FIGHT ISSUE VOL. B – BORIS BECKER

PHOTOGRAPHY FRANCIS DELACROIX
WORDS ADRIANO SACK
TALENT BORIS BECKER
All Looks TALENT’S OWN

His service was brutal, his one-handed backhand a force to reckoned with, and his fearless jumps to reach the tennis ball became legend. He was worshipped, and he was ridiculed. And he served eight “brutal” months in Huntercombe prison in Oxfordshire for insolvency offences. Which is only 40 miles from the place that this German athlete liked to call his living room. The center court of Wimbledon, where this strawberry-haired boy from Leimen, Germany won his first Grand Slam tournament at the age of 17. He was an overnight, global sensation. Came back the following year and won again. Throughout his life, Boris Becker was hunted by the media, and there were times when it seemed that he could not live without public attention. When we met on Zoom, he was so absurdly familiar, as if I had known him my entire life. Mr. Becker was about to appear on a German quiz show, he was polite, attentive and witty, a grown-up man who is, in an off-handed manner, aware of his bigger-than-life-personality. And he seemed most comfortable, knowledgeable, passionate and almost nerdy when he talks about the first and probably biggest love of his life: tennis.

ADRIANO SACK Is there a song you like to wake up to?

BORIS BECKER Not really. In the morning I need peace. No noise, no nasty phone call. But a hot shower, an espresso, and half an hour to myself

AS Before, during and after the career: Is the life of an athlete always accompanied by pain?

BB It depends on what stage in your career you are. At the beginning, it’s actually not that dramatic. You have to find your limits and cross them. That can hurt on the next day. When you are 25 years old, you can deal with it; after 40, my body changed and the real trouble started: knees, ankles, hips, etc. A simple massage won’t do if you are at that point. Unfortunately, that’s the price you pay.

AS You were famous for your Becker-Hecht, a jump towards the ball that often ended on the ground. How painful was the impact?

BB You are so flushed with adrenaline and endorphins that you don’t even notice. And you need a good technique. You have to know how to fall – and to quickly get up to play the next ball.

AS Were you aware that this movement was one of your trademarks?

BB You have to score, no matter what it looks like. You can’t think of your audience when you are fighting on the court.

AS As a trainer: Would you recommend not to refrain from risky leaps?

BB No way. You have to reach the ball and win the game. If you have a hand break, you are doing the wrong job.

AS What defines a good trainer?

BB He has to understand the mind of the athlete. That requires experience, sensibility, maybe a certain age. Every player is different, feels differently,
plays differently. You have to give it time. Only under pressure do you see the strong and the weak points of a player.

AS As a champion, you are used to the world turning around you. How do you adapt to the humility of a trainer?

BB It is not about you anymore, and that is a challenge. After my active career, I took some time to mature to be able to take care of other players.

AS Has your need to win also mellowed during that process?

BB No. That’s who I am. I can’t change that and I would not want to. And my player expects me to be fully committed. A lot of athletes give up too
early and don’t finish the game wholeheartedly when they are facing adversities. I’ve always tried to fight until the very end because you never know – when your opponent is serving for match, he might get nervous. I have experienced that. A match is not over until the referee says: “Game, set and
match – Becker.” Hopefully.

AS What do you see, when you watch your old matches?

BB I usually don’t watch my old matches, unless a player wants to see how I used to play. I live in the now and think about the future, but don’t forget about my past.

AS In which player do you see the young Boris?

BB None, really. But there are a few players with similar attitudes and mentality. For example, Jannik Sinner, not only because of the red hair, but
also his coolness under pressure. The wildness and unpredictability of Holger Rune. The marathon-man mentality of Sasha Zverev.

AS You sound like you still like tennis.

BB Oh, yes. It’s still the love of my professional life, but I’m happy I don’t have to run so much anymore.

AS How much did it change in the last decades?

seems to be more physical, focus is more on the groundstrokes, baseline game, and not so much on the serve-volley. Players seem to be spending
more time in the gym than on the tennis court to get in shape. I don’t know if match strategy and game plan is still as important. In general, I don’t
like to compare generations because we played with different/heavier rackets and quicker balls, and certainly our tennis shoes weren’t as good as
those today. Let me ask you a question: If they all would have played with the same materials, what would Laver, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Wilander,
Edberg, Becker, Sampras and Agassi do against Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev? Nobody will ever know.

AS Do you feel sorry for the new generation of players, because they are constantly scrutinized on social media?

BB I am surprised that so many players show their private and professional life online. It feels like they have to tell the world constantly what they are eating and how they practice. There are few examples of players who are more careful with their use of social media. For me, the best example is Sinner. You just don’t know what he is doing when he is not on the tennis court.

