Boris Becker has disclosed that he broke down in tears whilst watching Alexander Zverev's post-match press conference following the German's first-round exit at Wimbledon.
The tennis legend found himself deeply moved by his compatriot's raw honesty about his mental health struggles.
"I watched the press conference live and I cried," Becker revealed on the Becker Petkovic tennis podcast.
The former world No 1 described Zverev's emotional confession as "incredibly sad" after the 27-year-old opened up about feeling alone and lacking joy in his life.
Boris Becker has disclosed that he broke down in tears whilst watching Alexander Zverev's post-match press conference following the German's first-round exit at Wimbledon
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He added: “A person opened up and said, ‘I have problems, I have mental problems, help me. I don’t have anyone around me except my daughter, who is four years old, with whom I like to spend time, where I laugh and smile’.
“This was a person who revealed himself and that’s why, for the first time, I’m a little worried about his mental health. He can play tennis, he’ll win tournaments, he’ll lose a few, but how is he doing personally?
“And that’s a very important point for the rest of your life, because at some point your career will be over and it will be great. But how are you then? How are you as a person? What is your environment? Where is your anchor that catches you? Where is your bed? Right, the one where you can lie down, where you can take care of it emotionally.
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Alexander Zverev admitted to struggling with his mental health following his exit from Wimbledon
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“I have never seen him so honest, he basically revealed himself, let his emotions simmer and I found it incredibly sad and of course I contacted him straight away and checked everything was okay, gave me the thumbs up and so on.”
Zverev's unexpected defeat to world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech had prompted an unusually candid admission from the German star.
During the press conference, Zverev made a startling admission about his mental state. When asked whether his struggles were physical or mental, he responded: "I would say more mental, probably."
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He continued: “It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open.
"Yeah, just don’t know. I’m trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way.
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“I don’t know. I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.
“I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.
Arthur Rinderknech dumped Alexander Zverev out of Wimbledon
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“Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily, like, a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going.
"It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.”