John McEnroe thinks Andy Roddick could still be a force on the main tennis tour, but while the 34-year-old retired star is flattered by the glowing compliment, he said thoughts of a comeback are “fleeting.”
McEnroe said last week on WFAN it’s a shame Roddick isn’t still on the tour because he would be still be a top-20 player — with some training.
Roddick is taking his still-booming serve to Brooklyn on Jan. 7 in the first major tennis event in the borough since 1935 — a legends singles exhibition at Barclays Center.
Roddick, who used to live in DUMBO to accommodate the modeling work of his wife, Brooklyn Decker, faces James Blake in one semifinal while McEnroe takes on Jim Courier. The winners meet in a final for the PowerShares QQQ Cup.
Though he couldn’t maintain his game across a two-week Grand Slam, Roddick said he thinks he still has a chance in a one-off against a top-10 player. Roddick is the last American male to win a Grand Slam event — the 2003 US Open.
“I saw what [McEnroe] said,’’ Roddick told The Post by phone from Austin, Texas. “It would take a lot of training. There’s a difference between playing well on a given day. I certainly feel I can still play with some of the guys on the tour for a day or two. The recovery and the fitness, making sure your shoulder can hold up over a prolonged amount of time, is a different story.
“I certainly appreciate John’s faith in the state of my current tennis game. For a day or two, I can play a bit, but making sure your body doesn’t break down is a totally different outlier.
“Any thoughts I’ve had of a comeback have been fleeting,” added Roddick, who retired following the 2012 US Open. “I do like playing and training with guys currently on tour. My ego wants to know where I’d stack up.’’
It is depressing McEnroe’s assessment means he regards Roddick as the best American male still swinging a racket. American tennis is an embarrassment, with no top-10 player in an era in which a fourth-round berth in a Grand Slam is considered achievement.
Roddick predicts that in four years the narrative will change, comparing it to the silver lining found in an awful MLB team that has the top-rated minor league system.
“I always say we have to be specific,’’ Roddick said. “It’s American men’s tennis. The women have been doing their job, with Serena [Williams] and all. I like to make that distinction, so we don’t drag them with us.
“I equate it what we have now, with prospects, of having a great farm system,’’ Roddick said, referring in part to teenagers Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. “That’s something I haven’t always been able to say. We have 10 to 12 blue-chip, global prospects under the age of 20. I look forward to four years [from now] and hope the rhetoric has changed. I don’t like being the last [American] guy to do this and that. We have the best group of prospects we’ve had in 15 years.’’
For now, tennis is left to focus on top-20 bad boy Nick Kyrgios, an Australian recently suspended for patting a serve over the net and walking off the court without regard for the return. Kygrios is slated to play a Garden exhibition in March.
“Whether you love him or hate him, you watch him,’’ Roddick said. “I was terrible on the court. I threw tantrums. McEnroe, [Jimmy] Connors did, too. People look back and laugh at them. The only difference: There was always effort with us. I don’t mind breaking rackets. The basic level of respect for a sport has to be with effort. There’s got to be healthy maturation process for him to go from 15 who’s talked about a lot to top three and a real contender at majors.“
Roddick and Decker lived in New York for three years. The couple started in Gramercy Park before settling in DUMBO the final two years, prior to the tech-boom takeover.
“It was great,’’ Roddick said. “My wife was working here and we were back and forth [between] Austin and Brooklyn. It was before they had this massive surge. I’ve heard it’s changed a lot since I’ve lived here, but I really enjoyed it. Even past the Brooklyn connection, New York is obviously a huge town for tennis and Brooklyn has that special cachet.”