Boris Becker

Life and work

The story behind the role.

German tennis player, coach, and commentator (born 1967).

Boris Franz Becker (German: [ˈboːʁɪs ˈbɛkɐ] ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player, tennis coach and a commentator. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, winning 49 career singles and 15 doubles titles, including six singles majors: three Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens and one US Open. He also won 13 Masters titles, five year-end championships, an Olympic gold medal in men's doubles in 1992, and led Germany to two Davis Cup titles in 1988 and 1989. Becker is the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles Wimbledon title, a feat he accomplished aged 17 years, 7 months and 15 days in 1985. Becker is often credited as the pioneer of power tennis with his fast serve and all-court game. He is among the top ten players with the best win percentages in the Open Era. In 1989, he was voted the Player of the Year by both the ATP and the ITF. He holds a win percentage of 92.70% in Davis Cup singles rubbers, a win loss record of 38–3 and two championships for Germany. In his autobiography, Andre Agassi described Becker as the world's most popular tennis star in the late 1980s. Becker was featured at number 18 in the list of Tennis magazine's 40 greatest players of all time in 2006. After his playing career ended, Becker became a tennis commentator and media personality, and his personal relationships were discussed in news outlets. He has engaged in numerous ventures, including coaching Novak Djokovic for three years, playing poker professionally, and working for an online poker company. In October 2002, the Munich District Court gave Becker a suspended two-year prison sentence for tax evasion. He declared…

Encyclopaedic excerpts from Boris Becker; shortened for length and available under CC BY-SA 4.0.