AS You did not have a choice, you had to grow up in the public eye: first love, break-ups with father figures, weird hairdos. Everybody had an opinion about every aspect of your life. Was that a burden – or terribly exciting?

BB I didn’t really have a choice since Germany had completely embraced me to the point of suffocation. The first couple of years were very enjoyable;
I was actually flattered by the love of the country. Eventually, it became too much and I’m still paying the consequences today. The 17-year-old
Wunderkind Boris is very different to the 57-year-old Mr. Becker.

AS David Bowie once said that he can decide if he gets recognized on the streets in New York or not. Do you agree?

BB Absolutely. It’s about the inner light – sometimes it shines and other times it doesn’t. I believe a lot in creating your own energy when necessary.
By now, I have the ability to turn on my light if I want to, and turn it off when I have to.

AS What is the best advice you have ever received?

BB I had wonderful and instrumental people in my life that taught me the right from wrong. I have to start with my parents for my personal
growth and Ion Tiriac for my professional one. But there were many people in the last 40 years who had an impact on my life, some were positive,
others were negative.
I certainly learned a lot from my kids and becoming a father.

AS What did you learn from them?

BB Patience. If you think you know it all, become a parent. You learn about unconditional love, trying to become a good example, and it never
stops…being a parent.

AS Somebody so driven and dedicated like you: How can you watch your children choose the wrong path?

BB It is difficult, but I believe in the way I was brought up. Go out there in the thing called life and make your own experiences. You very quickly find out what is good for you and what is not. You can always come home and ask questions, but the quicker you learn it on your own, the
better it is for you.

AS When does education end?

BB Never. My kids might see that differently, though.

AS Which defeat was especially painful for you?

BB I had my share. On and off the court. Professionally, losing in a Grand Slam final hurts tremendously, and on a personal level, a divorce is a
defeat, but for all parties involved.

AS Did one of those defeats help you change your life?

BB I learned more about myself through defeat than victory. Losing always made me reflect about my flaws and mistakes. They teach you more
than victories.

AS Did you learn something in prison?

BB It gave me time to think and reflect on why I have to spend the night in a cell.

AS At 82, Mick Jagger still is on stage because nothing replaces the thrill of performing in front of 50,000 people. How did you cope with the fact that the most exciting days in your life were over pretty early?

BB That’s a problem all athletes share. Suddenly, you are old at age 35. You have to find something as fulfilling and challenging. But a match ball on the center court in Wimbledon – I won’t find anything like that. Though I was more emotional on the days my children were born. The first steps, the first words, first time they walk on their own, etc. That makes you nervous as a father. You might notice I enjoy talking about
them…

AS “Why do we fall, Bruce?” the boy who will become Batman is asked by his father. Why do we fall, Mr. Becker?

BB There is no definitive answer to that. But I am happy I fell, because it means that I am still alive. Victory is a one-way street. In my case, people know my mistakes. My setbacks have improved me. Only when you can endure pain do you gain strength. If people say life goes by so quickly, I full-heartedly disagree: My life has been quite full so far. What I went through would be enough for seven lives.

AS Is the belief that you can recover from everything something religious?

BB I find peace at Church and I actually pray a lot. I speak to God in my prayers and ask him for advice. I need my one hour of silence every
day – after all, I was an altar boy in church as a kid in Leimen.

AS You have experienced both: admiration and hatred. What is stronger?

BB Both are strong emotions. But love will always win. Which is why I don’t hold grudges. I am a loving person. Even if some people did me
wrong.

AS How many Boris Beckers have we seen so far?

BB I believe my DNA is always the same, but my personality has changed. I would like to think that it has matured, because I’m still learning
about being Boris Becker. I am shedding many layers to get to my core.

AS What would have become of you if you had been in a team sport?

BB We wouldn’t be having this conversation today. I like to think that I can function as a team player. But I need direction and purpose. I need
to know my role. I cannot be a bystander or a blind follower. If I know I play in the defense on the soccer team – trust me, nobody will be able
to pass by. My favorite midfielder was the Italian player Gennaro Gattuso. I would be like him: unsurmountable.

AS Favorite question in job interviews: What is your weakness?

BB I hate losing and I cannot stand mediocrity.

AS You have lived a very public life for 40 years. Do you still feel misunderstood sometimes?

BB It’s not so important for me anymore whether the public or the media understands me or my point of view. I do get surprised when people
who apparently know me for 25 years tell me that I have changed or that I am very different to what they thought I was. I just smile.

AS Are you worried about our current political situation?

BB It seems to be getting colder and a lot more aggressive than before. Unfortunately, there is no easy future ahead of us. I do talk with my
children about that a lot.

AS Thank you and bye-bye. And, by the way: Where do you live nowadays?

BB In Milan with my wife. To get back to your first question: I don’t wake up with a song, but with an Italian state of mind. I might be living now
where I have always belonged.