[match strikes]
[person] Who is Boris Becker?
Boris Becker is a child
that he has a flame here.
And he just tries to see if he's getting burned or he's not getting burned.
Or something like that.
[chattering]
[reporter 1, in German]
Will Boris Becker go to jail or will there be...
[in English] As you can see, this case has generated considerable interest
across Europe.
A picture was painted in court
of a man with nothing to show for his glittering sporting career,
a man with chaotic finances whose reputation lies in tatters.
[Becker] The wait has been tough from when the verdict was read out.
I'm sentenced in two days. Very hard.
[blows]
I've-- I've hit my... [stammers] ...my bottom.
[stammers] I don't know what to make of it.
[sighs]
I'm-- I'll face it, you know?
I'm-- I'm not gonna hide or run away or--
You know, accept whatever sentence I get.
It's Wednesday afternoon. On Friday, I know the rest of my life.
[camera shutters clicking]
[clamoring, shouting]
- [reporter 2] Boris! - [reporter 3] Boris!
[reporter 4] Boris, please look!
- [reporter 5] Boris. - [reporter 6] Are you confident, Boris?
Have you got a message for your fans? Imagine you've got a lot on your mind?
Have you got anything to say before you go in?
We'll see you in court.
- [muttering] - [phones ringing, chiming]
[in German] Becker registered this verdict with
a bright red face, but without any emotion as usual.
He looked ahead, and I have the feeling...
He will never be able to earn real money and work...
[in English] Boris Becker. Fortune squandered on disastrous
financial mismanagement.
He has now been sentenced to two and a half years in jail.
- [press clamoring] - [shutters clicking]
[Becker] If there's one place in the world that I love, I call home, it's Wimbledon.
- [spectators cheering] - [applause]
[Becker] I was told my opponent,
Kevin Curren,
always took the first seat.
My coach told me, "You walk out first, strong, and you take that first seat."
He was the clear-cut favorite. I thought, "Hmm, he looked nervous."
[applause]
[Becker] I felt that if I win the toss, I'm gonna elect to serve
because I wanted the first punch.
[spectators cheering]
[Becker] I won my service game, and I broke him.
[spectators cheering]
[announcer] Well, there's no nerves there at all from Boris Becker.
[chair umpire] Game and first set to Becker.
[spectators cheering]
[shouts]
[Becker] The momentum shifts. Kevin starts to be in control.
I just lose my line.
But I returned and I break him back.
- [spectators cheer] - [chair umpire] Game to Becker.
[Becker] Emotionally, he's a little tough now.
[announcer] So, set point.
[grunts]
- [announcer] Oh.
- [spectators groan, cheer] - [chair umpire] Game to Becker.
- [Becker shouts] - [chair umpire] Game to Becker.
[Becker] In the fourth set, I break him in the first game. I sit down,
I'm thinking, "I only have to hold serve."
[spectators cheering]
[cheering continues]
[Becker] I'm nervous.
I'm trying to toss the ball. The ball doesn't leave my hand. [chuckles]
It's just-- It's just glued. It's stuck.
Double fault. The crowd, "Ooh!"
[chair umpire] Love-15.
- [spectator] Go Boris. - [shouts]
So, match point, I go within myself. I go... [blows] ..."Please. Just, God,
give me one more serve." [chuckles]
"I need one more serve."
[people chattering]
[interviewer] Boris Becker, let's start with the basics. Are you bankrupt?
[interviewer 2] How did someone who had won all these championships,
had such a successful life, work himself into this situation?
[reporter 1, in German] Three-time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker
has to answer to court in London today.
[Becker, in English] Morning.
This is what they're playing for.
Turn around.
This is the famous poem. It's called "If" by Rudyard Kipling.
This is where we wait before we go out on Centre Court.
We look up and we get a little nervous.
[Becker] You know, a lot of athletes, we believe that the amount of money we earn
during our careers will continue to come in after.
Yeah, I'm blaming me.
- All right. - Thank you.
[Becker] You know, the wake-up call came very late.
I'm a big believer that things happen for a reason.
But what's the reason? What did I do? What did I do to deserve this?
And I-I-- you know, again... [stammers] ...I'm not--
I'm not, um, a guy that-that cries on camera,
and I'm not-- I'm not a complainer.
I accept-- you know, accept whatever happens.
Uh, but this is tough.
This is really difficult to find out, uh, why.
I know one day I will find out. Uh, at the moment, I don't know why.
- [Becker shouting] - [announcer] That's it! He's done it.
- [announcer] The Championship... - [spectators cheering, applauding]
[announcer] ...to Becker!
["Boom Boom" playing]
[interviewer 3] And here he is. Congratulations, Champion.
[Becker] Thank you very much.
[interviewer 3] What are you feeling right now?
It's like a dream, you know, and, uh, you know,
now I think I have a lot of responsibility for the game now
because... [stammers] ...in my age to win Wimbledon that is--
I think it's something special.
[interviewer 3] Has a championship ever been won on a man's knees before?
[Becker] I don't know.
["Boom Boom" continues playing]
[camera shutters clicking]
[interviewer] If somebody had told you two weeks ago
that you were gonna leave this as Wimbledon Champion,
what would you have said to 'em?
He's an idiot.
[both laughing]
And there's been rejoicing in West Germany over Becker's victory.
The president sent him a message of congratulations
as soon as the game was over.
