'I’ve never seen anyone like him' - John McEnroe hails 'unbelievable' Rafael Nadal ahead of US Open

John McEnroe has said he has «never seen anyone like» Rafael Nadal as he paid tribute to the 22-time Grand Slam champion ahead of the US Open. The tennis legend paid tribute to the Spaniard's battling qualities and status as a role model for young players with one major remaining in what has been a remarkable comeback season for the 36-year-old. Ad/> Nadal, who won the Australian Open and French Open earlier in the year to add to his astonishing tally of Grand Slam singles titles, had to withdraw ahead of his Wimbledon semi-final with Nick Kyrgios after suffering one injury too many.

ATP MontrealDjokovic 'will have to roll up his sleeves and receive the vaccine to play' — Montreal director17 HOURS AGO Despite that disappointment for Nadal with his great rival, Novak Djokovic, able to move to within one major title of his tally after securing his seventh title at the All England Club, McEnroe spoke in glowing terms about the attributes that make him so special. “I’ve never seen anyone like him,” McEnroe told Tennis365. «I thought Jimmy Connors tried hard until I saw Rafael Nadal, this is insane.

And that’s the greatest quality he has, by far. “I mean, the guy’s an unbelievable player, we all know that. But the fact that he can go out there and give that type of effort, you know, match in and match out, game in and game out, is something that people aspire to, but it’s very difficult to do.

“Otherwise, everyone would do it. I mean, you just say, well go to Nick Kyrgios and say ‘go out and give an effort, you’ll be No. 2, No.

3 in the world. Well, if it was that easy, I guess he would do it. But you know, for him, it isn’t.» 'You may not like Djokovic as much as Nadal or Federer, but he's a credit to our game' — McEnroe