Nick Kyrgios continued taking shots at Boris Becker as their feud does not seem to end. The German claimed players from the previous generations made tennis commercially viable and took a dig at Kyrgios. The Australian hit back, saying he brought more money into tennis than most other players and mocked Becker.
The spat between Becker and Kyrgios started when the latter claimed players from the current generation, like Novak Djokovic, would ‘destroy’ players from older eras even in their primes. The 6-time Grand Slam winner took offence and questioned Kyrgios’s credibility, taunting him for having no Majors titles. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist retorted with a five-post rant. He attacked Becker for many things, including his arrest for hiding assets during bankruptcy.
In an interview with Eurosport (via Olly Tennis), Becker said older players deserve respect, and without them, tennis would not be as big as it is today. He believed the sport is so financially rewarding today only because of these legends.
“It’s simple, you have to respect the past of our sport, in addition to publicly thanking the former players. You must be grateful that they existed: without them, the tennis circus would not continue to exist, there have never been so many monetary prizes and there has never been as much publicity as there is today. Why? For the legends of this sport.”
Becker took a jibe at Kyrgios, saying it was because of these players from previous generations that he could make money despite not playing tennis for a year.
“All these players made it possible for Nick Kyrgios not to play tennis all year round and that, even so, he can make a living with this sport.”
True to his personality, Kyrgios slammed Becker in response. He claimed he is one of the few players who have brought ‘millions’ of new fans and more money to tennis. He mentioned Netflix’s popular documentary, Break Point, which he featured prominently but Becker was not a part of. The Aussie labelled the coach ‘ridiculous’ and stated he organically developed an off-court career.
Nick Kyrgios is one of the lucky few as Boris Becker’s words hold truth
Nick Kyrgios, in an earlier interview, said players from the current times could easily defeat players from past generations in their primes. He talked about the variation in serve speeds, saying anything in the 190-200kph range was considered a big serve back then. However, many players today, including himself, shoot down 220kph+ serves regularly today.
The maverick said if you serve any slower and cannot return well, someone like Djokovic would destroy you. Becker, the Serb’s former coach, was name-dropped by Kyrgios, who said he would not have been good enough today.
Becker, on the other hand, believed tennis stands where it is because of legendary players from bygone eras. He said they popularised the sport across the world and got much-needed publicity for it. Without their efforts, tennis would not have the finance it has now. While Kyrgios responded talking only about his endeavours, one cannot deny the truth in Becker’s words. Only a select few players get the opportunity to make sizeable earnings from off the court.
Lower-ranked players and athletes from smaller nations, for example, do not get sufficient chances to earn via endorsements, image rights, productions, etc. For them, on-court earning is their primary source of income. This holds true for a majority of tennis pros and like Becker said, this was made possible only by yesteryear stars who made tennis globally popular. Kyrgios is one of the lucky few who can make a living off his own money from outside tennis. However, not all players have that privilege.
