"It's not his call, it's the umpires" - McEnroe defends Nadal over serving shot clock rule

Eurosport expert John McEnroe has defended himself after he was drawn into a row over whether Rafael Nadal ignores the 25-second serve clock rule and receives special treatment from umpires.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion came from a set behind to beat Rinky Hijikata in his first round US Open match, eventually winning 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3 to overcome the Australian.

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In his post-match press conference, a reporter asked if Nadal was leaving "some kind of a shadow" on his legacy by "not following the serve clock rule". The reporter also cited McEnroe in support of his argument. McEnroe did speak about the issue at the French Open.

Nadal described the situation as a “joke” and, with tongue in cheek, said he would speak with McEnroe later. Appearing as part of Eurosport's US Open coverage, McEnroe addressed the row but said he had not spoken to Nadal.

“Why did they throw me under the bus? We haven't had that talk (with Nadal) but let me just add that… he didn’t let me finish, whoever the dumb journalist was,” McEnroe explained.

“Rafa Nadal is entitled to do whatever the hell he wants, that’s part of why you get as good as [Nadal is], you’ve got to deal with that.

“And it’s not up to him. We all know that he’s been doing this for the past 10 to 15 years. There's nothing new to that. It’s not his call - it’s the umpires.”

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The seven-time Grand Slam winner went on to claim “no one pays attention” to the 25-second serve rule.

“And by the way I think it’s BS anyway, that [rule]. No one pays attention to that," added the former World No.1 "It should be automatic if you’re actually going to do it, right? And when do they turn it on? Is it at the end of the point? Is it when they get to the towel? Is it when the crowd comes down?

“This guy... now Nadal thinks I’m saying his legacy’s been stained because he takes too much time."