Tennis legend John McEnroe wants action by majors after Novak Djokovic knee “screw-up”
JOHN McENROE called for Slam bosses to sort out “joke” schedules as Novak Djokovic faces missing Wimbledon.
The Serbian superstar, 37, had knee surgery in Paris yesterday after suffering a medial meniscus tear at the French Open which almost certainly rules him out of making the All England Club.
Novak Djokovic slipped during his French Open last-16 tie and says he “screwed up” his right kneeAP
Nobody in men’s tennis has won more singles Slams Championships than the SerbianAFP
Djokovic played back-to-back five-setters with the first one finishing at 3.06am on Sunday.
He then slammed Roland Garros chiefs after he “screwed up” his knee on a “slippy” court the following day — before pulling out ahead of his last-eight clash with Casper Ruud.
And legend McEnroe blasted officials for putting the 24-time Grand Slam champion on court so late on Saturday evening for his third-round tie.
The American, 65, reckons the situation could have been avoided and it is time they listen to top stars and stop them playing beyond midnight at the four Majors.
McEnroe said: “It was horrible, it was a joke. It’s a black eye for our sport.
“It doesn’t shine too good a light on the schedule, which was a joke that they put him out at 10.30pm on Saturday.
“He’d talked about the knee issue before the tournament. That couldn’t have helped.
“And it goes to three in the morning — absurd!
“If this doesn’t change the mentality of the Majors about this type of scheduling, I don’t know what will. He’s the No.1 player in the world.
“An all-time great, maybe the greatest. He got hurt and that contributed to it.
“Having to play to three in the morning, you cannot say that didn’t have an effect on his body, his system, his recovery.
“What time did he go to bed? 7am? How much sleep did he get? It’s not good for our sport. That’s a bad look.
“Does LeBron James play in the NBA Finals at three in the morning? It’s absurd.
“There was a lot of rain and they were trying to catch up but they didn’t need to play Grigor Dimitrov’s match before Djokovic’s. I don’t know what they were thinking.
“I don’t know why they’ll listen to me now — they haven’t listened for the past 45 years!
“What I say is what I believe is best for the sport. This needs to change.
“I hope the players get a fifteenth more money out of the overall package. They should be partners with the Majors. Not hired guns.
“Start the night matches earlier. Start at 7pm. Too often, ultimately in my opinion, tennis shoots itself in the foot.”
Recovery on this type of issue is normally between three to six weeks and that means Djokovic is essentially ruled out of the Championships, which start on July 1.
If all goes well, he will hope to be fit enough to win Olympic gold at Roland Garros — the competition starts on July 27.
McEnroe, working for discovery+ in Paris, hopes Djokovic is not on the slide and will return to full form this summer.
He added: “I had a couple of meniscus tears recently. I didn’t have surgery.
“It depends on the severity. It could be two to three weeks or seven to eight weeks out.
“We are all hoping that Novak plays and is ready to go. It would be a shame if this has exacerbated an already bad situation by him having to withdraw from Wimbledon.”
John McEnroe is an expert pundit at Roland Garros on Eurosport and discovery+
Djokovic wants to win an Olympic singles gold medal — the last piece missing from his stellar careerAP
John McEnroe was one of the game’s greats on court and is a respected broadcaster
