Abu Dhabi: It is disconcerting to witness Boris Becker limping badly, his body enfeebled by years of tennis toil, as he arrives at the foyer of Dubai’s Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.
Most people’s sightings of the six-time grand slam champion are confined to a stony-faced Becker looking on as his protege Novak Djokovic, the world number one, dismantles opponent after opponent.
Then there are the indelible memories of the 48-year-old in his gilded youth, hurling himself around the Wimbledon lawns with exuberant abandon at his self-confessed second home.
After two hip replacements, Becker may no longer be as athletic and imposing as the thrusting 17-year-old red-head who shot to prominence by winning the first of three titles at SW19 in 1985, but he remains an utterly captivating presence.
“Everything he says is pure tennis wisdom,” Djokovic tells me earlier in the evening at last month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Fifteen minutes speaking to Becker about his bountiful alliance with Djokovic, which began in December 2013, are resounding confirmation of this as he speaks with bewitching confidence and conviction.
Under Becker’s tutelage, the majestic Serb has accumulated titles rampantly, including five grand slams for a current tally of 11, his relentless success making it eminently conceivable that he will eventually surpass Roger Federer’s record of 17.
So what has Becker added to the 28-year-old’s already impeccable game, after relegating Djokovic’s former coach Marian Vajda to a support role?
“I think I have a lot of experience because I’ve played on every court that’s he’s played on,” Becker, sporting a stylish white jacket of Saturday Night Fever ilk, tells me. “I pretty much won every tournament he’s won besides the clay, so I understand what it’s like to win or lose a grand slam final.
“Having played the game myself for 15 years, that gives me an edge. I’ve been the coach of the best German juniors for the best part of five years, I’ve been the German Davis Cup captain for many years, so I’ve done coaching roles before, but I’ve never coached anyone as talented as Novak.”
“He has brought a lot to my game from a mental perspective,” adds Djokovic, who is charm personified as he cheerfully thanks me for coming. “He’s somebody that I have tons of respect for, everything he has achieved as a player, but he’s actually one of the mentally toughest and strongest people that I’ve ever met in my life.”
A combustible player, Becker has mellowed and rarely “shouts and screams” if Djokovic has a rare off day and is “very composed and down to earth”, the Serb says.
“I take his words very seriously,” Djokovic continues. “We don’t talk too much about the forehands and backhands, even though in practice we check about movement and positioning and things that I got right or wrong that day, but mostly about the mental side, how I approach my practice sessions, my lifestyle, my matches.
“He’s been in this position before, so it’s very valuable advice that he gives me every time we speak.”
Have they ever had a serious disagreement?
“We have disagreements of tennis,” Becker says. “We debate the forehand, the backhand, the serve, you name it. We like to debate, we’re debaters. He likes to talk a lot and I like to talk a lot.
“But I’m not always right and he’s not always right. He wants to know from me and I want to know from him.”
Djokovic is unsure how long the pair’s propitious partnership will last, but adds with heavy understatement: “Everything looks pretty good right now.”
Partnership
Becker is more effusive: “I hope we can continue successfully for a long time. I think we have a very successful partnership, a very honest partnership.
“I consider myself part of his extended family, as he’s a very family-oriented man.
“He loves his family, he loves his wife [Jelena], he loves his son [Stefan], and so I think what connects us is my sense of family.”
Becker says his most memorable moments of their “fascinating journey” were watching Djokovic win his second Wimbledon crown in 2014 and being invited to the Serb’s “private and personal wedding attended by only 100 people”.
He exudes genuine warmth and affection when he reflects on their symbiotic union.
“We have had many great experiences together and a couple of heartbreaking moments together. I think that makes us stronger.
“He’s a fine human being with high values and a good character and personality and that what makes the job so worthwhile.”
Does Becker feel pressure to innovate as a coach to ensure Djokovic stays ahead of the rest?
“Imagine when I’ve taken him over, people were saying, ‘Where you gonna take him?’. He was number two then. He’s already a six-time grand slam champion. The chances of losing were much greater than the chances of winning, to be quite honest [laughs].
“But I felt that I could give him something he didn’t have yet, if he would be open for it. If he wants to learn, I’m willing and able to teach him a few things and obviously the last two and a half years have shown it works.”
Coaching such a stupendous player must be simple, surely?
“No, trust me,” Becker retorts emphatically.
“He wants to play every day 100 per cent. The reason he’s so consistently good is because he’s a perfectionist.
“We’re working daily on things that the public doesn’t know about. It’s none of their business.
“He’s very driven, he’s very motivated and he wants to get better all the time. He really wants to play perfect every single day. I don’t need to tell you that’s not possible.
“He’s [expletive] off if he wins 6-1, 6-2 and he made a couple of forehand errors and we’ll talk about it too long.”
The fastidious Djokovic will even “remember most of the important points of every match he played, whether that’s this year, last year or a couple of years before. He would pick up the two or three shots that made the difference”.
Becker strives to ensure Djokovic’s unremitting perfectionism does not become self-defeating by “always portraying the bigger picture”.
The perpetual goal, he says, is to win every match “6-1, 6-1, 6-1”, but he stresses this is not always possible due to uncontrollable factors such as the weather or the opponent.
“We debate about it afterwards and hopefully we come out stronger.”
“That’s the way I am,” says Djokovic, of his furious drive to be the best.
