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Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open on Sunday night after a defection (the scandal in the video). For his former coach Boris Becker, the incident is anything but surprising.
In your column for the English Daily mail Becker, who coached Djokovic between 2014 and 2016, recalls a similar incident about four years ago. “When he was working on his coaching staff, he was sitting in the player’s box during a bat throwing incident at the 2016 French Open when he accidentally nearly hit a linesman,” the three-time Wimbledon winner writes.
Then he spoke to Djokovic because he could feel the pressure in the big games. “I wasn’t always a nice guy as a player,” Becker explains: “I told him, you can yell all you want, break your bat, but don’t throw things or throw the ball. I was scared. Something like this might happen.”
The world number one and the top seed to win the tournament accidentally hit a linesman on the neck when he struck a ball towards the baseline. The match was stopped immediately, Djokovic was disqualified and received a fine.
“For me, he pays the price for taking on too much before and during a Grand Slam, especially with his leadership in organizing new players,” Becker said, explaining the Serb’s loss of control. Shortly before the tournament started, Djokovic co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) in order to be able to exert more influence on the associations.
Becker on Djokovic: the mentality of a street fighter
Becker also cites the absence of Djokovic’s head coach Marian Vajda, who did not travel to the US Open in New York, as one reason: “He is Novak’s contact person, someone who is very calm and has influence as a kind of father figure, but he was not. ” there.”
Becker, who continues to “appreciate” Djokovic, can understand the referee’s decision. “I don’t think he was trying to hurt anyone, he just lost control for a moment and had to leave.” The Serbian has the mentality of a “street fighter”, according to Becker: “This kind of fire helped him win 17 Grand Slam titles.”
The infamous departure from Flushing Meadows will haunt the Djoker for a long time, Becker believes: “If you ask him ten years about his worst experience on the tennis court, it will definitely be disqualification at the 2020 US Open.”
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