‘We Were Allowed to Play and Go Berserk’- Boris Becker Extends His Support to Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios Over Their Crazy Outbursts

Boris Becker created history at the young age of 17 at the Wimbledon 1985. He defeated Kevin Curren to become the youngest player to win the Wimbledon. The German player is a former six-time grand slam winner. Recently, the ATP has fined heavily Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev for their on-court aggression and outbursts. Consequently, the German talked about ATP promising to impose stricter punishments for on-court aggression of the players.

Boris Becker on ATP’s promise

The German player talked about his time when he played tennis when they were far from the scrutiny of the social media. He said, “I’m quite happy that we were allowed to play and ultimately go berserk”. He further added, “It’s more difficult for the players today. Everything is extremely transparent, too transparent for my taste”. He questioned the criteria of tennis authorities to impose penalties on the players on their conduct while they are playing.
Boris emphasized the nature of tennis, which is an entertaining sport instead of it being a sport in a highly monitored arena. He said, “I don’t want to see computers and machines on the court either.“

Mar 17, 2022; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Nick Kyrgios (AUS) smashes his racket on the court during his quarterfinal match against Rafael Nadal (ESP) at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios

He talked about his incidences of breaking rackets. And being rude to the referee and he said, “I was punished and then you wake up. And yes, the line is thin. What else do you allow?” He gave the example of Daniil Medvedev insulting referees in the Australian Open and Nick Kyrgios’s on-court actions. He said, “We in our generation were also bad, but the boys today, they are at least as bad.” However, he questioned the sound judgment of ATP to regulate the on-court actions more strictly. 

The players can and do get banned from playing tournaments and this is the maximum punishment. In this context, he said, “Where they are guaranteed to wake up is when they are not allowed to play in four or five tournaments. The question is what has to happen for a player to really be punished for weeks?”

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Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 23, 2022. Germany’s Alexander Zverev reacts during his fourth-round match against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

He also discouraged players calling out each other for their conduct on the court. He said, “We’re all not perfect. I also call the tennis players teammates, so you really shouldn’t comment publicly on other people’s misconduct.”

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What do you think about ATP’s promise to implement severe punishments for misconduct on curt for the tennis players?

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