US Open 2016: Andy Murray told by John and Patrick McEnroe he is on for more glory but won’t rule like Novak Djokovic
The McEnroe brothers believe Brit Murray will never match the dominance achieved by Djokovic in the last two years
ANDY MURRAY has a shot at knocking Novak Djokovic off the top of men’s tennis.
But John and Patrick McEnroe believe Murray will never match the dominance achieved by Djokovic in the last two years — or by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the recent past.
Serb Djokovic’s shock early exit at Wimbledon — with “private issues” in the background — opened the door for the Brit No 1 to bag his second SW19 crown.
But legend Supermac said: “Novak’s been playing at a level the last couple years that Murray hasn’t been able to attain. That’s frustrated him.
“Things have changed the last couple of months.
“But to me the level that Novak was at, it was higher consistently.
“The bar was higher maybe than anything I’ve ever seen.
“There’s a way to go where Andy would be able to lift it to do what Novak has done the last couple of years and is going to continue to try to do.
“Andy is playing the best tennis of his life. He wants to get closer to be talked about in the same breath as Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, who are like three of the five greatest players that ever lived.
“So Murray has been meticulous. He has done a great job.
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“But he’s still got a way to go to even get close to those guys.”
Murray would agree. But the Scot might take issue with Patrick’s claim that he does not possess the style of game to dominate the men’s circuit like the other three members of the current Big Four have done at times.
Patrick, discussing the US Open with his brother on behalf of espn.co.uk, said: “I think Murray has an opportunity but he’s never going to get to the level, in my opinion, of those other players.
“Which is not meaning he’s not a great player. He is a great player.
“He’s got three Majors, two Olympic gold medals. I think he’s got the opportunity to win a couple more Majors.
“I don’t think he has the type of game that can dominate week in, week out for a long period of time the way that those other three guys were able to do.
“He just doesn’t hit the ball as clean, as early.
“I look at what he did on clay this year as amazing. I think that really helped him do what he’s been able to do the last couple of months, both at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
“I think that gave him a lot more confidence. Also, because of that, because of how well he played on clay, now he’s got a chance to take over No 1.”
Murray will launch his US Open campaign tomorrow against Lukas Rosol.