Injured Sascha Zverev unlikely to win Australian Open, says Boris Becker
In an interview to Eurosport, the six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker downplayed the expectations around Alexander Zverev. The German has been dealing with a hamstring injury for days and he may not be at his best when the Australian Open starts. 'If he reaches the semifinals, it would be a big success,' Becker added. 'We will be all satisfied. Obviously, not (laughs), but the semi-final would be great.'
On Angelique Kerber, who hired new coach Rainer Schüttler, Becker added: 'At the Hopman Cup, she faced very difficult opponents, and she won them all. I think that Rainer Schuttler suits well to her ideas about tennis. Even the beginning was good, but in 2019 everything starts from stratch. For Kerber reaching the semis would be a big success. But every start is difficult, because she first needs to win the first round. Angelique Kerber played a lot of tournaments and she is not getting any younger, so she has to manage the strengths correctly. But she already won Melbourne. The ball bounce suits well to her so she is one of the favorites. She can definitely do better and she can improve her forehand. I think those were the main points. Her backhand is strong, but serve and forehand are still working in progress.'
Zverev and Kerber lost the Hopman Cup finals to the Swiss team of Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic. It was the second straight final Germany had lost to Switzerland in the Hopman Cup.
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Fo5IJk
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