"Always outspoken with interesting ideas": Boris Becker responds after Alexander Zverev v Sinner and Alcaraz take from Toni Nadal

Thursday, 05 February 2026 at 20:30

Boris Becker has responded amid conversation from Toni Nadal surrounding a certain Alexander Zverev and his credentials to battle with the Big Two as they could be known now in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Becker has been linked with becoming Zverev's coach in the past as has Toni Nadal with the latter training him at his Academy previously which set the tennis world alight with rumour mill chatter.

Albeit Zverev previously hit out at a man who has been linked with his career in Becker saying that he was looking for attention amid previous rumours that they'd convene and form some sort of a coaching allience previously.

"I think he’s relatively unconcerned about me, to be honest. I think he’s looking for a bit of attention, and he gets it through me. Unfortunately, that’s the case. But I don’t care anymore," said Zverev in Shanghai late last year.

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Nadal made the claim though that Zverev has a mental problem which needs resolving and that if he manages to get over said hump, he is the only player capable of challenging the new big two in tennis and is 'clearly better' than Novak Djokovic who Becker has also coached after his Australian Open capitulation.

“Zverev, yes, I said it, I don’t know if you remember… I said, ‘Well, if Zverev plays well’,” Nadal said as per Radio Estadio. “But Zverev has a mental problem. He has an obsession with winning.

“Zverev had the match, he had the chance to win the second set, and when he served to win, he got broken. And his best shot is his serve. He comes back to win the match in the fifth, when he serves to close out the match and again… fails at that moment.

“So he’s a dangerous rival and, for me, he’s clearly better than Djokovic is today, but he lacks… the… if he, if Zverev had won that match today, he probably would have won the final too. It would change him because it gives you extra confidence and takes away the pressure he has to win a Grand Slam.”

While Becker kept his mouth shut as such, he did give Toni Nadal a huge deal of credit and showed his respect to him for such a take and said that he is outspoken but has a lot of interesting ideas up his sleeve.

"Toni is always very outspoken with interesting ideas. I always have lots of respect for him," responded Becker on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Boris Becker

@TheBorisBecker

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Toni is always very outspoken with interesting ideas ! I always have lots of respect for him !

ilyza1002

@ilyza1002

Toni Nadal said in an interview during the Australian Open that he thinks Zverev is the only one who can challenge Alcaraz and Sinner, if he changes certain things. Nada: "So, Alcaraz can go wherever he wants. First, he has special physical conditions, he has very good technical

11:14 AM · Feb 4, 2026

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