• Wimbledon

Djokovic: Becker can make the difference

ESPN staff
June 21, 2014
Novak Djokovic admits his French Open final defeat to Rafael Nadal took a lot out of him emotionally © Getty Images
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Novak Djokovic is hoping coach Boris Becker can inspire him to a second Wimbledon title after admitting he needs to move on from his agonising French Open final defeat.

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, joined forces with Djokovic in December and will be present when the world No.2 faces Andrey Golubev in the first round at the All England Club on Monday.

"I think here [is] where he had most success in his career," Djokovic said. "So I hope we can together have a great two weeks.

"It's the first time we're working together in Wimbledon where he has won three times."

Bookies backing another Murray-Djokovic final

  • July 7, 2013: A day that will live long in the memory of tennis fans as Andy Murray ended a 77-year wait for a British winner in the Wimbledon men's tournament with a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic.
  • And Unibet are predicting a repeat of last year's final with top seed Djokovic the favourite to lift his second title at SW19 in two weeks' time, closely followed by the defending champion.
  • Novak Djokovic - 7/4 fav

    Andy Murray - 7/2

    Rafael Nadal - 4/1

    Roger Federer - 11/2

    Stan Wawrinka - 16/1

    Grigor Dimitrov - 20/1

    Tomas Berdych - 40/1

    Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 50/1

  • Click here to place a bet with Unibet

Djokovic revealed his four-sets defeat to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros earlier this month took an emotional toll on him, after what was a fifth defeat in his last six grand slam finals.

The six-time major winner, whose last grand slam triumph came in Melbourne last year, feels his struggles are as much to do with the mental side of the game as the physical, which is one of the reasons he has turned to Becker.

"[Paris was] not the first or the last final that I lost," Djokovic said. "I have to keep on moving. I have to try to improve myself not just on the court, but understand well the mental aspect, what is happening in those finals, why I am not able to win a grand slam title in last couple of years.

"It's one of the reasons why Boris is on board. [He is] somebody who [was] a multiple grand slam winner [and] a No.1 of the world. He can definitely identify himself through my own course of life and experience and career. So we're working on it. It's a process that takes a little bit of time."

Djokovic has also allayed concerns over the wrist injury that forced him to pull out of a Wimbledon warm-up event this week and insists he is now pain-free.

He has been troubled by the right wrist problem since Monte Carlo in April, and withdrew from the Madrid Masters before reaching the final of the French Open where he lost in four sets to Rafael Nadal.

He was scheduled to return to action for his first outing of the grass-court season in an exhibition match at Stoke Park this week, but decided not to risk aggravating the injury with Wimbledon just days away.

"It's the first time that I have problems with the wrist. I started feeling it before Monte Carlo tournament started," said Djokovic.

"I played Monte Carlo under strange conditions, under a lot of pain. I decided to skip Madrid, which was a good decision, because I played pain-free in Rome and Roland Garros.

"Right now I don't feel any pain. But I felt like when I'm changing surfaces, especially from clay to grass, in the opening few days of the practice here got a little bit of a strange sensation in the wrist.

"Now it's fine, so hopefully it can stay that way."

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