"You can't be liked by everybody... Roger Federer makes good money out of his image" - When Boris Becker slammed Swiss for hiding his 'true feelings'
Boris Becker once came out in criticism of tennis icon Roger Federer, accusing the Swiss maestro of hiding his 'true feelings' in order to earn more money.
Becker published his memoir - Boris Becker's Wimbledon: My Life and Career at the All England Club - in 2015, where he shared his thoughts on Federer. The German opined that the 20-time Grand Slam champion was one of the highest-paid athletes of all time precisely because he was liked by everybody.
Becker, however, did not believe it was possible for anyone to be liked by everybody, leading him to infer that Federer was not open about his real thoughts and instead cultivated an image that lends itself to maximizing profits.
"The reason Roger is one of the highest-paid athletes of all time is because he's liked by everybody. But think about this – you can't possibly be liked by everybody. [...] He makes good money out of his image, but would he make less if we saw a bit more of his true feelings?" Boris Becker said in his book.
"With Roger Federer, everything is so perfect, almost too good to be true" - Boris Becker
Years later, Boris Becker appeared to have changed his views on Roger Federer. He claimed in an interview in 2023 that Federer is one of the biggest ambassadors sports has ever seen and that it is highly rare for an athlete of his caliber to grace tennis.
Becker added that Federer was the "total package" and that he played a key role in making tennis a global sport thanks to how he conducted himself both on and off the court.
"Maybe the sports ambassador, not just tennis ambassador. The world hasn't seen anything like that yet. You can take footballers and basketball players and track and field athletes. This total package Roger Federer - and then he also grew up in neutral Switzerland," Boris Becker said.
"With Roger, everything is so perfect, almost too good to be true. That will never happen again in tennis and that is also why tennis has become such a global sport. Good luck to the guys who want to take over," he added.
Roger Federer, after an illustrious career that lasted two decades, hung up his rackets last year. He played his farewell tournament in front of fans at the Laver Cup in London.