Boris Becker has cooled down the hype surrounding Alexander Zverev by admitting he has reservations about his future in the sport.
The former world No.1 made the unexpected comments on Sunday, the same day Zverev suffered a shock loss to Belgium’s Steve Darcis in the Davis Cup. Zverev has previously been labelled as the future of men’s tennis once the era of the ‘big four’ comes to an end. The 19-year-old currently has one ATP title to his name and cracked the top 20 for the first time last October.
Despite the promise displayed by the German, who has also defeated Roger Federer twice, Becker believes that the youngster still has a long way to go. In the grand slam events, Zverev is yet to go beyond the third round.
“The Grand Slam achievements are so far manageable for Alex. The next step would be that he makes the second week, so then he will go up faster in the world rankings,” Becker told Sport 1.
Earlier this year, Rafael Nadal described Zverev as a player with ‘amazing potential’ following their clash at the Australian Open. Becker has also praised the talent of his compatriot before releasing a critical analysis of his current performance.
“When it comes to pure talent, he can keep up with everyone.” Said Becker. “He has a lot of talent, but so does ten others.”
Becker’s criticism comes just days after the Zverev publicly admitted that he would like to hire the former world No.1 as a coach. During an interview with Bild, the Next Generation star believes a collaboration would enhance his game.
‘Boris could definitely help me to improve my game, but if I want to work with him, first I have to win some tournaments because at the moment I cannot afford it. So if I wanted to do it, I would have to wait at least a couple of years.’ Said Zverev.
On a more positive note, the 49-year-old did express admiration towards Zverev’s family and the support they have provided him and his brother Mischa. The Zverev family has deep roots in tennis. His father (Alexander Sr.) used to represent the Soviet Union and won two gold medals at the 1985 Summer Universiade. Meanwhile, his mother (Irina Zvereva) also played professionally.
“His father is a former Davis Cup player, Mom has been on the tennis courts for decades, his older brother Mischa is an important building block, he has a family environment that supports and protects him,” he said.
Zverev will return to action this week at the Montripellar Open in France, where he will be the fourth seed.
