Boris Becker claims Novak Djokovic has two personalities that fight each other, labels Nadal the GOAT
Novak Djokovic stands on the cusp of making history. Should he triumph at Roland Garros this year, the top-ranked Serb will become the first man since Rod Laver to have won two titles at each Grand Slam event.
But the 2016 champion will have his task cut out in the French capital, where Rafael Nadal is the firm favourite to defend his crown.
In an interview with the BBC, Djokovic's former coaches Boris Becker and Nikola Pilic, along with current coach Goran Ivanisevic, weighed in on the Serb's career and prospects at Roland Garros this year, among other topics.
Becker, who oversaw six Grand Slam triumphs between 2014 and 2016 during the most successful period of Djokovic's career, said the Serb has two personalities, one on the court and one off it.
"There's the one on the court - the machine-like, Zen-like, businesslike competitor that wants to win no matter what," the German said. "And then you've got the Novak off the court, who is a sweetheart - loves his family, loves his charity, loves his country - and he would give you his last shirt if you needed one."
"So you have these two sides that fight with one another sometimes on the court and I think that's why people sometimes don't understand or criticise him (Novak Djokovic) because they see this fierce competitor that can be ugly at times. But it all comes from a good place."
Becker also spoke about the Grand Slam title race between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. Djokovic has 18 Majors and is two behind Nadal and Federer. Becker claimed Federer was the "most talented" player he had ever seen and Djokovic the "most fierce", but ranked Nadal ahead of his two rivals.
"Nadal is ahead, in my book, because of the way he plays the game," Becker said. "I would rate Federer as the most talented I have ever seen, I would rate Djokovic as the most fierce I have ever seen, but Nadal, boy, when he gets going and picks his shorts and the eyebrows, I wouldn't want to play him on any surface."
Nikola Pilic, who worked with Novak Djokovic during the Serb's formative years, recounted his time with the 18-time Grand Slam champion and praised his "coachability".
"The more I talked with him, I had a feeling that the guy is incredible at focusing on what he's doing. Even when we played soccer, and he was very good on that, too, he was everywhere where the ball was," Pilic said.
"I noticed in the early years that he had this sport IQ [that was] very, very high. The coachability of Novak was incredible."
Rafael Nadal is the favorite at Roland Garros, only Novak Djokovic can beat him: Goran Ivanisevic
Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic has been a notable addition to Djokovic's coaching team. While speaking with the BBC, the Croat labeled Nadal the firm favorite for the upcoming French Open, but claimed Novak Djokovic is the only player who can beat the Spaniard in Paris.
"In my opinion, Nadal is number one favourite to win the French Open and there's only one person who can beat him to that number 14 title - and that's Novak," Ivanisevic said.
"But he has to be 100%. We saw last year he did not show up for the final. He showed up too late. You cannot give Nadal too much space, otherwise he eats you."
Ivanisevic also went on to claim that Novak Djokovic is "by far" the best tennis player in the world.
"If you take the results from the last 12 years, from 2009, he won by far the most Grand Slams, he broke all the records. I think he's the best," the Croat asserted. "There's always going to be a debate, but if you really take the results in the last 12 years, by far - not little - by far Novak is the best tennis player in the world."