Boris Becker really knows a lot about tennis. On the other hand, he really understands very little about life and his finances slipped out of his grasp almost logically. The London court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.
July 7th was not a nice summer’s day and that’s also why an unusual number of people sat in front of the television and cheered on a 17-year-old reddish-blonde boy who set out to write history. Only the initiated knew of his talent, but after that “das Bobbele” got a permanent place in the hearts of the Germans. In four sets he beat a player named Kevin Curren in Wimbledon in 1985, who is almost forgotten, which will certainly not happen to our Boris Becker again during his lifetime.
In any case, what remains is the Becker pike, the unconditional commitment and the fascinating agility when he still managed to reach an unattainable ball. On serve, he arched his back like no other, bent his knees, built up the tension that is in every tennis manual and chased the ball into the opponent’s court. His returns were sharp and direct. Hardly any spin, like slice. Attack, always attack.
In addition, Boris Becker had nerves of steel. When things got really tight, when he was behind and absolutely couldn’t make a mistake, he often enough pulled the game out of the fire. Then came the Becker fist: the arm bent, the right hand clenched into a fist and this fervent: Yes!
Extremely strong in tennis, extremely weak in life
Players learn from players, and a number of players learned from Boris Becker, even if he wasn’t popular because he liked to badmouth rivals and carelessly opened his mouth wide. Novak Djoković, whom he trained for a while, resembles him in terms of strong nerves.
In all matters relating to tennis, Boris Becker was and is extremely strong. As a player, as a commentator, as a coach. In all matters that have to do with life, he is extremely weak.
It is often the case that athletes stand around helplessly in life after sport instead of taking it into their own hands. There are basketball players who have become notable coaches. There are footballers who have become really good coaches. Becker could also have become a very good coach, but being systematic is not his thing. He owned three car dealerships and sold them out of necessity. He does this and that and also that, lost the fun of it and moved on, and on and on.
The celebrity papers lived on BB
This is how Boris Becker became the ultimate bon vivant, who lets us know that he didn’t father his daughter in a broom closet, but on the stairs between the toilets. Of course we really wanted to know that. Incidentally, his mother advised him not to go out at night after leaving Wimbledon, depressed as he was. She knew him well, he knew himself less. So his first marriage ended.
The celebrity papers thrived on BB, his wives, all of whom looked alike, his four children by three mothers, his divorces, and now, of course, his money troubles. He went to London court on the arm of his new girlfriend, who looked blankly past the cameras – a walk like walking to the scaffold.
The counter-model became a world star at the same time as Becker in 1985. Of course it is Steffi Graf. She stopped playing tennis at the age of 29, her body couldn’t keep up. She married, had children, still occasionally plays tennis with her husband André Agassi for charity and lives her life far away from the papers that mean the world to Boris Becker.
Revealing interview
Becker made a different choice. That’s his business. When he published his second autobiography, that was in 2018, he gave an interview to “Welcome Austria”, a late-night show on ORF, in which he told interesting things. He said that this book isn’t just about his wives and girlfriends, he also wrote professional chapters in it because he co-manages companies. Becker didn’t listen to the cluelessness with which he defended himself in court.
Well, that’s what it’s like when you think you’re the center of the world and chatting away reveals more than is good. Boris Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a London court today.