The former British No.1 previewed Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam ahead of the US Open.
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Novak Djokovic – what does he have left in the tank?
It doesn’t look like much to me. I mean, it doesn’t look like to me that if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are around that he could win another Grand Slam. It looks like the perception is, he’s finished in terms of winning Grand Slams. It’s the last kind of chapter in this storied career and now we analyse what he has done. At the French Open, I believe it was his 19th quarterfinal at the French Open alone. That is what the locker room talks about. I mean, the 24 Grand Slams is obviously ridiculous. But 19 French quarter-finals… and there’s records like that everywhere and Novak’s won everything twice or three times. He’s won every single title. Let’s just say he’s had a good run but how do you think that he feels about it? Well, okay, wait until Sinner gets injured and Carlos has a bad day and loses, then we can have a different conversation.
But as long as those two are there, I can’t see Novak winning and it’s probably exactly what he expects people to say. If anybody can turn that round and shove it up everyone’s a****, I think he would love to do that. I think that’s absolutely magnificent, and I would love it, I would be on my feet if he could get a run going and make it 25 Grand Slams at the US, especially the place where he was disqualified that one time. It would be glorious and the moment he wins the 25th, I think he should retire. You can’t go on forever, he should play as long as he wants but personally, I don’t think he is likely to win this one or another one.
What did you make of the reaction to Andre Agassi’s comments in the box when you were on commentary?
That’s the difference between the transcript and the reality; we had a great time. We had a laugh, and they took it out of context. I mean what appears to be something on paper is totally different in real life. Afterwards, Andre sent me a text, saying what an unbelievable time he’d had, and how he enjoyed it. We were going to have him for the final but then he went into the Royal Box instead, but he had a great time. We had a series of amazing texts and messages that we swapped afterwards, and it was fantastic. But then you read that he was saying, ‘just concentrate on the tennis’.
It was nothing like that in any way, shape, or form. He was saying that tongue in cheek whilst smiling at me, and in the final, I didn’t mention any celebrities at all. None. I mentioned the second row of the Royal Box, which had the former champions in that row and that’s all I mentioned in the final, but there were people afterwards who said, ‘all I talk about is the celebrities’.. and it’s not the case. It’s like people hear a commentator’s voice, I think sometimes in their own head. If you’ve got a picture of Matthew McConaughey on your screen, and I say nothing, I think people are hearing things, because I didn’t mention any of that stuff.
So, the moral of the story is that you can’t keep everybody happy all the time. I mean, the audience figures for the final were fantastic and there were 8.8 million viewers on terrestrial television. How many events get that over the course of the year? That’s for a tennis match that didn’t involve a Brit in an age when there’s a channel for everybody and everything. I thought it was great to move the final to 4 o’clock. That worked really well as it picks up a much, much bigger audience and also brings in the West Coast of the United States at a more comfortable time.
What did you make of Emma Raducanu complaining about a baby during her game in Cincinnati?
I’ve got an eight-month-old granddaughter and it’s a funny thing, babies cry. The question is not what Emma said or anything else. I understand that it’s distracting. It’s more about, are babies in arms allowed to be at these sports events or are they not? I think tennis is guilty of worrying too much about that kind of stuff. Babies are different, but I don’t like it in America when they tell the crowd to be quiet. I love playing in America because they’re not quiet. They’re a huge economic superpower.
They love their sport, they pay their money, they work, and then they go watch a sporting event, and this is off the subject of Emma, but, I mean, get on with it. I don’t need an umpire saying, ‘oh, quiet, please’, maybe at Wimbledon it is different, but the US Open, Cincinnati and Toronto, make as much noise as you want. You’ve been to work all week. Let’s go, let’s get cracking. I personally think it sounds ridiculous, again that is separate to Emma complaining about a baby at Cincinnati. But the babies in arms, I’m not sure what they’re doing in a stadium. You’ve got to be near an exit if you’ve got a baby in your arms.
How do you think Alcaraz and Raducanu will get on as mixed doubles partners at the new US Open event next week? All that talk at Wimbledon of a possible relationship, will that help or hinder their partnership?
