Boris Becker: Tennis players are ‘rats’ for dissing other players during the pandemic

Laureus Sports Awards

It is truly remarkable to see the buffet of scandals, shenanigans and PR disasters coming out of all sports during the pandemic, but specifically from tennis. Tennis’s rap is that they’re more elite, that the “brand” of tennis attracts sponsors like Rolex, Porsche, Mercedes, Evian, etc. That’s what it’s all about: elitism, money, branding, and appealing to the college-educated sports consumer/fanbase. But the shenanigans during the pandemic have pulled the veil – these (male) players are complete dumbasses. Sure, they can play tennis really well, but they’re complete idiots in life. Novak Djokovic might be one of the greatest players of all time, but he was still too stupid to A) understand how vaccines work and B) organize an exhibition tour with any kind of public-health precautions in the middle of a pandemic.

Following the Adria Tour debacle, all of the (male) tennis players involved got tested and they swore up and down that they would isolate. Sascha Zverev tested negative but claimed he would isolate for 14 days. He lied. He was in the South of France, partying in a huge group over the weekend. He still hasn’t apologized or issued any kind of statement about his lies. His former friend Nick Kyrgios (an Australian player) recorded a video dissing Zverev:

People are uncomfortably reconciling themselves with the fact that Nick Kyrgios – who is absolutely problematic – is somehow the voice of reason during the pandemic. Kyrgios has been consistently critical of tennis players not taking the pandemic seriously, and he’s been putting players on blast for weeks now. He’s been right. He’s still right. Well, now Boris Becker – a Hall of Famer who coached Djokovic for several years – is chiming in. Becker basically said that Nick shouldn’t speak against the tennis bros publicly, and Nick is like “wtf.”

This is all a mess and I can’t believe Boris actually tagged FarFetch, which is an online designer boutique. Boris is broke-ass, so he was diss-tweeting Nick AND getting paid, I guess. I mean, again, toxic masculinity rears its ugly head. The argument that one tennis bro can’t be publicly critical of other tennis bros is… not a good argument. Especially when those tennis bros are behaving irresponsibly during a pandemic. This isn’t like Nick mocked a player on Twitter for what amounted to a locker room beef (although he’s done that before). This is Nick becoming a voice of reason as his fellow players show their asses and hurt the sport on a global scale.

Aussie Open Monday

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.

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33 Responses to “Boris Becker: Tennis players are ‘rats’ for dissing other players during the pandemic”

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  1. Rapunzel says:

    Sit down, Boris.

    The irony of him publicly calling out Nick for …. publicly calling out people is too much.

    I can’t with protecting the feelings of those who won’t protect others from serious disease.

    • Sof says:

      Speaking of ironies, “how selfish can you get?” Asks the guy who is filming himself while driving!
      What is it with certain sports looking down on others for making things public? In my country its rugby, whenever a rugby player does something ilegal (theres been plenty) every player comes out and speaks as if the press was trying to harm the sport.

    • AnnaKist says:

      The Bro Code is alive and well, then. Shut yer gob, Boris. Team Kyrgios.

  2. Unpopular says:

    Boris is a dope. Always has been.

    • Tanguerita says:

      I live in Germany where we are much more exposed to his stupidity than the rest of the world – this wanker doesn’t own two brain cells to rub together. I wouldn’t pay any attention to this has-been.

      • lola says:

        Yep, Bobbele should just disappear.

      • theotherViv says:

        Yes! I am mixed race and almost his age. I worked in PR at VIP events in the 90s and Noughts when he got divorced and had the broom closet baby – my German mom would make me promise religiously every now and then to run away as fast as possible whenever I saw him. He is full of it.

    • Kristin says:

      This is kind of off subject, but I read Andre Agassi’s autobiography called Open a few years back (and it’s seriously an excellent read!) and I remember him saying how Boris was a complete a-hole. He really hated the guy, haha!

      • Tanguerita says:

        Yes, Agassi has always been a decent guy, he must have smelled the rotten from afar.

  3. Jaxonmeh says:

    I don’t even follow tennis. But I’ll be watching Nick in the future. Also if he’s known to be problematic, maybe this has put life into perspective more for him.

