Boris Becker slams critics for their unnecessary hatred towards ‘tennis machine’ Novak Djokovic compared to Nadal and Federer
Becker supports Djokovic, both as a person and a player.
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Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic (Image via The New York Times)
It’s not always that success brings you the kind of love you desire. Some players stay tricky characters all through their careers despite winning multiple events throughout their tenure. Every sport has that one superstar who is unmatched when it comes to skill. However, he does not receive the adoration that the second person would.
Tennis is no different. The player we are talking about here is Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, with remarkable consistency over his career, has won multiple titles. However, he hasn’t got the same amount of love that Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal got. Maybe it was due to the funky character of his. He used to do a lot of imitations on the court of big players.
All these acts weren’t appreciated back in the day. He probably also attracted a lot of hatred as he stood tall as a wall in front of both Federer and Nadal. The fans of the Swiss and Spaniard didn’t really approve of Djokovic’s ability.
Novak Djokovic’s former coach Boris Becker recently came out supporting the Serb. He felt that Djokovic deserves a lot more appreciation than what he has got. His skill as a player and his nature as a person have both been overlooked multiple times. “He’s actually a very outgoing, very worldly man. Sometimes he comes across as a bit of a tennis machine. But when he’s not in his office, he is very charming. You can talk to him about business, politics, about music, and he’s a good guy,” he said.
He’s also a real tennis historian. He understands who was there beforehand and he wants to make a mark. Which he has done. Then he’s a perfectionist, like all superstars. He wants to play the perfect match, which in his case probably happened once or twice.”
Becker certainly is all praise for the Serb. He understands Djokovic much better as a person than many, as both spent a lot of time together in his coaching stint.
A dive into the Novak Djokovic-Boris Becker era
Boris Becker joined Novak Djokovic as coach of the Serb in December 2013. Djokovic announced this big news on his website. The coming together of a modern great and a legend of the past was exciting news for all his fans. Djokovic had one of his most successful periods on the Tour over the three years he spent with Boris Becker.
The Serb won 6 Grand Slams and 14 Masters 1000 titles in those three years. The sweetest victory in that tenure was the 2016 French Open. Firstly, Djokovic had failed in his previous three finals. So it was a big relief to finally lift it against Andy Murray. Secondly, the Clay Grand Slam is the only Slam Becker had never won in his remarkable career. That made the whole fortnight even more special. In many ways, Djokovic had done it for Becker.
The relationship between Becker and Djokovic was one for the ages until Becker finally left the Djokovic team in 2016. They remain good friends. One can repeatedly see Becker defending Djokovic in all his analyses of the sport post-retirement.
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Manan Mehta
(215 Articles Published)