Ultimately, I have no idea who’s seeing who romantically. If I was on GMTV like the old days, I would know all about it. I could tell you everything and I could have an opinion on everything, but as far as I know, they’re not. I don’t have any idea, but it’s interesting. It brings in a wider audience which means it could all be PR or it could be the truth. If I had a chance to play mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu, I suspect I would play and vice versa if I had a chance to play with Carlos Alcarez.
I think the big deal is that it’s a real shame doubles tennis has taken yet another step backwards. It’s a good thing that we talk about it, but it goes to show how personality driven much of this stuff is because in effect, mixed doubles has been completely thrown away. For a lot of the guys who play doubles for a living and have dedicated themselves to it, they now don’t have a job, because this is the way they’re elected to do it. They’ve turned the mixed doubles at a Grand Slam event into an exhibition in effect, and it means less. It’s not during the main tournament, it’s just some sort of weird pre-tournament, pre-extension type of thing.
We’ll see how it works, but I don’t care about it. It’s not all fun, it’s people making a living. I don’t mean to be pious, but I think it’s a shame for a lot of the doubles guys that the mixed doubles event is taking place this way and there’s been a lot of criticism in the game for it.
What did you think of Raducanu’s three-set loss to Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open? Should she head to New York with confidence of having a deep run?
I think she should be very confident at the moment. This is the best I’ve ever seen her play and obviously that US Open run will always be a part of sporting folklore. But in terms of her game right now, I think she’s playing better than she ever has – her game looks really well rounded. It’s so peculiar, we were saying it at the time, this is incredible, let’s adore it and just be amazed for what it is, but it was a mad aberration.
The work of a professional sportsperson in a global sport over 40 weeks of the year, that work and basic core that you need to do it week in, week out, at that time, she didn’t have that. That’s not just physical, it’s the tools that you need to fight against your opponent. Those haven’t been honed or sharpened. It’s all very well, because I never did it, doing it over one magical tournament, but it’s quite another to do it over 40 weeks playing against tough women week in, week out.
Now she looks really well equipped to do that and back then she wasn’t. Now we’re seeing the kind of player that’s been in there and it’s fascinating for me, because the other women that she plays against, many of them can’t handle her. She’s so mobile and moves so beautifully. She makes people play one more difficult ball; I find her incredibly entertaining to watch as she makes people play worse. That’s a fantastic trait to have, she asks that one more question, and she draws errors. With somebody like Sabalenka, her will power is getting her past Raducanu, and that is all.
Emma Raducanu’s second serve does not have enough on it quite yet. I loved the use of the first serve when she was playing Sabalenka. They had that one long service game, where there were 12 or 13 deuces – one of the points, she rolled in a second serve and got stuck into a baseline rally. She didn’t feel the need to go to the first serve and it meant Sabalenka didn’t get a look at a second serve, which she was pummelling for winners. I thought that meant she was right in the heart of the match, one on one. I thought that was a really cool moment, because it just shows that she’s learning how to beat opponents and think her way around them. It doesn’t always take a coach to do that, but her coach Francis Roig is brilliant.
How beneficial will Francis Roig be to Emma Raducanu and can he help take her to the next level, especially if they work together long-term?
As soon as you say something good about Emma Raducanu’s coach, they’re gone by the weekend. I hope it would be great long term, but long term when coaching Emma isn’t very long. A couple of them from the old days, Nick Cavaday for example, lasted a few years. But since been turning professional, I’d say that’s a pretty insecure job. I have no idea how long Francis is going to be around, but I was playing when he was around, and I had no idea that he was ever going to go in a coaching direction. It can’t have been a bad thing hanging around with the Rafael Nadal camp and being a part of the coaching programme for one of the greats – that tells you a lot.
Let’s be honest, you’re dealing with some pretty significant raw material when you’ve got Rafa. But of course, to be around that setup and to see the detail and watch the work is fantastic. He brings a wealth of experience. I suspect that he’s really looking forward to this himself, because with Raducanu, you’ve got unbelievable raw material. I mean, she’s not raw, but that’s still pretty exciting.
What should Raducanu be aiming for at the US Open, as long as she is fit?
