'NOT EVEN CLOSE': OUTLANDISH JOHN MCENROE COMMENT MOCKED AFTER COMPARING NADAL

(Getty/Dustin Satloff)

Outspoken seven-time major champion John McEnroe has ignited debate amongst tennis fans following his comparison between Rafael Nadal and the current top-two players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

The Roland-Garros final between Alcaraz and Sinner was dubbed one of the greatest matches of all time, as the latter failed to convert three straight championship points in a five-hour and 29-minute epic.

But given McEnroe shared his controversial take before the decider played out, it was twice as strange.

Featuring in a cameo on the desk for TNT Sports, the 66-year-old turned heads when he mentioned the two finalists in the same breath as Nadal.

"The other part that I think is really important for people to realise, and I know this is semi-crazy to say this because we just watched the three greatest players that ever lived over the course of the last 20 years — Roger, Rafa and Novak," he said.

"These two guys [Sinner and Alcaraz] to me, you look at those guys and if you took at look at them bringing their A-game right now and I'm saying Sinner and Alcaraz against Rafael Nadal on clay... you would make a serious argument with both guys; they would be favoured to beat Nadal at his best."

Fair to say, his opinion sparked outrage on social media, with one person replying: "I'm a Nole fan and after this comment, I have zero interest in anything else John McEnroe has to say. He cannot be taken seriously."

"They are not even close to Nadal's best," another fan mentioned, while McEnroe's stance was called out as "recency bias".

Nadal won a record 14 Roland-Garros titles and is highly regarded as 'The King of Clay', so much so that the tournament honoured the Spaniard by creating a plaque of his footprint which will remain on Court Philippe-Chatrier for life.

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