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Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

“He was mentally down” Former Novak Djokovic coach reveals devastating impact of Grand Slam final losses


Boris Becker says that the Grand Slam finals that Novak Djokovic lost in 2013 and 2014 had a major impact on the Serb

 

Boris Becker because the coach to Novak Djokovic in late 2013 during a period of the Serb’s career where had been beaten in consecutive Grand Slam finals and then lost again in the Australian Open final. Becker thinks this had a profound effect on Djokovic which he had to try and deal with and help overcome as his coach.

Becker was speaking on Eurosport’s latest Tennis Legends vodcast will be broadcast in full via the Eurosport App from 7pm Thursday 9 July when he said, “It’s about attitude and then how you approach big matches. And he had his cheap way, he lost a couple of big finals to Rafa and to Roger. So he was mentally down. I thought his court positioning was a little off. I thought his old approach was a bit too passive to defend. If he let these guys overtake him and tough guys do that. So it was a whole package.

But I remember the very first time I was on the sideline and obviously Novak and Roger were big rivals and they were speaking at Stefan and me right before the match, shaking hands and had a small talk. And even after the match, it was a very odd atmosphere in the locker room when you had two guys in the corner looking at each other and Stefan and me chatting back like it’s a walk in the park.”


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.