Boris Becker ‘cried’ after hearing Alexander Zverev’s emotional comments following Wimbledon exit
Boris Becker has revealed that he finds Alexander Zverev’s current plight “incredibly sad” following the German’s emotional confession about his mental health after his shock Wimbledon defeat.
Zverev is struggled on court in recent months as he went through a big slump after his three-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final at the end of January. He appeared to have regained some form when he won the BMW Open in April while he also reached the quarter-final at Roland Garros and finished runner-up at the Stuttgart Open.
But he was then upset by world No 72 Arthur Rinderknech in the first round at Wimbledon with the Frenchman winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4.
It was his post-match press conference that really made a lot of people take note as he was asked if his current struggles or physical or mental and replied: “I would say more mental, probably.
“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open. Yeah, just don’t know. I’m trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way.
“I don’t know. I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.”
He added: “I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.
“Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily, like, a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going. It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.”
Tennis great Becker has had a good personal relationship with Zverev and he took the comments incredibly hard.
“I watched the press conference live and I cried,” he said on the Becker Petkovic tennis podcast. “A person opened up and said, ‘I have problems, I have mental problems, help me. I don’t have anyone around me except my daughter, who is four years old, with whom I like to spend time, where I laugh and smile’.
“This was a person who revealed himself and that’s why, for the first time, I’m a little worried about his mental health. He can play tennis, he’ll win tournaments, he’ll lose a few, but how is he doing personally?
“And that’s a very important point for the rest of your life, because at some point your career will be over and it will be great. But how are you then? How are you as a person? What is your environment? Where is your anchor that catches you? Where is your bed? Right, the one where you can lie down, where you can take care of it emotionally…
“I have never seen him so honest, he basically revealed himself, let his emotions simmer and I found it incredibly sad and of course I contacted him straight away and checked everything was okay, gave me the thumbs up and so on.”
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Zverev is set to return to action next week as he has signed up for the Swiss Open in Gastaad, but former world No 1 Becker says he should take an extended break.
“So, he is now in Ibiza and has let a few days into the soul tree. So, he’s fine so far, because I’m interested in the person Sascha Zverev, the player he’s fine, but my advice would be please, please, please don’t play Gstaad,” the six-time Grand Slam winner added.
“Take your girlfriend Sophia, go, you have a lot of money. Rent a boat… go island hopping, but please come back yourself as a human being, so that you have the strength to play successfully on the tennis court again.”
