John McEnroe still not fully convinced by Novak Djokovic – ‘He looked a little irritable’
There were a lot of positives for Novak Djokovic during his second-round win at the Australian Open, but John McEnroe says he would rank his performance “on the lower echelon of impressed”.
24-time Grand Slam winner started his bid for a record-extending 25th title at Melbourne Park with a straight set win over Pedro Martinez and followed it up with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over qualifier Francesco Maestrelli.
After the win, Djokovic told TNT Sports and Eurosport: “I’m glad it’s, it’s coming along, the first couple of matches, you’re always kind of testing yourself, your body, seeing how you feel.
“I haven’t played an official match for, well, over two months, actually. I was really looking forward to kick-starting the competitive play, and I think I’ve done well.”
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Next up is Botic van de Zandschulp before a possible showdown with Jakub Mensik, who beat him in the Miami Open final in March 2025, in the fourth round, while the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz could await later in the tournament.
Tennis great McEnroe has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t think Djokovic will be able to challenge Alcaraz and Sinner for the title, stating: “I don’t think he can beat both of those guys when he has already had to go through five matches — that’s the problem. That’s the reality he has talked about.
Djokovic certainly did what he had to do against Maestrell and after the match, McEnroe told TNT Sports and Eurosport: “I’ve watched him probably play about a thousand times, so that would be on the lower echelon of impressed, but I don’t think it mattered. He did what he had to do, and he’s done that a couple of hundred times.
“He’s fine. He looked a little irritable for some reason. I’m not quite sure why, ’cause it was never close… I was always so upbeat and positive!
“He looked good. It’s not like he looked bad. He looked amazing for 38, I’ll tell you that. I would say winning early is the most important factor of anything out there today. We say that now but remember the US Open, he did exactly that, and then he had two days off before he played the semis, and he looked spent. So, I don’t know if it matters that much, of course,
“If you’re one of the top guys, you don’t want to play a couple best of five set matches in the first week, and your energy’s gone the second week. He is legit number three in the world so can he handle that going forward? If he can do it this year, would he keep playing next year?”
Watch every match of the Australian Open live on Eurosport, TNT Sports, HBO Max and discovery+
