Becker and Petkovic are doing a tennis podcast together. Could it work? And how!

No, Boris Becker didn't make it across the pond to New York for the US Open this year. Instead, the German tennis legend is commentating on the final Grand Slam tournament of the year for a relatively small German streaming channel – as they say in TV parlance – "from the box." With two screens in front of him, locked in a booth, and with a co-commentator at his side. Becker is wherever the tennis TV rights are currently being distributed. The many trips to the major tournaments are exceeding the broadcasters' budgets. The TV people are increasingly doing it from home.

Becker is fine with that. He doesn't need all that anymore. The 57-year-old is Germany's "Voice of Tennis." And he does it excellently. The six-time Grand Slam champion always feels most comfortable when he can talk about tennis – because his wealth of experience is so enormous. He was number 1 as a player, and, this is often forgotten, he led Novak Djokovic to six major titles as a coach. His knowledge of the sport is enriched by both perspectives. That's a huge advantage. Which is why he's discovered a new genre for himself over the past few months: podcasting.

When word leaked earlier this year that a new tennis podcast by and with Boris Becker would be launched, many in the scene wondered what added value it might bring. Did the market really need another monotonous tennis format, featuring the eternally boring post-match analysis and a bit of off-court gossip? Despite the big name, nothing truly new was to be expected.

But when it emerged shortly before the Australian Open that Becker would be entering the ring with Andrea Petkovic for a podcast, curiosity grew. Petkovic, a former German top-ten player, is pretty much Becker's opposite: quick-witted, humorous, articulate, intellectual, and even a bit glamorous. And Petkovic is 20 years younger and until recently played on the tour herself. It's also the appeal of the complete difference between the two protagonists of "Becker – Petkovic" that makes this podcast a pleasure to listen to. Because that's what it truly is.

At first, it was thought that Becker couldn't keep up with the all-rounder Petkovic. The Darmstadt native is omnipresent in her sport – and, above all, is adept at the international stage. In New York, she's currently commentating live on the US Open matches for World Feed, but she also works as an expert for the American tennis giant Tennis Channel. At Wimbledon, Petkovic was on assignment for Amazon Prime, and she's also hosting one tennis gala after another. At the WTA tournament in Berlin, she's serving as the tournament's "Director of Excitement."

Not to mention her writing skills. Petkovic is a book author and writes columns for the highly respected German newspaper "Zeit-Magazin." In one of these, she once wrote an ode to Becker and his heroic game, which was not without its share of tragedy. Her personal blog, "Finite Jest," on the Substack platform is a weekly delight not only for tennis fans, but also for literature lovers and fans of word acrobatics.

But Petkovic doesn't devour Becker despite her high-speed tennis life; she wisely cedes the field to him in their podcast. She knows full well that Becker possesses something she herself lacks: the champion gene. Petkovic has never been able to win the major titles. You could listen to Becker for hours as he talks about triumphing on the court and describes the paramount importance of the mental aspect in tennis.

Another thing that makes "Becker – Petkovic" so successful, and why the podcast ranks high in the audio sports charts, is its authenticity. Despite their complex connections, especially in German tennis, both aren't afraid to speak plainly. When Becker once criticized his compatriot Alexander Zverev after an early tournament defeat, it caused considerable resentment among the world number three.

Petkovic likes to put her finger on the sore spot when it comes to the (not very hopeful) state of German tennis. The dialogue, the great art of podcasting, works very well for the two of them. They record from home. Petkovic lives with her boyfriend in the New York borough of Williamsburg for half the year. There, she opens her computer and connects a special microphone. Becker simply joins in from Milan.

When asked in New York how the seemingly unusual combination with Becker came about, Petkovic told the "NZZ am Sonntag" that Becker had seen her present at a tennis gala on the sidelines of the Laver Cup in Berlin last year. "He apparently liked it so much that he called me and asked if we could co-create the podcast he'd wanted to do for a while." Petkovic thought about it for a night and then agreed. "We recorded two test episodes and immediately noticed that it would work."

Part of the truth about the podcast's creation is that Becker's new marketing agency, Sportfive, was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Sportfive's headquarters are in Hamburg, where the podcast is also produced by the marketing agency OMR. Boris Becker and Andrea Petkovic have known each other for a long time, and while there is no "deep friendship" between them, they are "close" and there is a certain "mutual admiration," as Petkovic describes it.

It may sound strange, but this is precisely what sometimes creates a certain distance in the podcast. This, too, is a beneficial aspect of the interaction between these very different alpha animals.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »