Boris
Becker insisted that it is not in his plans to become
Novak Djokovic's coach.
The 24-times Grand Slam champion split from
Goran Ivanisevic after the
elimination in the third round of
Indian Wells and after five years of working
together.
Since the
announcement in March, Djokovic has been without a coach, although several
recognized names have been linked with the world No. 1. Nole recently trained
with Nenad Zimonjic, although claims about him as a successor have already been
dismissed. Other names linked include Judy Murray,
Amelie Mauresmo, and Boris
Becker.
Could
Becker work with Djokovic again?
The
56-year-old Becker previously worked with the Serbian between 2013 and 2016,
and they maintain a good relationship to this day. However, the German recently
insisted that they are pursuing different opportunities: "I think he’s
looking for something different right now. I’m not sure he knows exactly what
that is," the 6-times Grand Slam champion told The Telegraph.
"He’s
always going to be a close friend of mine, we always speak about tennis. But I
couldn’t possibly be his coach again because I’ve done that. It would be
stepping back,"
Boris Becker added.
During the five years with Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic won 12 of his 24 Grand Slam titles.
The German
also commented on Djokovic's withdrawal from the
Madrid Open. After exiting in
the semifinals of the
Monte-Carlo Masters, the Serbian announced that he would
not be in Madrid but did not give clear reasons for his absence, causing
surprise in the tennis world, including Becker: "I was surprised by his
Madrid decision. I think at this stage he needs matches," he said.
"He
needs the competition. But he has his own schedule. I think winning gold for
Serbia [at the Olympics in Paris] is his main tournament so maybe he’s already
scheduling himself to be still fresh for July. This could be a reason. You can
never underestimate him or count him out."