Tennis legend Boris Becker revealed this week that he was approached by Novak Djokovic at the exact time he lost the world's No.1 ranking to Rafael Nadal at the China Open.

The 46-year-old Becker told BBC Sports on Thursday that he received a phone call from Djokovic and his manager just a few weeks after the Serb lost to Nadal in the finals of the U.S. Open Championship. After that, Becker added they had several meetings before he finally agreed to work with Djokovic.

"I was approached by Novak and his manager while he was playing in Beijing," Becker told BBC Sport. "I was surprised - I didn't expect the phone call. I was very honoured."   

Becker is scheduled to start training with Djokovic on Jan. 13, helping the Serb's preparation for the upcoming Australian Open Championships in Melbourne. Marian Vajda, Djokovic's long-time coach, will continue to have his part on the Serb's camp but Becker will assume a more significant role moving forward.

"This isn't a half-hearted job, it wouldn't be right for him or for me," explained Becker on BBC. "You're in it to win it. You either go at it fully or you don't - either I commit myself or I don't commit myself.

"I said 'I want to meet you and see how much you want it, how much that fire is burning inside you, how much is left, and what I can bring to the table," he added.

Pushing the Bar Higher

Becker said he's impressed by Djokovic's desire to push the bar higher despite already winning six Grand Slam titles, four of them Australian Open crowns.

The German tennis star adds that Djokovic feels he has to improve about a notch higher for him to match or surpass Nadal and Great Britain's No.1 Andy Murray, who has become a formidable force in major tournaments over the past two seasons.

"He had a couple of bad losses this year in the finals of the Grand Slams. He's such a winner and wants to win so badly and wants to go into the history books of tennis," said Becker.

"The fact Nadal has taken over and Murray has moved up a gear, he was left behind a little bit - I'm talking on a really high level, the last five or 10% that maybe has been missing for whatever reason.

"He decided he needed somebody in his corner that had been there and done it, and that's why I'm coming in," Becker said of Djokovic via BBC.