Exclusive: Boris Becker tells Nick Kyrgios to 'respect the past' as dispute over tennis eras continues

ByNancy Gillen

Published 18/12/2023 at 17:15 GMT

Boris Becker has told Nick Kyrgios to "respect the past" as the war of words between the pair continues. The six-time Grand Slam champion took issue with Kyrgios' claim that today's tennis stars are far superior than the greats from years gone by, sparking a debate on social media. Becker has now addressed the situation on Eurosport Germany’s "Das Gelbe vom Ball" podcast.

Boris Becker has told Nick Kyrgios to "respect the past" as their dispute over the different eras of tennis continues.

Becker, a six-time Grand Slam winner, found himself embroiled in a row with Kyrgios after taking issue with the 28-year-old’s claim that today’s tennis stars are far superior than the greats from years gone by.

"The game was so slow back then," Kyrgios told The Athletic. "I've watched Boris Becker and I'm not saying they weren't good in their time, but to say that they would be just as good now, it's absurd.

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"A big serve back then was like 197 to 200 [km/h]. People like me, we serve 220 consistently, to corners. It's a whole different ball game.

"But serve and volley, to do it all the time now, you need to be serving 220, because if you serve anything less than 220, Djokovic eats you alive."

Becker hit back on X, writing: "Nick makes a lot of noise about tennis lately!?! Why does he speak about a sport he apparently hates?

"Fact-check Nick has never won a major championship as a player or coach... so where is any credibility coming from?"

Boris Becker

Image credit: Getty Images

The dispute continued on social media, with Becker now addressing it during an episode of Eurosport Germany’s "Das Gelbe vom Ball" podcast.

"We live in a democracy," Becker said. "Everyone can think what he wants. You have to have respect for the past and simply say 'thank you' out loud that these old pros existed, because without them the tennis circus would no longer exist.

"Let me start with Australia. Rod Laver, Ken Roswall, John Newcombe, Ken Roach - the gladiators of the Australian tennis scene. Then I have to mention Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. They were all number one, they won Grand Slam tournaments.

"I go further in the generational question and say: 70s, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, then Ivan Lendl came along."

Becker, who currently coaches world No. 8 Holger Rune, attributed the success of McEnroe, Connors, Borg and Lendl to the commercialisation of tennis, which has resulted in significant prize money pots for players such as Kyrgios.

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"They popularised the sport, they drew viewers to the television," Becker said. "You can see the result today. There has never been so much prize money, there has never been so much publicity as there is today. And that's because of the legends.

"I did play a bit in the 80s, but there was [Stefan] Edberg, [Mats] Wilander. The 90s were {Andre] Agassi, [Pete] Sampras. All these players make it possible for Nick Kyrgios not to play tennis at all this year and still be able to make a living from tennis."

Kyrgios has won a Grand Slam doubles title, doing so with Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2022 Australian Open, but he is yet to win a Grand Slam singles title.

He only played one match in 2023 due to an array of injury problems, and has confirmed he will miss the 2024 Australian Open.

Kyrgios suggested earlier this month that he could retire soon, admitting he doesn’t "really want to play any more" while on the On Purpose podcast with Jay Shetty.

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