'Federer Is The Greatest Player Of All-Time' - John McEnroe

John McEnroe has always stopped just short of declaring Roger Federer as the greatest tennis player of all time, until now.

Ahead of his appearance at next month’s BNP Paribas Zurich Open in Federer’s native Switzerland (March 9-13), McEnroe explained his views to the Swiss media while promoting the new ATP Champions Tour event in Zurich.

“Roger is just the greatest player of all time,” he said. “He is the most beautiful player I’ve ever seen and I don’t ever get tired of watching him. Rod Laver is my idol, Pete Sampras is the greatest grass court player ever, but Roger is just the greatest player of all. I think we can all appreciate how incredible he is even more lately, because he’s shown a bit more emotion on court and he’s become a father so he seems a bit more human, more relatable. That makes what he’s doing seem even more amazing.”

McEnroe added that, of all Federer’s astonishing records and achievements in the sport, his run of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals since Wimbledon 2003 is the most remarkable of them all.

“It’s difficult to pick out one of his achievements as the best because they’re all so incredible,” said McEnroe. “But I would probably say the 23 semis or better in a row is the best record of them all. There’s probably not another player in the top 20 who’s even played 23 straight majors (Grand Slam tournaments) in a row. Then throw in the fact that he got to 18 out of 19 finals and that he’s averaging two Grand Slam titles a year, it’s just phenomenally consistent. It's amazing.”

Federer's glittering career has included an intense rivalry with Spaniard Rafael Nadal, whom he has battled against in seven Grand Slam finals to-date. It is something McEnroe can relate to having been part of one of the most iconic sporting rivalries of all-time with Bjorn Borg.

“It's unfortunate that Rafa is struggling with injury because his rivalry with Roger has become an incredible one, and rivalries are great for the sport,” said McEnroe. “I think at the moment Nadal’s injury is working to Roger’s benefit because he was able to take advantage of it at the French Open and dig deep to win that one. But at the same time I think it would be nice to think that Nadal could stick around for a couple of years and push Roger a bit because competition like that can push you that bit harder.”

At the age of 28 and having just won back his Australian Open crown - his 16th Grand Slam title, Federer shows no sign of relinquishing his grip on the Number One spot, but McEnroe acknowledged that nothing lasts forever.

"When you’ve won as much as he has you have to wonder how he will react when he starts losing regularly at major events - not reaching finals or semis. That’s not going to be easy for him. But, he seems to take great care of his body, the way he moves doesn’t put a lot of strain on the body so you would think he would be able to play at this top level a few more years. I hope so, because we are lucky to have him.”

McEnroe will begin his 2010 ATP Champions Tour campaign against Pat Rafter, Pat Cash and Mats Wilander at the new Delray Beach tournament, February 20-23, before competing in the inaugural BNP Paribas Zurich Open, March 9-13, against Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan Edberg and five other tennis champions.