Her actual ranking is 39 but I see her as a top 20 in the world – that’s a very, very high level. In two years’ time I can see her being a top 10 player. I know this is a bit weird of me, but I see her as top 20 or 30, and capable of beating those women who aren’t at the very top of the game, but I think that there’s only six or seven players who are better than her on most days. I think she’ll put herself in the frame for a big week or two at a Grand Slam sooner rather than later.
Second week should be her aim for Flushing Meadows. There’s nothing wrong with going out of the third round of a Grand Slam, but it’s not great if you’re seeded and you don’t win a couple of rounds. Somebody can play great against you, but for her and the matches that she’s won and played, returning to a venue that she adores, I hope she has a great time. I would love to see her win. To win three rounds and get into the last 16 of a Slam is a serious achievement. She knows she can do it. She’s done it before so I would say second week minimum.
Can Jack Draper go one better at this year’s US Open?
I’m worried about Jack [due to his injury]. What has he got? What’s wrong with him? If it’s a stress fracture, that’s a pretty significant injury. I don’t even know whether he’s going to be playing yet. If you have no matches between big tournaments, it doesn’t bode well for a deep runner, I have to be frank.
He’s a tough, physical animal, but he’s definitely hampered by not having had matches. I mean, that’s what you want, is to step up to the line at the biggest moments and know that you’re going to serve it out. Being 5-4 up on serve and going bang! I’m going through you. That sort of stuff is what Jack was doing, like at Indian Wells and last year at Vienna and Stuttgart.
It’s matches just cruising and crushing – knowing he’s going do it, and now he must contend with having not played. He was amazing in Australia winning those three five set matches in a row having not played. He’s an unbelievable player, but I would suspect that it’s going to be very, very difficult to match what he did last year. He might, but the odds have to be stacked against him as he hasn’t played any matches.
Wimbledon was pretty disappointing for Draper, do you think this will give him extra motivation ahead of the US Open?
I don’t think he needs any extra motivation. This guy is absolutely wound up and ready to succeed – nothing has changed. You play one bad match, or you play one match where an opponent gets inspired, you hit the net, all of it is just experience that goes in the system. It was actually a wake-up call. For all the highs, there are normally some corresponding lows and you have to rise. Jack has done the classic thing of the brilliant young player who has flown up and now there could be a year or two where it’s about the work. He’s going to get his highlights and if he stays injury free, we’re going to see him go deep into second weeks of Slams for a long time. He’s a long way off from being Andy Murray. But does he know that? Yes.
Do you think the US hard court is his best surface?
A bit like with Coco Gauff’s forehand, I feel like grass doesn’t really suit that style quite as well. But it’s marginal. Jack’s a tough guy, but all the sort of dinky stuff and big forehand where he has a little bit of extra time and he adds the pace, it’s easier to do on a hard court and a clay court than it is to do on a grass court.
Grass is different. I think he’s best suited to hard and possibly clay. But I would put him on a medium hard court, he’s still top five in the world whether he has played or not.
What does Jack need to do to be at the level of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz?
That’s a great question. Taking pace off [the ball], as well as putting pace on, so not just attacking. But learning and defending out of the corners, understanding his own game, adding more variation and playing that short ball in on the back hand. Not necessarily a drop shot, but playing it in, moving in and knocking the volley off, he’s already doing that. He’s already adding that to his game.
Mats Wilander back in my era, he added the most magnificent, single handed sliced backhand. In fact, that’s the only shot he hit in the 1988, fifth set final against Lendell when he won 6-4 and became world number one.
I think Jack is still a great work in progress and he’s already capable of going to number four in the world. That’s the key. He’s already capable of being four in the world and by the standards of the greats, a pretty ordinary volley. He’s still not slicing consistently or comfortably, particularly on the backhand so maybe they work on that out of the corners.
There are all these things and still, the serve, you should work on your strengths as well as your weaknesses. He’s still developing with working the serve and using the box down the other end to manoeuvre an opponent. It’s all developing in front of us, and it all happens in a flash – he hits the ball so damn hard that nobody’s interested in playing Jack Draper. Six-foot-four plus left-handed, athletic, got the willpower, he’s like a bull. Talk about natural assets, this guy is an intelligent, good bloke as well. It’s going to be fun. I hope he stays injury free but that my biggest concern for him.
