How many Grand Slams did John McEnroe predict Novak Djokovic would win in 2021?
Novak Djokovic is aiming to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at the 2025 US Open, but how many majors did John McEnroe predict that the Serb would win four years ago?
If Djokovic, who is 38, does win another Grand Slam in his career, he will become the oldest player in tennis history to secure a major singles title. He was 36 when he won his most recent major at the 2023 US Open.
The Serbian spent the majority of his career chasing the Grand Slam totals of his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Before the 2011 Australian Open, Federer and Nadal had won 16 and nine Grand Slams respectively, while Djokovic had secured one.
When Djokovic won the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, he tied Federer and Nadal for the first time — with the legendary trio each on 20 Grand Slam titles.
While Federer retired on 20 majors in 2022, Nadal retook the lead in the race by claiming his 21st and 22nd Grand Slams in 2022. Nadal’s victory at the 2022 French Open was his last major triumph, though, and Djokovic won a further four Slams to stand alone at the top of the list.
After Djokovic’s 2021 Wimbledon triumph, tennis icon McEnroe gave an accurate forecast on how many more majors the Serbian would go on to secure.
“Djokovic is playing better than he has ever played,” the former world No 1 told BBC Sport in July 2021.
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“I think he will probably win at least four or five more, obviously depending on staying healthy.
“Djokovic has put himself so far out in front of everyone in terms of his ability to embrace what he is doing – in terms of creating history – and being able to execute under a lot of stress
“You’re trying to break the all-time records – there is a lot of pressure. He’s able to play his best tennis at this point.
“You expect that to go on for another couple of years, unless someone steps up and realises how great they are.”
The seven-time major singles champion added: “If someone had said to me when I was playing that there would not only be one guy to win 20 majors but there would be three, I would have said the same thing as what I said to the umpire in 1981 – you cannot be serious!”
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