Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl will renew rivalries at the Australian Open in a month’s time 23 years after Melbourne Park played host to their last ever meeting in a grand slam tennis final.
Becker has been named as the new head coach of world No 2 Novak Djokovic in a move that mirrors Andy Murray’s appointment of Lendl two years ago.
Lendl is credited with helping the Scottish world No 4 break his grand slam duck, with his first major title coming at the 2012 US Open before he became the first British men’s champion at Wimbledon in 77 years this past summer.
While Djokovic, already a six-time major winner, is in a very different place in his career compared with Murray two years ago, the 26-year-old Serbian is seemingly in need of fresh impetus after a 2013 campaign that saw him win just one grand slam title and cede the world No 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal.
Perhaps mindful of the stunning success Murray has enjoyed under Lendl’s guidance, it maybe should not come as a surprise that he has made a similar appointment.
Certainly comparisons between Becker and Lendl are there to be made.
Both men shot to prominence in the 1980s as leading lights of a new breed of hard-hitting ‘power’ players and went on to become multiple grand slam champions Becker winning six titles from 10 major final appearances and Lendl eight from 19.
The 1991 Australian Open won by Becker was the last grand slam final between the two, but come January 26 they could again find themselves facing off in the showpiece match on Rod Laver Arena, albeit this time guiding their charges from the stands.
Djovokic is the three-time defending champion at Melbourne Park and will be bidding for his fifth Australian Open crown next month.
Murray, meanwhile, has been runner-up three times and few would bet against the pair going all the way again next month.
“I am proud Novak invited me to become his head coach,” Becker said on Djokovic’s official website. “I will do my best to help him reach his goals, and I am sure we can achieve great things together.”
Becker joins an existing coaching team formerly headed by Marian Vajda, who will remain part of the set-up in a reduced role. Miljan Amanovic and Gebhard Phil-Gritsch will also be retained.
Becker will work to prepare Djokovic for the first grand slam of the season in Melbourne, which starts on January 13, and will also accompany him to the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as tournaments in Dubai, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Cincinnati, Shanghai, Paris and the season-ending World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic hopes Becker’s experience can help him get back to the top of the world rankings.
“I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with Boris. He is a true legend, someone who has great tennis knowledge and his experience will help me win new trophies from the grand slams and other tournaments,” said Djokovic, who was named the 2013 International Tennis Federation world champion, narrowly edging out Nadal for the accolade.