At a funeral service with the character of a class reunion, the former Wimbledon winner Michael Stich and many companions said goodbye to the legendary Davis Cup captain Niki Pilic.
In Zagreb, Stich kept one of the funeral speeches
“For all of us it was an absolute naturalness that we travel to Zagreb. It was about Niki Pilic. We all owe him a lot,” said Stich in the “SZ” interview. “It was clear to everyone involved that we wanted to have the last honor.”
He said, “he said,” what was always important to my colleagues and me. Niki has exemplified values, values such as trust, faith, loyalty, respect. And that these values are important both on and outside of the tennis court. We will always be grateful for that. “
Pilic believed in him “before I believed in myself. And I think that applies to some of us.”
On Tuesday last week, the Croatian tennis association informed about the death of Pilics at the age of 86. Pilic had won the Davis Cup three times as team leader with Germany.
At the “Wunder von Gothenburg” in 1988 and 1989 in Stuttgart – each against Sweden – Becker was the team’s head, in 1993 in Düsseldorf against Australia the team led the team. In addition, Pilic triumphed with Croatia in 2005 as a team leader and sat in 2010 at the Davis Cup victory of the Serbs as a consultant in the box.
“Niki lived tennis. He stood on the tennis court almost every day until old age,” said Stich. “He made everyone better. Novak Djokovic, who trained for four years as a teenager at Pilic, still raves about Niki. As a Davis Cup captain, he had the ability to bring teams together and to give way to a common goal.”