McEnroe in no doubt over most beautiful tennis | Sports News

Tennis legend John McEnroe has described fellow icon Roger Federer as the “most beautiful” player he has ever seen grace the court. The American enjoyed a conversation with his Swiss counterpart during the 2022 Laver Cup tournament as Federer was preparing to bring the curtain down on his storied career.

The eight-time Wimbledon victor marvelled spectators at the height of his period of domination of the sport, with his rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic arguably helping to elevate the standard of the game to unprecedented heights. By the time he hung up his racket three years ago, he had tallied up a staggering 20 major men’s singles titles.

Noted for his elegant and measured approach on court, Federer is regularly cited as the greatest player in tennis history. Among those who were left in awe of the great is McEnroe, who got the chance to tell the Swiss master of his admiration for his era-defining achievements in the game. 

Speaking at the 2022 Laver Cup tournament, the seven-time major winner said of his younger peer: “You are obviously a class act, I’ve loved watching you play, commentating your matches has been a privilege. You’re the most beautiful player I’ve ever seen on a tennis court.

“I idolized Rod Laver so that tells you something, thank you for everything you’ve done. That’s all I can say, your absolute love of the game, it rubs off on all of us and I got goosebumps just feeling that because it’s been a pleasure to watch you these last 20 years.”

Alongside holding Federer in high esteem for his efforts on the court, it was obvious that McEnroe was impressed with how the former handled himself away from the cameras too. Recalling a tale told by Bjorn Borg, he remembered: My favorite tale was when Bjorn [Borg] and I went to Asia with Roger [Federer] on an exhibition tour.

“The week before at the ATP Finals, he got sick, and wasn’t able to finish the event, and we both thought he was going to retire, not play, you know, pull out.

“But he played, he talked about how much he loved the traveling, he loved the press conferences and he loved being around the people, and everything about it. I was like, this guy just played 40, 45 weeks of the year, he’s playing a couple of meaningless exhibitions that we were a part of, we were the opening act.”

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“That absolute love of the game was something that really rubbed off on me, that made me feel like this guy was a super special person. Just being around him, getting the chance to be on the court with him, that to me was really special.”

Following what had clearly been a memorable trip, icon Bjorg also spoke of his admiration for Federer as he expressed his gratitude towards the Swiss master, saying: “Roger [Federer], you’re the best, to follow you to be a part of your history in tennis, Laver Cup, to be a friend with you, I appreciate that very much. I wish you the best of luck in the future.”