Boris Becker took another swipe at Nick Kyrgios, saying maybe it’s time the Australian changes his attitude towards coaches and hires one if he wants to win a Grand Slam title.
“I want to talk about the role of coach for a tennis player, I think it’s a little bit underestimated,” the six-time Grand Slam champion said in an interview with Top Level Tennis.
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“I have benefitted from all the great coaches I’ve had. I have learned a lot more with them than without them.
“Roger Federer is working with the same coach, Severin Luthi, from the beginning. Yes he has Ljubicic and he has Edberg, but his first coach is the same guy. And Roger is the first one to say, ‘without Severin Luthi I wouldn’t be the player I am.’ Roger…the greatest of all time!”
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He drew comparison with Kyrgios– with whom he had a Twitter spat recently — who is inarguably talented but hasn’t been able to translate that potential into performance. The temperamental Aussie hasn’t had a coach for the past few seasons.
“You also have other players, like Nick Kyrgios, who says, ‘Oh a coach is overrated and it’s a waste of money,’ and everything and he’s never won a Grand Slam, maybe he needs a coach,” the German added.
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In June, Kyrgios had sparked a controversy saying bringing in a coach is ‘pointless.’
“Personally, I think (hiring a coach) is a little bit of a waste of money ’cause I think they get paid way too much,” Kyrgios said during a podcast.
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“And, for me, I don’t have a goal of winning Grand Slams. I just want to do it my way, have fun with it and just play. So to get a coach for me is pointless because I don’t want to waste their time almost.”
Becker, the youngest Wimbledon male champion, has pursued coaching as one of his post-tennis careers. He famously coached World No 1 Novak Djokovic from 2013 to end of 2016, guiding him to seven majors.
