"I think that takes a lot of guts" says McEnroe on Djokovic's openness to become GOAT

John McEnroe expressed his opinion on Novak Djokovic's motivation in the race for the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is already in the quarterfinals of the 2023 French Open. Djokovic's journey has been smooth so far, as he hasn't dropped a set, and despite the injury that bothered him in recent weeks, he appears to be gaining better sensations in each match.

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'Nole' is currently tied with Rafael Nadal with 22 Grand Slam titles, making them the male players who have won the most trophies in this category. With the absence of the multi-time Roland Garros champion, Djokovic has a golden opportunity to surpass the Spanish player.

McEnroe believes that Djokovic has "a lot of guts" for aspiring to be considered the Greatest Of All Time.

"You can easily make an argument for all three [Federer, Djokovic, Nadal]," McEnroe said.

"It certainly would have more people talking about that because he would be the only one that would win all four of them [Grand Slams] at least three times.”

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"I don't have the records in front of me, but he has talked about it so openly, that it's a goal of his and he embraces that. I think that takes a lot of guts in itself to say 'I want it' rather than just say 'I want to do the best I can and whatever happens happens.”

"At the moment for me, Nadal is the greatest player that has ever lived on clay. Novak would be the same on hard courts. Roger on grass, even though Djokovic has beaten Roger a few times at Wimbledon.

"Certainly he's right there, and I think it's amazing because he was trying to get into that mix for so long. To be playing so well at his age is hard to believe, actually," McEnroe claimed.

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"Djokovic rises to the occasion," he said. "He needs to get inspired or have someone write him off. Some type of chance to break an amazing record. No one is writing Djokovic off.”

"Sometimes his attitude on the court fuels him. You'd rather be respected than loved. You'd rather have both if possible, but he's handled it well. He has been mature about it and he's been pretty successful turning lemons into lemonade,” the Americaan added.

"Even when people were getting on him, for calling on the trainer for example, it's almost like people are looking for an excuse to get on him.

"I can relate to that. I deserved it more than he did. It's not easy to take that to use it and fuel you. To me, he's better than anyone at that to ever play the game," he concluded.