Boris Becker grateful to his former student Novak Djokovic for the steadfast support to him and his family during prison time

Boris Becker hails Novak Djokovic as the 'greatest player' while thanking him for the consistent backing.


Boris Becker grateful to his former student Novak Djokovic for the steadfast support to him and his family during prison time

Boris Becker, Novak Djokovic

German tennis legend Boris Becker thanked his former student Novak Djokovic for his steadfast support during the tough times. Becker served a sentence in a British prison last year after being convicted of tax fraud. During these trials and tribulations, Djokovic stood by Becker, and the German remains grateful for that.

Becker was presenting a new documentary about the ups and downs of his life at the Berlin film festival, where he talked about Djokovic. The 56-year-old called the Serb “probably the greatest player of all time.” Further opening up about Djokovic, the six-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged his warm personal and professional relationship with the 35-year-old.  

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“Novak Djokovic became a family member. You know we had a professional relationship for many years and we parted ways in 2016,” said Becker. “But we always stayed close and especially my time inside (prison) — he supported me, he supported my family.”

Becker coached the 22-time Grand Slam between 2014 and 2016. Six of his total Major singles titles came during his partnership with Becker. 

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Becker hails Novak Djokovic in the new documentary about his ups and downs

Novak Djokovic with Boris Becker (Image: ATP Tour)

The first part of the documentary “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker” came out recently. It is directed by the Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, and Djokovic is one of the few featured. In the documentary, Becker talks about the game and the ups and downs of his life. 

While talking about the same, he thanked Djokovic for being a part of the project as well. “I’m very proud that probably the greatest player of all time is part of a story of Boris Becker,” he said about the Serb. Tennis legends, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe are in the documentary as well. 

Admitting his mistakes, Becker reveals his learnings during the tough times. “Life as a tennis-winning machine, it’s a lot harder than it looks,” he said. “We travel every week to another city, another country, another continent and then we have to function. Every player has a different way of dealing with these expectations, these pressures and always trying to win.”

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