Tennis legend and Novak Djokovic former coach Boris Becker has admitted that the excellence displayed by his former pupil has left him “a bit speechless” and observed that the 24-time Slam champion is “pushing the limits”.
The German also praised Djokovic’s 24th major crown as “quite extraordinary” but insisted “there is nothing” that surprises him about the Serb anymore. Becker, a 6-time major winner himself coached Djokovic through 6 Grand Slam titles between 2014 and 2016 while also helping him win 14 ATP Masters 1000 tourneys.
Djokovic edged past #3 seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final of 2023 US Open last week to secure his fourth Flushing Meadows crown. Also completing his double-digit tally (10 titles) at Melbourne Park this year, Djokovic holds now a lead of two GS titles over his all-time rival Rafael Nadal who with his 22 titles sits second on the all-time list.
World no. 1 has won 3 of the 4 majors this year after having lost by a hair breadth margin in the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz. Setting a men’s record, this is the fourth season in the legendary Serbian’s career where he has sealed three out of four major titles. Speaking after Djokovic’s latest triumph at the New York major, Becker as always showered plaudits and respect on his former charge, suggesting that the records broken and set by Djokovic feel unreal.
“There is nothing that surprises me about Novak Djokovic anymore. But that at 36 he still has the motivation, that he has the desire, that he has the leisure and invests the time,” the German told Eurosport Germany’s Das Gelbe vom Ball podcast.
“I mean, he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Now he has reached Margaret Court with 24 Grand Slam titles and is the oldest Grand Slam winner. That’s quite extraordinary.
“A few years ago, I thought that such records could not be broken at all, because at some point you are physically and mentally too old for competitive sports. But there again, Novak Djokovic is pushing the limits. I think all of us who love tennis, who also respect him, are a bit speechless.”
Earlier in August, following Djokovic’s epic Cincinnati Masters final triumph against Alcaraz, Becker in awe of the brilliance of Djokovic, expressed the idea of his former pupil playing forever.
“I hope Djokovic will play forever. These are the duels that make the tennis heart beat faster: the most successful player of all time, Novak Djokovic, against the primus, the best in class, also No 1 in the world rankings. You can’t imagine anything better. It was a fabulous match in Cincinnati,” the six-time major champion said on an episode of the same podcast.
Djokovic is set to represent his home country Serbia at the Davis Cup Finals group stage in Valencia this week. The 24-time Slam champion and #1 seed defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to guide his team to the quarter-finals of the team event after eliminating the hosts Spain from the competition.