similar treatment against Paris' darling Rafael Nadal. But McEnroe is not worried about that explaining that nobody feeds off of that better than Djokovic:

“He does it better than anyone I’ve ever seen. I didn’t do it as well. I felt like it affected me more than it helped me. I think there were times when it fuelled me, but he has done it consistently. He’s a remarkable player and person.”

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McEnroe sympathises with Djokovic who has never earned the same respect and admiration as rivals Roger Federer or Nadal, despite matching them for success. It's something McEnroe struggles to explain:

“He’s been wanting to be respected at that same level, and that sort of fuels him but I think it’s unfair, personally. It’s just something that I can’t explain. I don’t know what it is, honestly."

He continued:

“He deserves to be – and he is – respected. It’s just that I’m sure it’s frustrating. I think at the end of the day they will like him more after he stopped playing which sort of ended up being the case with myself, I guess. But at the time, it’s frustrating. Some of it can be at times your own fault, but I think quite a bit of it isn’t. It’s just that these other guys are so amazing."

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