John McEnroe picks Novak Djokovic as the Australian Open top favorite

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas should fight for the title in Melbourne from Monday, chasing glory at the first Major of the season. A lot has been at stake, with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic running their GOAT race and the young guns who are trying to make a name for themselves and put the hands on the beautiful trophy ahead of three legends. The defending champion and the seven-time Melbourne king Novak Djokovic starts from the pole position, entering one of his most beloved events pumped and motivated after conquering the inaugural ATP Cup for Serbia, passionate about staying on the winning road and looking forward to grabbing the 17th Major crown.

Novak was the player to beat in Melbourne a year ago after two short campaigns in 2017 and 2018, toppling Rafael Nadal in the final and hoping for a similar scenario in the next two weeks as well, feeling like at home in Melbourne after being surrounded by so many Serbian fans. John McEnroe believes it will be tough to beat Novak in Melbourne, giving his current form, past results and the crowd that always makes him play his best tennis at Melbourne Park. 

"Djokovic has to be the favorite for the Australian Open crown. I think it would be exciting for the day, these guys are legends obviously, to see a younger guy play through; I believe Medvedev has the best shot at it; he seems to have positioned himself and got the confidence and belief. Novak has won it seven times, so it can't be that easy to keep claiming it. It's going to be interesting to see if one of the young guns makes the breakthrough this year. It's hard to say what brings the best tennis from Novak in Australia. He has had a lot of success at the other events as well - with four Wimbledons and multiple crowns at the US Open; he plays his best tennis on hard courts but I think he gets a lot of support down under, which makes him feel good there, more so than at almost any other Major, that fires him up.

Whatever he is doing, I'm sure there is a lot of other players that wish they could bottle the same thing. But let's face it, he is one of the all-time greats and if he gets his head in the right space and he's physically ready, it is a very tall order to beat him in the best-of-five format. He is just so solid, like some human backboard," McEnroe said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Ry7wD0