Alexander Zverev reached world No. 1 on Monday and has spent the week answering for Boris Becker’s criticism. The Wimbledon great has questioned why Germany has not warmed to its new top seed; Zverev says Becker is “looking for anything” to put him down.
Becker’s case
Becker’s comments came in an interview with Der Spiegel, reported by Swiss outlet bluewin on 2 November. His theory is about connection rather than results. “His parents are from Russia, and he speaks Russian with his corner on the court,” Becker said, suggesting that this, together with a manner towards the German press that he considers less than friendly, helps explain why Zverev is respected at home more than he is loved.
The ambition behind the criticism is easy to follow. If it matters to Zverev to be “respected more”, Becker said, and perhaps even loved, in Germany, then the support has to be earned. His own yardstick is a deciding set: “In the fifth set, I want them to cheer for me, to support me and not the opponent.”
A second line of Becker’s argument, as reported by Tennis365 this week, goes further: “He doesn’t comment politically on the war in Ukraine at all.”
Zverev’s reply
Zverev has heard all of it, and his answer, published on Thursday, is pointed. “I get the feeling he has to comment on everything I do,” he said. On the political point: “I found it kind of strange that he thinks I have to express my political views.” And then the sharpest line: “I think he’s just looking for anything right now to put me down a bit.”
Why this is a turn
What makes the exchange notable is where Becker stood three weeks ago. When Zverev secured the year-end No. 1 ranking, Becker was his most prominent defender, calling the claim that the ranking was a gift “total nonsense” and insisting that “nothing is given to you for free”. We covered that defence at the time. The distinction Becker is drawing now is a fine one: he still accepts the achievement, but he is questioning what Zverev does with it off the court.
The two statements are not strictly contradictory. Praising a ranking on merit and wishing for a warmer public persona can sit together, and Becker’s wish, on his own telling, is for Zverev to be cheered. Zverev, though, hears something else: a running commentary on his behaviour, including on subjects he does not believe a tennis player owes anyone an opinion on.
The timing
The row lands at an awkward moment for Zverev. Days after reaching No. 1, he lost his Paris opener to Lorenzo Musetti, 7-6 (5), 6-2, and had already said that he is the only No. 1 who has to explain himself. After the match he told reporters: “I deserve to be where I am, even though I lost today.” A public argument with the most famous German player in tennis history is not what a new No. 1 wants on the week he is trying to settle into the role.
Our view
There are two separate questions here, and they are worth keeping apart. Is a world No. 1 obliged to be popular? Almost certainly not; the ranking measures results, and Becker himself argued exactly that three weeks ago. Is it legitimate for a former champion to say that a No. 1 could do more to bring the crowd with him? That is a normal pundit’s opinion, and Becker has the standing to offer it.
Where the debate becomes harder to defend is the political demand. Whether any athlete should be expected to speak on a war is a matter on which reasonable people differ, and Zverev’s position is that he should not be pushed. What is clear is that the argument will not end with Paris. Zverev now holds the top ranking in the sport, and for the next few months every result, and every press conference, will be read against what Becker has said.
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