Boris Becker revealed he is “lost for words” that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray’s coaching partnership has ended after just six months.
Djokovic hired great rival Murray as his coach at the back end of last year, with the pair working together at the Australian Open in January, where the Serb beat Carlos Alcaraz and reached the semi-finals before withdrawing due to injury.
Yet Djokovic’s results have nosedived since, with just one final appearance in Miami, and he lost his first matches on the clay of Monte-Carlo and Madrid. As such, last week, the pair jointly announced that they have gone their separate ways, with Djokovic adding this week he “couldn’t get more” out of the partnership.
But three-time Wimbledon champion Becker, who coached Djokovic between 2013-2016, believed the pair would continue working together until at least The Championships, which start on 30 June.
“I’m a little bit surprised that they would end their working relationship just a week before Roland Garros,” Becker told The Independent, ahead of the French Open beginning this Sunday.
“I thought Melbourne was a big success. I was happy to see Andy back in action in Novak’s corner. I really wanted to see them both at Wimbledon, actually.
“Andy knows a thing or two about winning Wimbledon, he’s very popular there. I thought it would be an advantage for Novak to have Andy in his corner.
“I’m a little bit lost for words [as to] why they’ve broken up just before the second Grand Slam.”
Djokovic, who turned 38 on Wednesday, is a seven-time winner at Wimbledon but has lost in the final to Carlos Alcaraz in the last two years, while Murray won the tournament in 2013 and 2016.
Becker coached Djokovic to two Wimbledon titles in 2014 and 2015 and the German, 57, said he considers the 24-time Grand Slam champion like a “younger brother.”
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Asked further what went wrong with the Djokovic-Murray partnership, Becker replied: “I thought it was always about the Grand Slams and I thought the campaign in Melbourne went very well.
“I don’t know the reasons. Novak is a smart guy – he knows what he’s doing. I definitely thought this relationship would go at least until Wimbledon, but I was wrong.
“But you should never underestimate Novak Djokovic, he’s always a very fierce competitor, he always has something up his sleeve.
“Novak Djokovic knows pretty much everything about tennis. So, who can he talk to that knows more?
“The challenge is for Novak to find someone that he has respect [for], who he can learn something from.
“That’s very difficult because he’s so good and knowledgeable, he’s done everything there is to do in tennis and that’s the difficulty he has.”
Djokovic, now the world No 6, is eyeing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam on the clay courts of Paris over the next fortnight, the same venue where he won his last tournament – gold at the Paris Olympics – last summer.
The Serb won his first match on clay this year at the Geneva Open on Wednesday, beating Marton Fucsovics in straight-sets. He faces Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
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