Novak Djokovic Announces Split With Coach Boris Becker After Three Years Together

It has been a rough end of the year for Novak Djokovic as he has lost his title as the No. 1 player in the world. Now the tennis pro has been reevaluating his strategy for 2017 and that has played into his decision to part ways with the man that he has called coach for three years, Boris Becker.

Djokovic made an official statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday to confirm the news. There have been rumors flying around that Becker’s current job was on the line considering Novak’s declining wins on the tennis court the past few months. Andy Murray has taken his place as world No. 1 after his victory over the Serb at the ATP World Tour Finals last month.

This recent turn of events in Novak’s career has led him to rethink how he wants to proceed in his future in tennis, which includes saying goodbye to his German coach. The parting of ways was mutual, according to Djokovic, as he thanked Becker for their time together.

“After three very successful years, Boris Becker and I have jointly decided to end our cooperation. The goals we set when we started working together have been completely fulfilled, and I want to thank him for the cooperation, teamwork, dedication and commitment.”

Their relationship has been filled with much success as Djokovic has been at the top spot since 2013 and has won six Grand Slam titles under Boris Becker’s coaching reign, including the coveted French Open men’s title this year. The duo has worked well together for the most part. However, Boris was uncertain a few days ago as to whether Novak would decide to continue with their current arrangement or if they would go their separate ways.

Becker sat down with The Daily Mail a few days ago to discuss his present and future with Novak Djokovic and at that time may have hinted about the outcome that has now come to pass. He blamed the 29-year-old Serb’s lack of motivation after winning the French Open for his losses thereafter. His tight schedule, exhaustion, and trying to balance the time with his wife and son may have all played a part in his end of the year chaos.

“You could understand any sportsman, after consistently winning everything, he gets tired of it for whatever reason. That was the case with Novak after the French Open. He has the right to take time out, pursue other interests, spend more time with his family.”

What now? Novak continues to say in his announcement that he is now in the process of planning for the upcoming tennis season. Of course, he will strive to get his former placing back as the No. 1 tennis player in the world, but he is taking a look at how he can best do that by coming up with a schedule that is a good fit for him and to get his mojo back in his level of play. He states that he will now be the one in charge of making those kinds of decisions which affects his future in tennis.

Thank U ! We had the time of our life …#teamdjokovic pic.twitter.com/n6uZRd4m1O

— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) December 6, 2016

Becker says that he has totally enjoyed his time with Novak and his team. He tweeted out his appreciation and thanks. While he described these past three years with Djokovic as an interesting and challenging time, it sounds like he is okay with moving on and maybe had expected it anyway. Now tennis fans will wait to see what 2017 will hold for Novak Djokovic and if he can achieve the goal of getting the No. 1 spot back or if Andy Murray is able to hold onto that ranking for a while.

What are your thoughts of Novak’s decision to let Becker go? Will this be better for his tennis in 2017?

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