US Open expert hopes for Zverev
Boris Becker returns to German TV
8/8/2023, 4:47 p.m
Boris Becker will again be an expert in the broadcasts of the US Open – but this time not at Eurosport. The tennis legend is also building on Alexander Zverev in New York, although it has now “become more difficult” to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Familiar faces, new channel: Starting this year, the online sports channel Sportdeutschland.TV will be broadcasting the US Open of tennis professionals in New York (28 August to 10 September) with Boris Becker as the flagship. The streaming service has secured the broadcasting rights for Germany, Austria and Switzerland until 2027 from the US Association (USTA). Eurosport recently broadcast the tournament.
“That’s the greatest right we’ve ever secured,” said managing director Björn Beinhauer in Munich when the concept was presented. He announced that from the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, the network would broadcast all matches from all courts, including the peloton, junior and wheelchair qualifiers.
Becker will comment live on site during the US Open, Sportdeutschland.TV is sending “more than 15 people” to New York, according to Beinhauer, who is counting on subscription sales in the “six-digit range”. This also includes Alexander Zverev’s brother Mischa as a further expert and, among others, Becker’s long-standing partner Matthias Stach as a commentator and moderator.
“Zverev has the class” for titles
In the US metropolis Alexander Zverev, Becker is one of the extended circle of favorites to win the tournament. “Hard court is his thing, and he has already stood in the final,” said the three-time Wimbledon winner, looking at the last Grand Slam of the year.
Zverev had been in the final of one of the four Grand Slams at the US Open 2020 for the only time so far, but lost to his friend Dominic Thiem (Austria) after winning the first two sets. The fifth set ended 6:7 (6:8). Basically, Becker emphasized, he trusts the German number one to win one of the four majors: “He has the talent, he has the class, he has the power,” he said at the Sportdeutschland.TV presentation in Munich.
The time for the now 26-year-old Zverev was “not at all over”, assured Becker, “he is in the best tennis age”. However, it has “not exactly become easier” to win one of the four most important tournaments in the world, there are now “more players” who are able to do so. “Until recently it was all about: Nadal, Djokovic plus one – and plus one was Zverev in this case.” But now “you have a bigger pool that can win the Grand Slam tournaments”.
Rafael Nadal is now out, “but Djokovic is still there, and now comes Alcaraz, now comes Sinner, now comes Rune”, the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublew are “absolute world-class players”, said Becker. And that’s why it “almost became more difficult” to win a Grand Slam tournament. This also applies to the US Open, “because you have more players on hard court who can leave the court as winners after these two weeks”.