Boris Becker, former successful coach of Novak Djokovic, talks about the biggest challenges his former protégé has to face during the comeback.
Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, David Goffin: the list of rejections for the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells is long and far from complete. With all the bad news, however, Tournament Director Tommy Haas is still hoping to welcome a five-time ex-Champion in the Californian desert: Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian is currently entourage near Las Vegas, where he was observed during intensive training activities on Friday. Whether the “Djoker” is already fit enough for the million dollar spectacle in Indian Wells after his surgery on the elbow is to be clarified at the beginning of next week during a final medical check.
For Djokovic’s former coach Boris Becker, however, physical aspects are not all that important when he returns. On the fringes of the Laureus prize-giving ceremony in Monte Carlos, the 50-year-old put the mental component in the foreground:”The challenge will be much greater psychologically,”says Becker.
“It’s all about how much you do the dirty work, that is, train on Monday mornings, or withstand tough weather conditions in the first few rounds of a tournament when everyone expects you to win.”
Becker also hopes that Djokovic will be able to return to his performance before the injury break as quickly as possible,”It is said that it often takes as long to return to the previous level as the time you were injured. I hope Novak doesn’t do that.”
The Australian Open was ranked 13th in the world rankings. failed in the last sixteen at the South Korean Hyeon Chung after half a year without competition practice. Becker does not believe that the situation of the twelve-time Grand Slam winner would have been better if he had been operated on earlier:
“You don’t do surgery until it’s inevitable. A two-week Grand Slam is about more than just a painful elbow. If you go into the locker room on Monday, you’ll be surprised how many players have elbow, ankle or foot injuries.”