American tennis legend and commentator John McEnroe has expressed his views on the top contenders for the upcoming Australian Open. The 64-year-old American, who never shies away from giving his opinion in a straightforward manner, had zero doubts that Novak Djokovic is still the top contender. He, however, also named several other tennis stars who stand a big chance of winning it this year, the standout among them being the recent Brisbane International 2024 champion.
McEnroe isn’t very enthusiastic about many talented players making a mark at the Australian Open 2024. Besides the obvious GOAT of tennis, who already won 10 Australian Open titles and going on for his 11th, McEnroe named Grigor Dimitrov as well.
Some of the other names he listed were Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Alexander Zverev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Sinner, at age 22, recently broke into the semifinals of Wimbledon last year for the first time. Alcaraz shocked the world by denying Djokovic a Calendar Slam with a Wimbledon win.
Medvedev reached the finals of the Australian Open twice in 2021 and 2022 but missed out on each occasion. Zverev has been eyeing the trophy for eight years now, while Rune just put up a stupendous fight against Dimitrov at the Brisbane International. Tsitsipas was the finalist last year. Therefore, they all clearly stand a chance to win the Australian Open. McEnroe was quoted as saying –
“Obviously Novak being by far, if he’s healthy, the guy that would be the big favorite. If I had to pick one guy that could potentially sneak through, if you want to call it that, and I’m really happy that I see this late in his career, that he has the potential to do something that he’s never even come close to doing, I would pick Grigor Dimitrov. The guy looks as good as the top five or six guys. I would consider that completely sneaking through, even though he’s like 12 or 14 in the world.
“Then the obvious: Medvedev, Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, Rune, Zverev. Tsitsipas has been in the finals there a couple times. Those guys. Then Ben Shelton I believe is going to win majors.”, said McEnroe in an ESPN Press Room release.
Dimitrov, who has been high on his confidence of late, might not be a bad person to bet on for winning the ‘Happy Slam’.
Could John McEnroe be accurate about Grigor Dimitrov?
Grigor Dimitrov has been after the elusive Australian Open (or any Grand Slam) for more than 10 years now. However, only now is the 32-year-old Bulgarian shining in his career. Before the Brisbane International, Dimitrov also performed well at the Paris Masters and Shanghai Masters last year. Unfortunately, he came across the World No. 1 Djokovic in France and the semifinals against Andrey Rublev in China.
For Dimitrov, there have been numerous such near-misses over his career. For a fan, it only seems ominous that he wins a big tournament, presumably the Australian Open, soon. While he hasn’t found much success in Grand Slams, Dimitrov’s 9 ATP titles speak for themselves, and the recent one came after six years. With this, he also recorded the most wins by any player at the Brisbane International.
Currently ranked 13th in the world in men’s singles, Dimitrov has also done significantly well in the Chengdu Open, where he registered his 400th win last year, reached the semifinals of the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters, and the semifinals of the 2023 Citi Open in Washington.
Once nicknamed ‘Baby Fed’, he is set to take on Martin Fucsovics in Round 1 of the Australian Open 2024. Grigor Dimitrov is projected to play Daniil Medvedev in Round 4, which won’t make it easy for the Bulgarian to win the title as per McEnroe’s prediction.
