Novak Djokovic leaves Boris Becker 'lost for words' ahead of French Open with key decision

Tennis legend Boris Becker has admitted he is surprised Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray ended their coaching partnership on the eve of the 2025 French Open.

Djokovic and Murray confirmed on May 13 that they had parted ways after working together for six months.

The two former rivals stunned the tennis world when they announced their collaboration in November.

The duo first joined forces during the off-season and they teamed up at four tournaments this year, with the partnership bringing mixed results.

In his first tournament with Murray in his box, Djokovic reached the Australian Open semi-finals having defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, before a hamstring injury forced him to retire against Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic also made a run to the final at the Miami Open with five dominant straight-set wins before he lost to Jakub Mensik.

The 24-time major champion lost his opening match at the other two events: in Indian Wells and Madrid.

Ahead of the year’s second Grand Slam at Roland Garros, Becker revealed he was “lost for words” by the timing of Djokovic and Murray’s split.

“I’m a little bit surprised that they would end their working relationship just a week before Roland Garros,” the German told The Independent.

“I thought Melbourne was a big success. I was happy to see Andy back in action in Novak’s corner. I really wanted to see them both at Wimbledon, actually.

“Andy knows a thing or two about winning Wimbledon, he’s very popular there. I thought it would be an advantage for Novak to have Andy in his corner.

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“I’m a little bit lost for words [as to] why they’ve broken up just before the second Grand Slam.”

The six-time Grand Slam winner continued: “I thought it was always about the Grand Slams and I thought the campaign in Melbourne went very well.

“I don’t know the reasons. Novak is a smart guy – he knows what he’s doing. I definitely thought this relationship would go at least until Wimbledon, but I was wrong.

“But you should never underestimate Novak Djokovic, he’s always a very fierce competitor, he always has something up his sleeve.

“Novak Djokovic knows pretty much everything about tennis. So, who can he talk to that knows more?

“The challenge is for Novak to find someone that he has respect [for], who he can learn something from.

“That’s very difficult because he’s so good and knowledgeable, he’s done everything there is to do in tennis and that’s the difficulty he has.”

Becker coached Djokovic between 2014 and 2016 – during which time he helped his fellow great win six majors and 14 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

Djokovic is competing at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva this week as he aims to gain match rhythm ahead of the French Open, which begins on Sunday.

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