“We have our ways” When Boris Becker openly admitted to coaching Novak Djokovic between the matches
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Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker
21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has been one of the most successful players in the past decade, having overtaken Roger Federer in the list of most Grand Slam titles while being just 1 major away from matching Rafael Nadal‘s tally of Grand Slam titles. Djokovic, the man to have spent 373 weeks as World No. 1 the most by any men’s singles player, remains the favourite for many tennis fans to retire as the player with most Grand Slam titles.
One of the biggest boosts Djokovic received was at the end of the 2013 season when former World No. 1 and 6-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker joined the Djokovic camp as the head coach of the Serbian. Becker helped Novak to 6 Grand Slam titles including the 2016 French Open, the only Grand Slam that Djokovic had not won till then as he had lost in the finals of Roland Garros on three separate occasions. Novak’s 38 Masters-1000 titles remain a Tour record of which 14 titles were won under Becker’s watchful eyes.
“I don’t think we are cheating”: Novak Djokovic denied coaching accusations
On-court coaching has been a debated topic in tennis for ages and with ATP now set to trial on-court coaching in the second half of the 2022 season post the conclusion of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, earlier it remained a disputed topic as there was no uniformity with the punishments and while a couple of players were penalised heavily many escaped punishments.
Djokovic had always been clear that despite the rule, coaching takes place and Becker went on record to say that the Serb’s coaching staff “have our ways” of signalling Djokovic on the court “to tell him it’s good or it’s bad” as per the position of the game. Djokovic however denied the claims and gave his perspective on the whole situation.
“I don’t think that we’re cheating, I don’t think that’s how you can call it. I think with all the cameras pointed out to him (Becker) and to the box, I think you would already notice if he would just kind of go kick serve, slice, to do the backhand or forehand. But we can’t pretend like that’s not happening in tennis. Of course, there are situations when it happens, and not just with the top players, with everybody. This is a very competitive sport. You’re alone on the court.
“Of course, there are certain rules but also there are times when the team of the player communicates with the player when he gets to go and take the towel in the corner, which is closer to the box, or in different ways. I think it’s all fine as long as it’s not regular, I think it just depends. Also, that’s up to the chair umpire or supervisor to decide if somebody’s breaking the rules or not. I think as long as it’s something that you can tolerate, let’s say, within the ways of communication, I think it’s fine,” said Djokovic in an interview during the 2015 season.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)