Alexander Zverev weighs up move for Boris Becker, but world No 6 hints there is one problem
Alexander Zverev insists “there is always a chance” that he could turn to Boris Becker to become his coach, although he admits the former world No 1’s inability to travel to big tournaments is likely to be a sticking point.
Six-time Grand Slam winner Becker is currently a free agent after he ended his coaching stint with Holger Rune with immediate effect.
Zverev, meanwhile, is currently being coached by his father Alexander Zverev Snr after he parted ways with Sergi Bruguera in May last year.
In an interview with German press agency DPA, Zverev was asked about being coached by Becker and said: “There is always the chance, there always has been.”
Becker’s decision to split from Rune after only four months came as a surprise as many thought it was a long-term agreement, but Becker stated: “We started this partnership with the initial goal to reach the ATP Finals end of last year but moving forward I realised that in order for this to be successful, I would need to be available for Holger much more than I can.
“Due to professional and private responsibilities, I can’t give Holger what he needs now. I wish him only the very best and I’m always going to be his No 1 fan. I truly appreciated this journey together.”
His comment was thought to be in reference to his travel ban to certain countries following his criminal conviction in 2022 for hiding assets when he declared bankruptcy in 2017. Becker was handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence, but was deported to Germany after serving eight months.
The 56-year-old didn’t travel with Rune to Australia for the season-opening Grand Slam while it has also been revealed that he can’t travel to the United Kingdom for Wimbledon or the United States for the US Open.
And that could be an issue for Zverev.
The world No 6 added: “If you think about bringing in someone like Boris, it’s to win the big tournaments. And of course the coach has to be there at the big tournaments.”
READ MORE: Boris Becker ‘problem’ that will ‘limit people wanting to hire him’ raised after Holger Rune split
But Zverev made it clear that he is open to being coached by the best in the business with Becker right up there as he has coached world No 1 Novak Djokovic for several years.
“Simply looking into their brains and seeing what they think about and how they have acted in such situations can always help,” he said.
The 26-year-old added: “You can always learn something new, I’m not going to be stubborn and say: ‘I know everything’.”
