Boris Becker would have loved to commentate with Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open, but has revealed the Eurosport pundits will be on opposite sides of the planet over the next fortnight.
It was confirmed earlier this week that injured former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios will be part of Eurosport’s punditry team for the first grand slam of 2024.
This raised the prospect that Kyrgios, who was sidelined for most of last year with knee and wrist issues, could come face to face with six-time major winner Becker in Melbourne after their online exchange last month.
Kyrgios and Becker traded insults on X, formerly known as Twitter, over a succession of days in December with the recent jail sentence served by double Australian Open winner Becker referenced, but he has now confirmed they will be – unintentionally – kept apart during their media duties.
“I would have liked to see a match where we are both commentating next to each other. I think that would be more watched than the tennis match actually,” Becker said.
“Look, he joined the team of Eurosport International out of Melbourne and I joined the Eurosport German team out of Munich. So, unless we get connected into the cube where they beam you into the studio, I don’t think there is anything happening there.
“Ultimately we both love the game, we love tennis, we like to commentate on a good match and that’s the bond we have.
“We have a difference of opinion, but that’s normal. We agree we want to see great matches, we want to see a great tournament and this is why we do the job.”
Becker will not be in Australia for the first major of the year, but has a vested interest after he took up the role of Holger Rune’s coach in 2023.
While the German has backed the 20-year-old to do well at Melbourne Park, he cannot look beyond defending champion Novak Djokovic, another player he has coached in the past.
He added: “I have to mention my player Holger Rune, who reached the fourth round last year, he was also comfortable, he started the year well with the final in Brisbane. He had a good practice week and I am sure he is ready by Sunday.
“Holger is a very intense, very dynamic and a very explosive young player. He reminds me a little bit of a young Novak Djokovic.
“For me, the clear-cut favourite is Novak Djokovic. He won the tournament 10 times. Let me repeat, he won it 10 times. This is a really outstanding achievement.
“He is the clear-cut favourite but he is 36, he had a small injury on his hitting hand. I saw him practicing yesterday and today, he seemed fine but we have to watch this space because he is not getting any younger.
“Having said that, when the tournament starts, he is the number one player in the world, he is the defending champion and he is the top favourite.”
Becker is back on the tennis scene after he spent part of 2022 in prison for hiding £2.5million of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
The 56-year-old, a three-time Wimbledon winner, believes he is a better coach for his recent battles with bankruptcy.
“I don’t want to go into details to what happened to me and how I came out of it, but I think I am a better man now than I was five years ago,” Becker reflected.
“Hopefully my family would agree with that but also because of the things I have experienced, I might even be a better coach. All the top guys, the difference is often their mentality, their attitude, how they deal with disappointment.
“This is my strong part. I can really talk to a player about overcoming adversity at any given time and I am much more credible now than I was five years ago.”
Defending champion Rybakina withdraws from Italian Open due to illness
Defending champion Elena Rybakina has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to illness.
Rybakina has enjoyed a fine start to 2024, boasting a 30-5 record and capturing three WTA titles to match Iga Swiatek for the most of any player on the tour.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion won her second WTA 1000 title in Rome last year, defeating Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko en route to the final, which she won by virtue of a walkover after taking the opening set, due to an injury to Anhelina Kalinina.
The Kazakhstani was set to open her title defence against Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, but lucky loser Oceane Dodin took her place after she felt too unwell to play.
The world number four said: "Unfortunately I do not feel well enough to compete. I have such good memories from last year and was looking forward to defending my title.
"Rome is so special to me, and I look forward to being back next year to reclaim my title and play in front of the Italian fans."
Former US Open champion Thiem to retire from tennis this year
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
Thiem memorably fought back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the 2020 tournament at Flushing Meadows, also reaching three other grand slam finals during his career.
Having reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in the aftermath of that US Open success, Thiem has since struggled with wrist and knee injuries, failing to progress beyond the second round of a major since the 2021 Australian Open.
The Austrian failed to reach the recent Madrid Open, going down to Thanasi Kokkinakis in qualifying on the clay, which he had previously regarded as his strongest surface.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, the 30-year-old said: "I have to tell you a very important, and very sad but very beautiful message. The 2024 season will be my last one, I'm going to finish my career at the end of the season.
"There are reasons behind it; first of all, my wrist is not exactly the way it should be, and the second reason is my inner feeling.
"I was thinking about this decision for a very long time, thinking about my whole journey as a tennis player, which was incredible.
"I've had success and won trophies I would never have dreamed of. It was an incredible journey that I am so thankful for, but in the end I came to the conclusion that this decision is the only right one."
Osaka beats Kostyuk for landmark win at Italian Open
Naomi Osaka recorded her first win over a top-20 opponent on clay at the Italian Open on Thursday, posting an impressive 6-3 6-2 victory against Marta Kostyuk to reach the third round.
Having opened her first Italian Open campaign since 2021 with a straight-sets win over Clara Burel on Wednesday, Osaka produced another slick performance to down the world number 20 one day later.
Osaka blitzed Kostyuk to take the opener in just 36 minutes, taking advantage of a sloppy start from the Ukrainian, who served at just 40 per cent in the first set and tallied 15 unforced errors.
The former world number one then forced a break within three games in the second set, only for rain to halt proceedings after she went 3-1 up.
She showed no signs of rustiness upon returning to the court, though, even responding to a late loss of serve with an immediate break back to tee up a third-round clash with 10th seed Daria Kasatkina.
Data Debrief: First for Osaka on least favourite surface
Osaka has never considered herself a clay-court specialist, failing to reach a single tour-level final on the surface throughout her career.
Ahead of Thursday's match, she was 0-8 on clay against opponents in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. However, a routine victory should give her hope of repeating the feat against Kasatkina next time out.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
