Strong-coupling constant in coordinate space

The coordinate-space behavior of (vector) strong-coupling constant in the background field α_B(r) is compared with that in standard perturbation theory α_v(r). The numerically calculated two-loop coupling constant α_B(r) is shown to exceed α_v(r) by 1–5% at very small distances, r?0.02 fm, and to be in agreement with lattice measurements of the static potential. At large distances, α_B(r) approaches the freezing value at r?0.5 fm. An analytic form of α_B(r) is proposed that approximates α_B(r) with a precision ?2% in the region r?0.5 fm.