    But these pop up ads covering the comment section while I type are distracting. Ugh. Not a fan.

  4. Lara says:

    Whatever happens on the court stays there? Sure that’s all well and good but unfortunately Covid doesn’t follow those rules…

    • pottymouth pup says:

      I really didn’t get his what happens on the court & it extending to the locker rooms comment. This wasn’t something that happened on the court or in the locker rooms

      • Nana says:

        I think what BB meant to say was, what happens in the broom cupboard, stays in the broom cupboard…

  5. vexa says:

    When Nick Kyrgios is the voice of reason… what a time to be alive

    • pottymouth pup says:

      could it be that the bushfires and his actions to raise funds led him to grow up?

  6. K.T says:

    Woooh, they are showing up their stupid venal selves!! Boris Becker epitomises toxic masculinity. A perfect example of the bro-code/sport team-before
    -integrity & legality. It’s why things like sexual assault in sport is protected because stupid arse-patriarchy is just ‘bros rule’ and hiding behind toxic manfandom, PR and lawyers. And this time its about a freaking pandemic!

  7. KC says:

    I’ve always enjoyed the way Nick rubs people up the wrong way and now he’s evolved into the voice of reason. At least you know he’s sincere because he DGAF about what people think.

  8. Izzy says:

    1. This didn’t just happen on the court, it literally impacts the entire world.
    2, The real rats here are the ones scurrying around on an ill-advised tennis tour, spreading an actual plague.
    STFU Boris.

  9. Jen says:

    When I read the headline I stupidly thought this was going to be about him calling Novak and his dad for their bs blaming everyone under the sun but themselves…other tennis players.

    Somehow Novak’s dad is making Roger’s retirement plans.

    But no it’s about this? Uggg I can’t believe I am pro Kyrigos (sp?)

  10. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Shit should stay on the courts, but I’m going to talk. Publicly. About other players.

  11. starryfish29 says:

    Nick calling Sascha an arm waving goose is the highlight of this exchange. Lol. F *ck off Boris.

  12. lucy2 says:

    Another idiot.

    Tennis is probably one of the few sports that could have started up again – no contact, outdoors, safe distance apart, they could have played without an audience, and still sold TV rights, sponsorships, etc. And they still managed to mess it up.

  13. Elle says:

    also boris what do you mean by this?

    ‘He would be an incredible role model for for the youth of the world addressing the issues of equality/race/heritage! ‘

    • Ms_TheTea says:

      @Elle He didn’t even consider the optics of an entitled white man publicly attempting to silence a POC. Gross. I hope his multi-racial children give him a stern talking to about gaslighting and the effects of white supremacy, even from people in interracial relationships.

  14. Nev says:

    This is hilarious.

  15. grabbyhands says:

    Someone has watched the Godfather too many times.

    It isn’t a gangster family, Boris – it’s a professional sport where people interact with other people and when that happens in the middle of a pandemic, people get ill and can die. People who lie about staying safe and/or willfully lie about it deserve to be named and shamed because they’re as awful as the people who dismiss it outright.

  16. Hyrule Castle says:

    Interesting look into the world of athletics.

    Protect each other, don’t talk about what happens in locker rooms…

    Isn’t that how Sandusky got away with child abuse?

    They really believe that shit. Like the police: protect and cover for each other, at all cost.
    You don’t and you’re the bad person.

    We don’t need social reform. We need to burn it all down.

  17. Insomniac says:

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone called a doughnut as an insult before. LOL!

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      Which is worse…donut or donut hole? Or possibly just doing nuts. These are philosophical questions that need exploring.

  18. Thea says:

    So he’s saying that tennis players should not call out other players in public. But it’s ok for him to call out Nick in public? Hmmm…ok. Hypocrite much, Boris?

  19. Rae says:

    There is so much wrong with Boris’ stance here, I don’t know where to start.

    So, instead, I’ll just keep it simple. Boris, you’re an asshole.

    Go Nick.

  20. Liz version 700 says:

    How did I not know tennis was so dramatic? My goodness these folks sound like they are in a Godfather movie. “Remember the code…”

  21. Feebee says:

    Thank you for the Boris tea Kaiser! The replies are a riot.