Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Sunday, July 02, 2023
BERLIN – Boris Becker will not be present at the Wimbledon Championships starting on Monday but that doesn’t stop him from looking forward to the tournament he won three times as a player and later worked at as a BBC television pundit.
Becker was deported to his native Germany last December after serving eight months prison term in Britain for concealing assets worth millions from his insolvency administrators.
He is not allowed to enter Britain and it remains to be seen when and whether he can return, with a BBC spokeswoman saying there are no plans at the moment to work together with him again.
Becker was behind bars during last year’s tournament and he will follow the latest edition from his new home in Milan, with plenty of enthusiasm.
“Wimbledon remains the best season for me even if I am not on site,” Becker told dpa. “I am looking forward to Monday’s start.
Becker said he expects his expertise will be sought during the fortnight in a form of a few interviews. He returned to Eurosport as a pundit for the recent French Open.
Looking at the tournament, Becker named four-time reigning champion Novak Djokovic, who he coached in the past, the top favourite again for what would be an eighth title overall at the All England Club.
“He has already won seven times here, even though grass was not his favourite surface in the beginning of his career,” Becker said.
“But he learnt grass court tennis over the years, and the amount of titles shows that Wimbledon is now his favourite tournament behind the Australian Open.”
Becker said he has also been impressed with world number one Carlos Alcaraz who won the tune-up event at Queen’s and whom he expects to be “highly motivated.”
Looking at the top German, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, he said “I don’t know exactly why” he has never gone beyond the fourth round.
“He has all it takes. He is world glass on clay, he is world class on hard court. But it wasn’t enough so far on grass, especially it Wimbledon,” he said.
