John McEnroe blasts Zverev over Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic comments | Tennis | Sport

John McEnroe has mocked Alexander Zverev’s claim that he is under no pressure at the French Open in the absence of the men’s game’s biggest names. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are all missing from the second week at Roland Garros, giving the German his best-ever chance to finally win a maiden Grand Slam title.

Alcaraz is out through injury, while Sinner and Djokovic suffered early exits, making Zverev the big favourite for glory. Following his straight-sets victory over Jesper de Jong, the 29-year-old attempted to play down his favourites tag, insisting he was focusing only on the next match against teenager Rafael Jodar. But McEnroe wasn’t having any of that, calling it “BS, absolute BS.”

Speaking on TNT Sports, he added: “[There is] unbelievable pressure. There’s more pressure on him in a way now than any more tournament he’s ever played, for sure. He’s the best player in men’s history never to win a major. And it was like, ‘Oh my God’, how could he?

“He almost beat Carlos [in the 2024 French Open final], but he didn’t. He doesn’t have to beat any of them. He’s got to be feeling more pressure than any time in his entire career.”

On the emergence of new names like Jodar, McEnroe said: “No Alcaraz, no Sinner, no Djokovic. These guys are definitely the future, and they may, to some extent, be the present. But nonetheless, it’s there for the taking for Sascha [Zverev].”

Zverev has reached three Grand Slam finals and seven other semi-finals, while this is the sixth year in a row he has made the last eight in Paris after beating De Jong 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-1. After losing the first three games, Zverev dominated the contest. He then gave short shrift to a question about his status as favourite.

“I will give the same answer I gave two days ago,” said the second seed. “I will focus on the matches that are ahead of me. This is the only thing that I can control.

“I focused on De Jong, I played a good match. I won. I’m going to focus on Jodar next and hopefully play a good match.

“That’s the only thing that is in my concern. I feel like I’m handling the situations quite well, and I will do everything possible to continue doing that.”