The American told reporters on Thursday that the coronation of Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings, to be confirmed on Aug. 18, and the Spaniard’s defeat of the Swiss in the Wimbledon final, had broken Federer’s aura of invincibility.
When Federer won his fourth straight U.S. Open title last September for his 12th grand slam crown, it seemed only a matter of time before he would overtake Sampras at the top.
However, Nadal thrashed Federer in June to win his fourth straight French Open and followed that up a month later by ending the Swiss’s five-year reign at Wimbledon with a dramatic five-set triumph.
Speaking at the ATP event in Los Angeles, McEnroe said breaking Sampras' record was no longer a given for Federer.
“Let’s put it this way, Pete’s sleeping a little better than he was about five months ago,” the seven-time grand slam winner said.
“He’s thinking, 'Maybe I actually have a chance to hold on to this thing’. It’s not out of the question that 14 is going to be enough.
“It’s not going to be as easy to just mow through it the way most of us thought. Pete talked about 17, 18, and I thought he was going to get it, but you always hit that spot when it starts to get tougher.
“When Pete hit 14 I thought, ’God who’s going to get there?’, and it’s pretty amazing that Roger has got so close. Roger is 27 (today) and how many did Pete win after 27? It doesn’t get any easier.”
Only three of Sampras' wins came after he turned 27.
Federer lost in the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January and in contrast to previous years, he has not won a single Masters Series crown.
McEnroe said Federer had perhaps paid the price for setting the bar so high.
“What Federer has done is amazing,” he said. “He has had four of the greatest years in the history of Open Tennis (since the sport went professional in 1968).
“No one, Roger, Pete — he had an incredible run too — you can’t keep it up. Sooner or later the law of averages catch up to you.”
McEnroe said Nadal fully deserved to become the world No. 1.
“On some levels it’s a surprise, obviously, because Federer was playing so great for so long that you start to think that (losing it) is never going to happen,” he said.
“But then you realize that he’s a human being and Nadal’s made some great improvement in the last year or so. It’s well-earned.
“He did something that hasn’t been done since 1980 (winning the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back). He’s followed up with some wins in some other events, so he deserves it.”
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