“I have been brought up that way, to always get better and seek to get the best results possible in whatever I do in life.”
What would represent perfection when he ends his garlanded career? Eclipsing Federer’s feat?
“Well, certainly the possibility to achieve great records and make myself a part of the history books is always a great incentive. I appreciate every single victory and every moment, every day, every ball hit counts.
“So that’s kind of the mental approach that stays with me and hopefully then I will be able to achieve more. How far and whether or not I can reach Roger’s record, I think it’s a bit too early to talk about that even though I’m on a good path.”
Becker, however, does not want his charge to be distracted by vainglorious conjecture.
“Do we talk about beating Federer’s record? No, absolutely not. We only look at ourselves. “We concentrate on the next match, the next tournament and after we the year is over, we do a summary [and ask] was it a good year, was it a very good year or was it an average year?”
I tell Becker that an American writer had hailed Djokovic as ‘the Michael Jordan of tennis’, and asked whether he felt he deserved to be mentioned in such exalted company.
“Well, first of all I think he is still creating his own history,” Becker says. “He has many pages left in his book and he’s in the middle of it. He’s one of the all-time greats of tennis.
“I’m a big basketball fan and I love Michael Jordan, but I think it would be fair to wait until he’s done because you cannot say when he’s in the middle of something great who he wants to be compared to.”
Djokovic, meanwhile, says it is “very flattering” to be considered so estimable.
“Whether I deserve it or not, I leave it to others to judge, but he was one of my sporting idols growing up,” he adds, citing Pete Sampras and the Italian former Alpine skier Alberto Tomba as his other sporting inspirations growing up.
‘“He [Jordan] was probably the best basketball player ever to live and one of the greatest athletes ever, so to be mentioned alongside him is truly an honour and acknowledgement for everything I have achieved with my team.”
Everything he has achieved in recent years has been unfeasibly brilliant and comparable to that of any other sportsman on the planet.
He won 82 and lost only five of his matches in an annus mirabilis in 2015, claiming three of the four grand slams.
His outlandish dominance has continued in 2016, with a record-equalling sixth Australian Open secured in January, prior to which his 6-1, 6-2 Qatar Open final destruction of Rafael Nadal was described as being “perfect” by his great Spanish rival.
An eye infection which forced him to retire from his Dubai quarter-final with Feliciano Lopez last month proved he was human, however.
This prevented Djokovic from equalling Ivan Lendl’s record of reaching 18 straight finals, but it is surely not long before he rediscovers nirvana.
But can such a voluminously talented player improve further?
“Look, if you see how he’s playing now to how he’s playing three years ago, I think there’s a difference,” Becker says. “I’m not going to tell you exactly what it is because obviously it’s something we’ve been working on. Again, he’s a perfectionist. He doesn’t take no for an answer.
“He wants to get better in all departments. That’s a challenge. That’s what the team has to deal with every day and I think it’s wonderful. He could easily at 28 years of age say: ‘Wow, what an unbelievable career, I’d never thought I’d win that many grand slams, that much prize money’.
“I think the opposite is the truth. He doesn’t look back, he looks ahead.”
Asked who Djokovic’s biggest challengers will be in years to come, Becker’s response typifies his alpha-male authority and the rock-solid self-belief he has imbued in his charge.
“Of course you have many others, but I think he’s now found a position in world tennis where others have to look at him instead of the other way. He’s his own worst critic.
“I don’t think he should be afraid of anybody, whether they’re called Roger Federer or whoever.
“If he plays perfect, he won’t lose.”
With the interview over, I remark that I miss Becker’s wit and wisdom as a co-commentator on BBC Television’s coverage of Wimbledon.
“I can’t do everything,” he says, with a smile.
That’s perfectly understandable when chasing perfection with Djokovic is such an all-consuming task, but it is clearly one which he undertakes with the same vigour he exhibited on the tennis court.
Even with a debilitating limp, the irrepressible Becker will surely continue to march triumphantly alongside his phenomenal pupil surging towards immortality.
FACT FILE
Native name: Новак Ђоковић Novak Đoković
Country (sports): Serbia and Montenegro(2003–2006)
Serbia (2006–present)
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born: 22 May 1987 (age 28), Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height: 1.88m (6ft 2ins)
Turned pro: 2003
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es): Jelena Genčić (1993–1999); Nikola Pilić (1999–2003); Dejan Petrovic (2004–2005); Riccardo Piatti (2005–2006); Marián Vajda (2006–); Mark Woodforde (2007); Todd Martin (2009–2010); Boris Becker (2013–)
Prize money: $96,642,948
Official website: novakdjokovic.com
Singles
Career record
701–147 (82.67% in Grand Slam and ATP World Tour main draw matches, and in Davis Cup) Career titles
61 (10th in the Open Era)
Highest ranking: No. 1 (4 July 2011)
Current ranking: No. 1 (29 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open
W (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013,2015, 2016)
French Open
F (2012, 2014, 2015)
Wimbledon
W (2011, 2014, 2015)
US Open
W (2011, 2015)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals
W (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014,2015)
Doubles
Career record
41–54 (43.16%)
Career titles
1 - Highest ranking
No. 114 (November 30, 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open
1R (2006, 2007)
French Open
1R (2006)
Wimbledon
2R (2006)
US Open
1R (2006)
Team competitions
Davis Cup
W (2010)
Hopman Cup
F (2008, 2013)
Medal record
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing - Singles
