In an interview, as quoted by Bola Marela, the six-time Major winner commented on the players who have the highest chances to win the Australian Open mens singles title. Becker said: Novak (Djokovic) loves Melbourne, he won six times and he is one of the favourites.
But I was very impressed by Rafa Nadal. He killed (Tomas) Berdych, who was playing very well. Then I hope that younger players will show up: (Stefanos) Tsitsipas, (Frances) Tiafoe. They are the future. Becker continued: On the womens side we have to give Serena favouritism for how she played.
She has been the best, even if Kvitova seems strong as well. This year Pliskova has been doing very well, but we will see who will perform better in the second week. On Nadals new serve, his new coach Carlos Moya said: He will not be a two-shot player.
But you have to try to adapt to the modern tennis, which is less fatigue… And trying to be as competitive as possible. In the end, its about what the aggressive player wants. If you face Federer or Raonic you still want to play longer points and you cannot.
But you definitely have to find comfort inside this discomfort where you have no rhythm. He is comfortable because its a clear and east movement and less fatigue. You can hit the ball faster. Moya wants to reduce the eventual gap in terms of game level than the other rivals: Djokovic is very strong, Federer is Federer and Zverev is coming, but I understand that they will think the same of Rafa and I believe he is in a good position.
On Tiafoe, John McEnroe said: I think this is by far the best Ive seen him play, the best Ive ever seen him compete, and the fittest hes ever been. But having said that, this will be an extremely tall order to see how much he has left in the tank.
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