Patrick McEnroe names two tennis legends who could rival ‘superhuman’ Carlos Alcaraz

Patrick McEnroe believes some tennis legends from yesteryear would be the sport’s “best athletes” if they grew up in the era of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

For more than a decade now, tennis fans have debated about who is the greatest player of all time (GOAT). Roger Federer sat atop the pile for many years, before Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic overtook him in the slam count.

In the past, though, not all the top athletes attended all four Grand Slams, with the likes of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe – who won 18 majors between them – rarely competing at the less-heralded Australian Open.

Indeed, wooden rackets have been replaced by graphite, carbon fibre, or composite ones, and string technology has changed from gut to polyester and synthetic.

Players have gotten bigger, stronger, and more professional. The balls have changed, the courts have, generally, slowed down from the 1990s, and baseline tennis has replaced the serve and volley era.

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However, if the likes of Borg and McEnroe grew up with the same sports science, racket technology, and professionalism, Patrick McEnroe believes they would be right at the top of men’s tennis today.

He said on The Megyn Kelly Show, “That’s actually gone back to where now the best players in tennis now are the ones that are the best athletes that can move the best that can retrieve balls, obviously play offence, so the game is essentially the same, but it’s sped up exponentially.

“If you watch my brother [John McEnroe] playing Borg from the US Open (in the 1980s), no offence, it looks like it’s in slow motion, and they were using wooden rackets.

“They were both the best athletes, the best players of their day. I believe they would still be the best athletes if they grew up today, because they just have the skill. And then you learn to use the equipment that you’re given.”

McEnroe added that the newer rackets and string technology has changed the nature of the game in the last 15 years or so.

And as the sport gets more physical and requires greater power, you are seeing more and more athletic tennis players.

He said, “That means that the players have to be able to move quicker to get to the ball every point consistently. So you’re seeing better and better athletes play the game, using the technology that’s available to them.

“To me, it’s much more exciting to watch. I mean, Carlos Alcaraz. What he’s doing on a tennis court, he’s coming up with shots that we used to think weren’t even possible. It’s superhuman.”

Many view Borg as one of the game’s quickest-ever players, while McEnroe is regarded as among the most talented to ever play this sport. Whether the 2026 versions of these two would be at the top of the game today is a good debate to have.

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