Must Be Nice: 'I have chosen Ivan Lendl over Boris Becker'

Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
https://www.tennisDELETEworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/59376/alexander-zverev-i-have-chosen-ivan-lendl-over-boris-becker-/

'Obviously the two options for me were Boris and him. I always said it's the only options that I thought of were those two people. One reason was because team members of mine have worked with Ivan before. They know what he brings to the table.
Jez (Green), who is also a very good friend, not just a trainer, we've been talking a lot who would be a great person. He always felt that Ivan was. He just knows what Ivan brings to the table. That was one.' Zverev added: 'And second, I just thought Ivan's life right now is a little bit easier.
I like Boris. I love Boris a lot. He's a great guy. I've texted him and talked to him before announcing this thing with Ivan. I said, Look, would have loved to work with you, and maybe in the future it will hopefully work out, as well.
But right now I just thought Ivan would be better.' Commenting what they are working on, Zverev added: 'There's a lot of tactical work, for sure. There's a lot of mental work, as well, to kind of show me what it takes to compete for Grand Slams, to win Grand Slams.
That for sure he has showed me a little bit. The training sessions are tough. The training sessions have always been tough when I work. I'm a pretty hard working guy, so I know what it takes. I'm not somebody who sits on my butt when I'm alone.
I'm always constantly trying to figure out ways to get better. That hasn't changed that much. The training sessions are still tough.'
 
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Did Zverev choose the right coach? Has anyone had two such great coaches to pick from? The arrogance of the situation is staggering
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dgold44 said:
Becker was more talented than Lendl but Lendl worked harder and had better career
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Not convinced about that. Lendl's talent has always been sorely unrated. Lendl was very powerful off the ground and serve as we all know but he also was able to play at very consistently high levels which I believe is a talent unto itself. He was imo more mobile than Becker and clearly was superior on clay.
 
pc1 said:
Not convinced about that. Lendl's talent has always been sorely unrated. Lendl was very powerful off the ground and serve as we all know but he also was able to play at very consistently high levels which I believe is a talent unto itself. He was imo more mobile than Becker and clearly was superior on clay.
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Lendl also had very good volleys later in his career

Both underachieved in big matches
 
NoleFam said:
He should have kept this to himself because you don't want to look like an arrogant twit. I didn't even know Becker was even in talks to be his coach and to not make Becker feel slighted, he shouldn't have said anything about it.
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Becker certainly did a lot for Novak. Especially his serve and net-game. Lendl will more likely improve consistency and power off the ground like he did with Murray.
 
Tiki-Taka said:
Sascha had really good couple of selections, now that he made his decision he better make the best of his time with Ivan.
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Lendl isn't a guy that is going to stick around long term. He has family and other commitments to attend to. But you could certainly learn a lot in the short amount of time you've got with Ivan.
 
Sabratha said:
True. In my opinion though Zverev is better off fine-tuning his serve and net-game. His ground-game is already quite solid.
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In practice match with Djoko Ivan was up talking with him before almost every return. Didn't see much discussion when Zedrot blundering around the net.:D Looks like they're doubling down on ground game.
 
I'm not sure he made the best choice. I strongly doubt Lendl will follow Zverev at every tournament through the entire calendar, year after year. My guess is he'll be there mostly during slams and that's it since he's already made it clear back when he was with Murray that he doesn't like the traveling at his age and he has other commitments (family etc...). I believe Becker would've been more present, and based on what he did with Djokovic, he could of helped Zverev in 2 areas that he needs to improve, his non existent net game and make his serve more of a weapon. As others have said, he's already got a solid ground game. I'm not saying Lendl won't be able to improve those areas as well, but if I'm thinking long-term partnership, Boris would've made more sense IMO.
 
duaneeo said:
Media hound Boris probably asked Zverev to talk about it.
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This extra information doesn't hurt Boris; shows he was a close 2nd in the Zedrot coaching sweepstakes. Seems very, very likely that they'll pair at some point.

Sounds like Becker is definitely in the market for a job so one wonders if a player like Tsitsipas if they keep shoveling in the loot might come knocking. Doesn't sound like his stint as president of German tennis until 2020 is really locked down or is he allowed to coach only German pupils?:confused:
 
Meles said:
https://www.tennisDELETEworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/59376/alexander-zverev-i-have-chosen-ivan-lendl-over-boris-becker-/

'Obviously the two options for me were Boris and him. I always said it's the only options that I thought of were those two people. One reason was because team members of mine have worked with Ivan before. They know what he brings to the table.
Jez (Green), who is also a very good friend, not just a trainer, we've been talking a lot who would be a great person. He always felt that Ivan was. He just knows what Ivan brings to the table. That was one.' Zverev added: 'And second, I just thought Ivan's life right now is a little bit easier.
I like Boris. I love Boris a lot. He's a great guy. I've texted him and talked to him before announcing this thing with Ivan. I said, Look, would have loved to work with you, and maybe in the future it will hopefully work out, as well.
But right now I just thought Ivan would be better.' Commenting what they are working on, Zverev added: 'There's a lot of tactical work, for sure. There's a lot of mental work, as well, to kind of show me what it takes to compete for Grand Slams, to win Grand Slams.
That for sure he has showed me a little bit. The training sessions are tough. The training sessions have always been tough when I work. I'm a pretty hard working guy, so I know what it takes. I'm not somebody who sits on my ass when I'm alone.
I'm always constantly trying to figure out ways to get better. That hasn't changed that much. The training sessions are still tough.'
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Zverev, who has accomplished nothing, wielding his decision power. Nice.
 
Meles said:
This extra information doesn't hurt Boris; shows he was a close 2nd in the Zedrot coaching sweepstakes. Seems very, very likely that they'll pair at some point.

Sounds like Becker is definitely in the market for a job so one wonders if a player like Tsitsipas if they keep shoveling in the loot might come knocking. Doesn't sound like his stint as president of German tennis until 2020 is really locked down or is he allowed to coach only German pupils?:confused:
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boris want money ,if zverev couldn't afford him i doubt tsistipas could.
 
I think Zverev made the right decision. He may be one of the best-ranked players on tour right now, and therefore he should be able to deal with whatever happens in his career in a professional way, but he's still very young. He needs a mature, reliable and steady figure on his side, someone who can assure him the partnership will be as professional as it gets and won't be affected by external situations.

Maybe in the future, a partnership with Boris will take place and be very successful, perhaps even more successful than the one with Lendl, but at the moment I can't imagine how someone so young and still trying to break through at the highest level of tennis could choose Becker over Lendl considering everything the first one is going through right now. Zverev has enough issues to attend on his own to be taking the risk of dealing with Boris' as well.
 
Alba Barragan said:
I think Zverev made the right decision. He may be one of the bMaybe in the future, a partnership with Boris will take place and be very successful, perhaps even more successful than the one with Lendl, but at the moment I can't imagine how someone so young and still trying to break through at the highest level of tennis could choose Becker over Lendl considering everything the first one is going through right now. Zverev has enough issues to attend on his own to be taking the risk of dealing with Boris' as well.
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I agree. Lendl has experience in elevating a Masters champion to a slam champion. Boris had the luxury of his player already being a 6-time slam champion/2-time YE #1 when he became coach.
 
Lendl is a winner and I have tremendous respect for him. I see Lendl bringing Zverev to the next level. Give Lendl one year with this kid and he will get him to a slam final. Give him 18 months and he will win a slam title.
 
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