Alexander Zverev slams ‘unconcerned’ Boris Becker as German stars lock horns once again
Alexander Zverev has claimed that Boris Becker is “looking for a bit of attention” as he hit back at the six-time Grand Slam champion following a spate of criticism in 2025.
Former world No 1 Becker, Germany’s most successful male tennis player of the Open Era, has spoken about current national No 1 Zverev repeatedly throughout 2025, at times criticising the three-time Grand Slam finalist.
Speaking after Zverev’s defeat in the last eight of the French Open, Becker questioned why the 28-year-old was still coached by his father, Alexander Snr, and claimed that his compatriot needed more outside influence.
This drew a strong response from Zverev at the time, though this is not the last time that tennis great Becker has publicly discussed his compatriot’s career in 2025.
The 57-year-old described Zverev as his “sporting adopted son” in the aftermath of the world No 3’s early Wimbledon exit and resulting revelations about his mental health.
Becker recently revealed he was “worried” about Zverev’s coaching direction after it was reported last week that Toni Nadal had turned down the chance to join his team on a permanent basis.
However, in a new interview with Bild, Zverev has now fired back at the former world No 1.
Speaking this week, he claimed that Becker was merely using him for “attention” — and was in fact “unconcerned” with his fortunes on the court.
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“I think he’s relatively unconcerned about me, to be honest,” said Zverev.
“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.”
Zverev’s comments come in what has been a challenging season at times, with the 28-year-old looking to end his season on a high.
The 28-year-old is still ranked third in the world and is fourth in the Race to Turin, with the German all but guaranteed qualification, though it has been a slightly underwhelming season by his previous standards.
After falling in the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner, Zverev failed to make the last four of another Grand Slam event in 2025, including an opening-round Wimbledon loss to Arthur Rinderknech, and a round-three exit to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.
The German lifted the ATP 500 title in Munich and was the runner-up at the Stuttgart Open, though has not reached a Masters 1000 final in 2025.
However, Zverev is optimistic for his indoor season, where he will play at the Vienna Open, Paris Indoors, and ATP Finals.
The German has won all three events previously, and is the reigning champion in Paris — the final Masters 1000 event of the season.
He added: “Everything will work out and I’m full of confidence that I’ll find my form again and play good tennis again.
“And now there are tournaments that I really like indoors, Vienna and Paris, where I won last year. I think I can play good tennis there again.”
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