John McEnroe has made no secret of his admiration for Carlos Alcaraz and when he was asked by Tennis365 to pick a winner in his ultimate fantasy tennis contest, he struggled to come up with an answer.

Tennis great McEnroe has been creating headlines once again with his comments on this year’s US Open, with his pointed views ensuring he remains one of the most talked about analysts in the game.

McEnroe often suggested Alcaraz is his ‘favourite player to watch’ and responding to a question from this website, he admitted he would relish the chance to see the Spaniard taking on Roger Federer when both were at their best.

After playing alongside Federer in a memorable exhibition night prior to this year’s US Open and then being a part of the Swiss maestro’s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame a few days later, McEnroe confirmed he is a huge fan of the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

So picking a winner between Alcaraz and Federer proved to be a tough task for the forthright New Yorker.

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“I would say that it would be like the match you would dream of seeing,” declared McEnroe, in his role as a pundit for Eurosport.

“I’d say that’s be, you know, 50-50, you know, the way I see it. I was gonna say it depends on what surface, but I’m not sure it depends on that.

“I guess Carlos just had more success on the clay at the French (Open). Then you’ve got to do a lot of work to catch up to Roger, Wimbledon and the US Open, but those are one of those fantasy matches you’d love to discuss.”

McEnroe went on to suggest Alcaraz’s return at the US Open was a triumph for the sport, even though he lost out in a tight quarter-final match against Ben Shelton.

The Spaniard defied plenty of doubters by coming back from a four-and-a-half-month injury lay-off in a Grand Slam event, but he confirmed he was ready to compete with some compelling performances.

“First of all, I’m happy he came back, very happy,” he added. “ It was a great boost for the tournament. It showed a lot of heart, considering he hadn’t played in that match with Ben and at the end, it looked like he got sick a few times.

“Obviously, the most challenging thing is to, you know, not play any events and come back in a major. You’re rolling the dice a little.

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“They must have had their reasons. I don’t know what they are. He had opportunities to win that match against Shelton, even though Ben definitely played the best match by far of his life and showed incredible athleticism as well as fitness. Otherwise, he would have lost.

“All things considered, it seemed like he walked off the court with a smile on his face, which is just awesome for us. And hopefully, you know, he’ll sort of be not feel the after effects and just go on from there.

“Tennis needs Alcaraz and it’s great to have him back.”

John McEnroe is a pundit for Eurosport at the US Open.

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