John McEnroe thinks Rafael Nadal will end up as world number one at the end of the year and he explained why.
Rafael Nadal has a pretty decent chance to overtake Daniil Medvedev as world number one and he only needs the quarterfinal in some circumstances. Ideally, he'd like to reach the final or win it but his performances earlier in the year with the Australian Open and Roland Garros did most of the work. If he has a strong finish to the year he will finish number one and McEnroe would be surprised if it doesn't happen:
"Yes, I think it will finish as number one, I would be very surprised if it does not happen. It's amazing for him that he can do it considering the long time he was out in 2021 with the foot injury."
To McEnroe, it's amazing how Nadal is able to do things nobody expects him to do time after time and that's why for him he's one of the greatest of all time:
"Rafa (Rafael Nadal) always does things that you don't think will happen and that's why he is considered the best or one of the best in history. He didn't play in the Wimbledon semi-final because of the abdominal tear, but I didn't see him as bad in the match with Coric in Cincinnati. With all due respect to that tournament, what Nadal is worried about is the US Open."