Becker: Djokovic Wants To Overtake Nadal And Murray

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 23rd December 2013

Becker: Djokovic Wants To Overtake Nadal And Murray

epa03954149 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic during their Davis Cup final match in Belgrade, Serbia, 17 November 2013. EPA/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC |

Boris Becker knows all about being left behind on tour. The former No. 1 was at the top of his class from 1985-1991 when he won five of his six Grand Slam titles, but then he was eventually surpassed by the likes of Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi.

Now the head coach of No. 2 Novak Djokovic, Becker does not want to see his student get pushed aside. He believes that the Serbian brought him on as his new strategist and technician to he can raise his level over that of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

“He had a couple of bad losses this year, in finals and semi-finals,” Becker told the BBC. “He is such a winner, he wants to win so badly. The fact that Nadal has taken over [the No. 1 ranking] and Murray has moved up a gear, he felt he had been left behind a little bit. I am talking at a really high level here, we’re talking about those 5 or 10% that had maybe been missing for whatever reason. He was very impressed with the level of Murray’s relationship [with Lendl] and the comeback of Nadal. He felt he needed someone in his corner who had been there and done it, what he’s trying to do.”

Djokovic first contacted Becker in October and kept in contact with him even though he ended up going undefeated during the fall. It appears as if his now part time coach, Marian Vajda, wanted a break. Vajda has coached Djokovic for eight years and will now only travel to selected tournaments.

“I was honored for such a good player to call me and ask for my services,” said Becker, who is committed to being at 12 tournaments next season and will travel with Djokovic down under. “I said ‘I want to meet you in Monte Carlo [where has a residence], let’s talk this through and see how much you want it, how much that fire is burning inside you, how much is left and what I can bring to the table.’ We had a great day and a half in Monte Carlo, we chatted about everything and then we kept in touch over the next couple of weeks. Whenever he played a tournament I was speaking to his agent about some of the things I wanted him to change, some of the strategies I wanted him to change. But we kept it on the down-low because it was pretty big news.”

Becker also confirmed that he quit his job as a BBC analyst at Wimbledon because of a potential conflict of interest while he is coaching.

Topics: 10sballs, Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Bbc, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News