John McEnroe believes a player without a Grand Slam title is the ‘most talented player in tennis’ after Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz’s quest for a third successive Wimbledon title continues on Friday as the 22-year-old faces Taylor Fritz in the semi-final.
Already a two-time champion at the All England Club, Alcaraz is bidding to become only the fifth player in the Open Era to win three Wimbledon titles in a row.
If Alcaraz gets past American world number five Fritz, he will face world number one Jannik Sinner or seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.
McEnroe believes Alcaraz, who has already won five Grand Slam titles before his 23rd birthday, is the most talented player in the sport.
But McEnroe’s pick for the second-most talented player may come as a surprise, with the American tennis icon picking out Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios, who missed Wimbledon through injury, enjoyed his best Grand Slam run in 2022 when he reached the final at SW19, losing to Djokovic in four sets.
Asked if Kyrgios, who has dropped outside the top 600 in the world rankings, has ‘wasted’ his talents, McEnroe said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s 6-Love-6:’I feel bad because I think, after Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side, he’s the most talented player.
‘Nick is 30 now. I’ve got to say for me it’s a bit of a waste, it’s too bad, he was so talented. But as athletes we understand we’ve all got this fear of failure.
‘It’s tough to deal with, everyone has their own issues, and he has had his own things going on. He’s a good kid and a good young man off the court. He was in the Wimbledon final remember.
‘He got the quarters of the US Open [in 2022] and since then he’s played like three matches. I’ve done some commentary with him, he’s a good commentator, he’s got personality, he’s good to have around the game, kids like him.’
Discussing Kyrgios’ drop-off, former British number one Tim Henman added: ‘In tennis there’s mental, technical and physical.
‘The physical application… has he trained as hard as perhaps he could have? And then his body has let him down, he’s been injured and he can’t compete.’
Kyrgios will end his injury lay-off by playing alongside Naomi Osaka in the new-look US Open mixed doubles tournament next month.
‘As a doubles Grand Slam winner – it definitely doesn’t have the same ring to it as a singles Grand Slam winner – but with all these amazing pairings, I think it’s a great innovation for the sport of tennis,’ Kyrgios told TNT Sport.
‘What other sport in the world can you have your favourite female athlete play with your favourite male athlete and compete for prize money and a Grand Slam trophy?
‘So pairings like Raducanu and Alcaraz, they’ve created such a buzz around the sport and my partner, Naomi Osaka, I think we can do some big things. It’s an incredible event for tennis.’
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