Dubai: German tennis legend Boris Becker has backed the next generation of youngsters to effortlessly take over the baton from the current stars of the sport.
Becker, who was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the sixth Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC), asserted that the ATP World Tour’s NextGen of stars are all braced to take over at the top.
The ATP World Tour has billed a handful of players from the top-200 on the Emirates ATP Rankings as the ‘next generation’ of stars who are capable of taking over from the current top tennis players in the world. Players such as 2017 champion Chung Hyeon of South Korea, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, and Andrey Rublev of Russia are among the under-21 players who have started showing satisfying signs of taking over from the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in recent times.
“When Federer was 20 or 21 or when Nadal, Djokovic and Murray were young they didn’t know that they would one day be where they are today. But 10 or 15 years later they are at their peak. Each generation outgrows the other and the young and upcoming players will one day be super stars of tomorrow. This is just the nature of the game,” Becker told Gulf News after the opening ceremony at NAS Sports Tournament.
“I am very proud that Germany has Zverev. I feel he is the best among the young generation, but there are many talented players coming through each day. They are getting better and better and I am excited about the next five years,” he added.
The former world No. 1 tennis player’s successful career took off as a 17-year-old when he became the youngest-ever to win a Grand Slam while claiming the Wimbledon title in 1985. Along with his six Grand Slam titles, Becker also claimed five year-end championships, 13 Masters Series titles and an Olympic gold in doubles during a career in tennis that spanned 15 years from 1984 to 1999.
“Every generation has its superstars. When [Bjorn] Borg came, there was a [John] McEnroe. They were followed by [Ivan] Lendl and then it came down to me followed by [Stefan] Edberg and [Pete] Sampras. At the moment we have Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. There is always another big tennis player coming up every five or seven years down the line who is capable of carrying the game forward. And this will continue to be the case as long as tennis is played,” Becker said.
The 50-year-old German was particularly proud to be associated with the ongoing NAS Sports Tournament and its patron Shaikh Hamdan. “He [Shaikh Hamdan] is an incredibly sporty guy and I have seen his exploits and involvement in so many difficult sports in the past. He likes to take risks and I respect that a lot,” Becker said.
“But I think I have to teach him some tennis though,” he added with a smile.
