WOLFSBURG:
Boris Becker has been welcomed back to German tennis “with open arms”, seven weeks after being released from a London prison.
Becker, 55, sat in the team box during Saturday’s Davis Cup loss to Switzerland in the western city of Trier, posting on Instagram on Sunday “we fought hard and leave everything on the court”.
The six-time Grand Slam champion, and former world number one, served eight months of a two-and-a-half-year ban in England for violating the no-pay rules.
Although Becker may have only attended the Davis Cup tie weekend in an unofficial capacity, there is speculation that he may return to his former position as Head of Men’s Tennis with the German Tennis Association (DTB).
Talk with tabloid Bild, Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev said: “We (German tennis) welcome him with open arms.”
Former Davis Cup captain Becker was invited by DTB as a “teammate”.
He was seen hugging and comforting the players at the end of the tie on Saturday.
“Boris knows how to do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a player, a coach, the DTB or someone else, he can help with anything,” said Zverev.
Davis Cup champion Oscar Otte also praised Becker’s participation.
“He said some really good things to me during the warm-up. That helps a lot,” Otte said.
“It’s a lot of experience. We’re all happy to be back.”
Becker’s return comes at a difficult time for German men’s tennis.
Former Wimbledon winner Michael Stich told German newspaper FAZ on Sunday that “we have the problem that Zverev’s gap is too big, at least in individual situations.”
Zverev, the former world number two, is now 14th in the ranking while Otte is 80th and Daniel Altmaier is 91st.
From 2013 to 2016, Becker coached Novak Djokovic to six of his 22 Grand Slams.
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