Becker, about Djokovic: "If he plays two more years, he will become the most popular tennis player of all time" Becker, à propos de Djokovic : "S'il joue encore deux ans, il deviendra le joueur de tennis le plus populaire de tous les temps"

Boris Becker always makes headlines when he has a microphone in front of him. The German former tennis player never holds back in interviews and tends to make statements that grab attention. The latest one was about the best player he ever coached: Novak Djokovic.

The relationship between Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic was short (2013-2016) but intense. During those three years, the best version of the Serbian player was seen, winning all Grand Slams and often standing a step above the rest. Part of it was due to a tactical variation that the German introduced into his game, which has been crucial for Djokovic's future. Becker revealed this in an interview with the High Performance podcast.

Considers Djokovic as part of his family and defended him when he was in prison

"Novak was at Roland Garros, as the defending champion, and in his first press conference, he spoke well of me. He supported me, which I did not expect. We are a family. In difficult times, you know who truly cares about you and who doesn't. 95% of my friends forgot about me at that moment, but he didn't."

Boris Becker reveals the tactical and technical aspect that helped Novak Djokovic improve

"With me, he won everything. I helped him find reasons to keep winning. Novak was always winning, but sometimes it took him four or five hours to do so. When I started training with him, he had just lost the number one ranking to Nadal because he was exhausted after losing in the semifinals. I had to find a different technique and style to help him win more quickly. What I did was bring him closer to the baseline; he was always far back on the court."

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"But to play on the baseline, you also have to change your technique a bit; everything has to be faster and with more movement. I also instilled in him the importance of the serve. The serve is the only shot in tennis that does not depend on your opponent; you decide how and where to serve. And if your serve is very good, you will win points earlier, saving energy. He realized that if he reached a Grand Slam semifinal with two fewer hours on his legs, his chances of winning the tournament increased. He is the best in history, very clearly."

The reason why Djokovic is different from Nadal and Federer

"He has a different spirit. He comes from a country that was at war and has had to overcome many obstacles to be where he is now. In the two years we worked together, we were a family. Djokovic's family history comes from a very complicated background, and overcoming all of this, winning 24 Grand Slams, and breaking all possible records, is due to his character, his personality."

Sympathy towards Djokovic grows in the final stages of his career

"He has earned the respect he has always deserved. If he plays for another year or two, he will become the most popular tennis player of all time. The longer he stays on the court, the more people will realize who Novak really is," assures Boris Becker, who knows Novak Djokovic the tennis player and person like very few others.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Becker, sobre Djokovic: "Si juega dos años más, se va a convertir en el tenista más popular de todos los tiempos"