While previewing his defence of the Dubai Open title, world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic has paid a tribute to the role of his head coach Boris Becker in the amazing advances he has made in the 14 months they have been working together.
Under Becker's guidance the Serb has won two Grand Slam titles, taking his total to eight, and built an overwhelming lead as world number one, now nearly 4,000 ranking points.
Djokovic has claimed that Becker should be given some of the credit for the same, as the German's experience in winning six Grand Slam titles and two Davis Cups with Germany has helped the Serb cope with the psychological stress of continuously playing at the very highest level of the game, Sport24 reported.
Djokovic said that especially in the second half of 2014 things started to get together and clicked for them in the relationship, on and off the court, adding that he and Becker never had an argument, or a fight.
The world number one said that now it's been a little bit over a year and added that he learns constantly something new from Becker from a psychological point of view, mostly because the German has been in these situations before.
So, Djokovic claimed that Becker understands what he goes through, the challenges that he faces, the obstacles that he needs to overcome to win big titles and to be number one in the world, because the German was there.
Djokovic insisted that they still want to achieve a lot, adding that he and Becker feel like it's only a beginning.
The Serb said that they have won two Grand Slams together and played a final at the French Open, and so there is a lot of good success there, but added that there is of course always high expectations for the German and for himself.
Djokovic will start his bid for a fifth title in Dubai on Tuesday, with his nearest rival being second-seeded Roger Federer, who has a record six titles, the report added.
