Tennis: Becker’s clear message to Zverev: He has to do it now

For Germany’s tennis legend Boris Becker, time is running out for Alexander Zverev in the hunt for a Grand Slam title. “He’s now at an age where he has to do it. For me, Sascha has to win the Grand Slam title he longs for in the next 18 months, because otherwise it will be a lot more difficult than it is now,” said Becker “Becker Petkovic”, which he has recently been recording together with former tennis player Andrea Petkovic.

Zverev has reached a Grand Slam final twice so far, but was defeated by Austrian Dominic Thiem at the US Open in 2020 and by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open in 2024.

Becker recommends Supercoach

For the really big coup, Becker would recommend that the world number two take on an additional coach alongside his father Alexander Zverev Senior. “I still think that a super coach can play a role. The problem is, they already had a few,” said Becker, referring to Ivan Lendl, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Sergi Bruguera, for example.

“The father is very dominant. And the mother is dominant. This is a family business,” said Becker. “They did 99 percent of everything right. But that one percent is missing.”

Zverev’s next attempt to win a Grand Slam tournament will be this Sunday at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Last year, the 27-year-old was defeated by Russian Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the semi-finals.