French Open 2018: John McEnroe hoping young guns can leave their mark at Roland Garros

John McEnroe finds it hard to see anyone beating Rafael Nadal over the next fortnight here at the French Open but is still hoping that a number of the game’s younger players might make their mark at Roland Garros.

Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev are among the younger men who have caught the American veteran’s eye and he is also expecting good things of Britain’s Kyle Edmund.

Although Edmund has had a good clay-court season, having reached the final in Marrakech and beaten Novak Djokovic and David Goffin en route to the quarter-finals in Madrid, McEnroe is surprised that the 23-year-old Briton has not made an even bigger impact in the wake of his breakthrough run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January.

Edmund suffered a hip injury in his defeat to Marin Cilic in Melbourne, did not play for the next month and then fell at the first hurdle at both Indian Wells and Miami.

“I thought Kyle was really going to move to that next level after Australia,” McEnroe said. “Maybe for a period of time it was a bit overwhelming or maybe people looked at him differently.

“He’s got close. He’s lost a few close matches. I’ve actually seen him play quite a few times since Australia. He seems to be getting back on track. If he plays up to his capability I think he’s got an opportunity to do pretty well. I look at his draw and I think he’s got a good opportunity to make a decent run or at least do some damage.

“He looks to me like he’s in very good shape and he seems to be gaining in confidence, though I don’t know if that’s going to translate. To me he should make it through at least three or four rounds.”

McEnroe added: “His game has got better. His serve was a liability to me, but it’s got better so he’s taken a step in the right direction. He’s playing some very solid tennis.”

What does he see as Edmund’s greatest strengths? “It looks like he’s dedicated,” McEnroe said. “He’s got a great forehand. I think his movement is better than I’ve seen it in the past and that’s part of why he got to the semis in Australia. Maybe an injury set him back for a while, but he seems to be healthy.”

McEnroe, who will be part of Eurosport’s commentary team here, has also been impressed with Zverev’s form in recent weeks. The 21-year-old German has reached three Masters Series finals since March and in Roger Federer’s absence will be seeded No 2 here. However, he has yet to play in a Grand Slam quarter-final.

“I think he’s going to win some Grand Slams, but maybe he wasn’t quite sure whether he could do it physically,” McEnroe said. “Then he was trying to learn mentally what it means and what it takes to go the best of five sets. I think he put a lot of pressure on himself.

“I think he got a bit too defensive. He needs to dictate play more and be more aggressive. It looks like he’s been doing that a bit more the last month or so. He’s had some great results, so there’s no reason at this stage to think that he shouldn’t have a good run at Roland Garros.

“If he doesn’t make a deep run in the next two or three majors I’d be very surprised. It’s time to show what he’s made of and I think he’s going to do that. I think this will be a very interesting tournament for him.”

Shapovalov, a 19-year-old Canadian who is already up to No 26 in the world rankings, has a style of game that reminds McEnroe of himself.

“He brings a lot of excitement,” McEnroe said. “He’s already a very good player and he’s going to be a great player. I think he brings a lot of energy. He’s very quick, he’s not afraid and it’s nice to see him doing so well.

“When I watch him with the one-handed backhand and the way he plays, it does remind me of myself. And it’s nice to see that fresh face. He’s a good kid. He seems to be doing all the right things. He’s making more progress than almost any of the other younger players.”

Of the more established players, McEnroe sees Thiem and Djokovic as those most capable of testing Nadal on clay. Thiem is the only player who has beaten the world No 1 on the surface this year, while Djokovic leads Nadal 26-25 in their head-to-head encounters and pushed him hard in the semi-finals in Rome earlier this month.

However, McEnroe questions whether Djokovic is ready to perform consistently in matches over the best of five sets. “It looked like he wasn’t able to go the distance physically at a few events,” McEnroe said. “He obviously looked better in Rome, but that’s best-of-three and even in the second set against Rafa it looked as if he started to [weaken]. I don’t know if that was mental or physical.

“He’s probably been having some issues with motivation and health. It seems like he’s doing better with both, so he’s one of the few guys you feel can beat Rafa.”

While McEnroe has huge admiration for Nadal, the American would like to see some new champions. “To me it would be nice to see some young guys come through, to see some new faces winning Slams and to see who we’re going to be watching in the next five or 10 years,” McEnroe said. “I think the door is open for some of these guys.”

Eurosport and Eurosport Player will be broadcasting Roland Garros from 27 May to 10 June