Last year, Novak Djokovic took everyone by surprise when he announced his partnership with Andy Murray. One of the biggest tennis champions would become his coach. It would be a lethal duo, right? However, that partnership lasted for only six months. In May 2025, he confirmed the split with the Brit through a social media post, which read, “Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun, and support over the last six months on and off the court. I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together.” And just before the Geneva Open, the Serb introduced two familiar faces: Dusan Vemic and Boris Bosnjakovic, to his team. Things have gone pretty smoothly for him till now, and not only did he win the title he Geneva, but now he has also secured his place in the SF of the 2025 French Open by defeating last year’s finalist Alexander Zverev in four sets. However, seeing Zverev’s recent performances, the six-time Grand Slam champion and Djokovic’s ex-coach, Boris Becker, has now called for a change in the world number 3’s team.

Boris Becker coached Novak Djokovic from 2013 to 2016, and during this tenure, the Serb won six major titles. But after seeing his countryman go down to Nole by 6-4,3-6,2-6,4-6, Becker issued a clear warning about Zverev’s Grand Slam hopes. In an interview with Eurosport Germany, he said, “Sascha needs to think about why things haven’t been going as well throughout the entire clay-court season — and not just in Paris — as they did last season. There are reasons for this, and a critical analysis is necessary. The family needs to come together and openly address: ‘Why aren’t things going so well at the moment? The dream of a Grand Slam title isn’t over, but with every missed opportunity, it becomes more difficult.”

If we go back to 2024, Zverev had a 23-6 record on clay. Compare that to 2025, and you start to see the cracks form in his game. Despite one title win on the surface, the mounting losses in Argentina and Monte-Carlo cannot be ignored. Add to that his latest loss against Djokovic and the problem gets much more serious.

Becker highlighted how the younger generations are getting better and why Zverev needs to win against superstars like Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz. Having said that, he also suggested why Zverev’s current coaching isn’t good enough to win Slams. Listing Alexander Zverev’s former coaches, Becker said, “He had [Ivan] Lendl, [Juan Carlos] Ferrero, [David] Ferrer and [Sergi] Bruguera. It doesn’t get much better than that. But they were all always embedded with his father and his brother. And I don’t think anyone new will come along in this constellation. The question is: What does Sascha want? Is he satisfied with being No. 2 in the world? Is he satisfied with an outstanding tennis career to date? Or is he saying that he wants to try again and turn everything upside down?“

Furthermore, the tennis legend even cited examples of Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner by saying, “If you take a look at Nadal’s career. Toni Nadal was there for a long time, then Carlos Moya or Francisco Roig came along at some point. How is Sinner doing? There have now been three successful years with Darren Cahill. Now there’s a new one coming. At some point, you need new noises and a new environment. It’s the same in football, as a football coach, you don’t normally stay with a club for 10 years. He is the one who decides. He is the chairman of the board, the CEO. He decides what Team Zverev will look like in the future. His father and brother did an excellent job, but it wasn’t good enough for the final step.”

Even the former German tennis player, Barbara Rittner, claimed that the impetus from outside can only come in when his father and brother take a back seat. “I know I’m not making myself popular in the Zverev camp. But perhaps he will get some impetus from outside. But the impetus from outside only comes when dad and [Zverev’s brother] Mischa hold back and let someone else take the lead.” 

Talking about his relationship with Zverev and his chance of taking up the role, Boris Becker had then said, “We are actually in regular exchange, he can call me day and night if he has a question, and then maybe I can answer them on the phone, or I can come to the training live. I know almost everything about his strengths and weaknesses. This is also important because otherwise I can’t help him.” But having said that, he also mentioned, “I won’t be a coach. That will always remain his father.“

Shortly after that, Alexander Zverev came up with a clarification saying, “Boris and I have a great connection. If anything happens, we’ll let you know… In the meantime, you can speculate and make a story out of it. I’m not saying anything about it.” Now, after his recent defeat to Novak Djokovic, the buzz surrounding an overhaul in his coaching setup has grown much stronger. What was Zverev’s reaction after going down to the three-time champion in the QF?

Alexander Zverev hails Novak Djokovic’s brilliance after his QF defeat

This was Alexander Zverev‘s fourteenth meeting with the Serb. With this win, Novak Djokovic has now taken his H2H record to 9-5 against the German. After this match, Zverev was seen heaping praise on the 38-year-old by saying, “I think at the moment he’s a bit underrated, to be honest. Funny that you say that, but I think like a lot of people count him out already, but this year he’s had wins over Carlos at the Australian Open, and he has had a win over me at the French Open. Forget the age. I think for any player, those are pretty good results.”

The German also added, “He’s still beating the best of the best. So I think everybody needs to respect that. He’s won 24 of these things. I think, yes, I expected him to be able to play like this. I have not seen him play like this this year yet.” Can Novak Djokovic maintain this high level against the world number one, Jannik Sinner, in the SF?

This will be Djokovic’s ninth meeting with the Italian, and guess what? From a 1-4 deficit, Jannik Sinner has now leveled his H2H record against Novak Djokovic at 4-4. Talking about the Italian, Djokovic said, “Jannik is in tremendous form and he’s been the best player for the last couple of years. He has been playing some terrific tennis, attacking tennis, and he is just super strong from every part of his game. I have not played him in quite some time, and we always have had some exciting matches.“

Talking about his plans for this match, Novak Djokovic said that he believes Sinner will come out and play on a very high level, but at the same time, he believes these are those match-ups and challenges that bring out the best in him. Can Djokovic get the better of Sinner this time?