Novak Djokovic likened to Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and LeBron James by Boris Becker – ‘He is the lion king’

Boris Becker has compared world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to the likes of Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and LeBron James as athletes who have dominated their respective sports in their 30s.

The US Open champion has been on fire since his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final in July, which denied the Serbian an eighth title at SW19.

“For me, he is the lion king,” said Becker in Eurosport Germany’s tennis podcast Das Gelbe vom Ball. “We do our best to teach tennis fans what is impossible to teach: What this player has won in his 16 or 17-year career and that he is perhaps playing his best tennis at the age of 36.

“He has won three Grand Slam tournaments this year and reached the final at Wimbledon – he was close to the calendar Grand Slam at the age of 36. This is out of this world.

“He plays two and a half hours in Paris on Thursday, three hours against [Holger] Rune on Friday, another three hours against [Andrey] Rublev – a normal person gets tired, Novak gets better and then beats a strong [Grigor] Dimitrov in straight sets in the final. He then does the same again at the ATP Finals.”

Three-time Wimbledon champion Becker believes Djokovic is not only the best tennis player, but deserves to be in the elite bracket of all sportsmen.

“Maybe you have to look at it more generally and he’s not just the best tennis player at the moment, but the best sportsman,” Becker explained. “I want to compare him to a Lionel Messi, a LeBron James and a Tom Brady – for me, that’s the category Novak Djokovic is in because all these athletes are dominating or have dominated their sport even in their mid or late thirties.

“Djokovic does the same. I hope he continues to do so for a long time because nothing better can happen to young players than to compete on the same level as the most successful player of all time. That’s the best lesson in tennis.”

Since his Wimbledon victory over Djokovic, Alcaraz hasn’t won a tournament.

The 20-year-old rose to the top of the ATP rankings in 2023 but failed to sustain his position, losing his place to Djokovic after crashing out of the US Open to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final.

After what has still been a phenomenal year for the young Spaniard, Becker has questioned why his form has plummeted since claiming his second career Grand Slam.

“Why is that? Duelling with Djokovic, becoming No. 1 in the world and winning Wimbledon for the first time – maintaining this level is the most difficult thing in tennis,” Becker said.

“Anyone can have a good tournament or a good year from time to time, but maintaining that level over the years is the real challenge.

“My favourite saying in this context is: ‘The locker room never sleeps’. It means that the other players have realised how you have to play against Alcaraz to have a chance against him. That’s what happened. Other players have developed and Alcaraz hasn’t.”

Becker, who was in a similar boat to Alcaraz when the German became the youngest ever player to win Wimbledon at the age of 17, believes it’s only a matter of time before Alcaraz starts winning again.

“He continues to play fantastic tennis,” Becker told Eurosport. “I love watching him play tennis at its best with his footwork, his variation, his serve and his forehand.

“But the top players have adapted to this and know how to counter it. I’m convinced that Alcaraz will now train something new or different with Juan Carlos Ferrero in the winter and improve.

“Their task is to further develop his strengths. And I’m also convinced that we’ll see a very strong Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open 2024.”