And at Becker's hometown near Heidelberg,
relatives who couldn't come to Wimbledon watched the final on television.
- [crowd cheering] - [reporter] Later, the great homecoming.
And the narrow streets of Leimen could hardly hold its townsfolk.
[cheering continues]
- Would you welcome please, Boris Becker. - [audience applauding]
- Congratulations. - Thank you very much.
- [audience member] Boom Boom! - It was, uh-- [chuckles]
- That's not my name. - Yeah, now right away,
let's talk about that. I was gonna talk about that later, but this just happened,
- even on the cover of Sports Illustrated. - Yeah.
"Baby Boomer and Boom Boom Becker."
When I was born, my mother called me Boris and not Boom Boom, you know...
- [Carson chuckles] - ...and, uh, that's--
that's what-what I don't like.
Have you found that the young ladies, uh... [stammers]
...you meet more young ladies now than maybe you did...
- Uh. - ...four, five months ago?
After Wimbledon, there were more girls than before.
- More girls? Yeah. - [audience laughing, applauding]
[cheering]
[interviewer] The final score of a tennis match can tell you a lot.
- [grunts] - [grunts]
[interviewer] The loser is simply outclassed.
[spectators cheering]
[interviewer] The winner wasn't himself in the first two sets,
but hit his stride and cruised to victory.
[interviewer] The story behind the numbers is how the points are won and why.
Not just shots made and volleys missed, but how players change their minds.
When to play it safe and when to go for broke.
[interviewer] Confidence ebbs, and then it flows. Why?
The fear of losing? Or a kind of magical thinking?
How do great players trick themselves into believing that they can win,
- no matter how bad the odds? - [spectators cheering]
[interviewer] The score can't answer those questions.
The score is just a headline.
Is he up, or is he down?
Is he a winner or a loser?
For Becker, especially, the headlines drowned out the real story.
[interviewer] I talked to Becker at two different periods.
[chuckles]
[interviewer] First in 2019 when his legal problems began...
Yeah.
[interviewer] ...and then again in 2022, three days before he went to prison.
The later conversation kept circling around the question of time.
His countdown to an uncertain future, and how his past haunted his present.
So, Boris, if you could speak to your--
your younger self, what would you say?
Uh, and it's interesting that you-- you a-ask me that because, uh,
the other week my oldest son came to me, to trial,
and then he said, "In hindsight, uh,
Papa, what'd you-- what'd you learn?"
I said, "Son, take care of your own shit."
[airplane engines humming]
[airplane departing]
[interviewer, in German] What does the manager Ion Tiriac earn
from Boris Becker?
- Not enough. No. - Not enough? [chuckles]
[Becker, in English] I was managed by a guy called Ion Tiriac.
[grunts]
I was 15 in Monte Carlo at a junior tournament.
[grunts]
[spectators cheering]
[Becker] And the national head coach, his name was Günther Bosch,
and he's from Romania, originally.
And Bosch and Tiriac were childhood friends.
Günther told Ion, "We have this young crazy German. Have a look at him."
So I saw the guy.
[blows]
Interesting.
A little bit chubby.
[Becker] Ion Tiriac always had the big scary mustache.
Now he was the coach of Guillermo Vilas, and I was nervous.
[Tiriac] Vilas.
With the talent that he had, zero.
But the work that he got, enormous.
Was the best player of all times, considering what is coming, what is going.
And Boris Becker, at that time,
was doing what he had to do.
[Becker] I was invited for a practice week with Guillermo Vilas in Hamburg.
Vilas was the hardest worker in tennis.
Tiriac wanted to see, um, how much I can take.
- [chuckling] - [interviewer] How did that go?
[inhales deeply] I was hurting after a couple--
[both chuckling]
[Tiriac] He has all red clay all over in the eyes here, there, bleeding here.
Very interesting guy.
He works like a mad dog until almost he breaks his shoulder.
[in German] Boris is a young man who has a great deal of determination
and I think that he was perhaps the hardest worker in sports I'd ever seen.
[Becker speaking German]
[Becker, in English] I loved it. I loved to play. I loved to practice.
And most of all, I loved to win.
- I won my first tournament at six. - [interviewer] At six?
Six years old.
I remember at six, uh, holding up the little-- little trophy.
I don't know, but, you know, I'm sure it was very small. [chuckles]
[announcer, in German] Rainer Martinell against Boris Becker, for first place.
- Game, set, match-- - [Becker] Yeah!
[applause]
Think about it. Borg was here seven years ago.
I wish you'll have the same kind of success.
Good luck!
[person] Boris, come on.
[Becker, in English] When you win something at six,
and then something at seven and at eight, and then you have a coach,
then you play, um, more and more tennis.
[applause]
[chuckles]
[interviewer, in German] How old are you all?
[all] Eleven.
[interviewer] Who is your favorite now in these major tournaments?
[all] Borg!
- [interviewer] You like Borg the best? - [all] Yeah.
[Becker, in English] My hero growing up was Björn Borg.
[spectators gasping]
[Becker] I adored him. I loved him. I wanted to be like him.
- [applause] - ["Super Trouper" playing]
- [Borg shouts] - [spectators cheering]
I'll never give up.
It doesn't matter what the score is, the match is not over till the last point.
[applause]
When you start to play tennis when you are five years old, you want to win.
I mean, that's what you're practicing for.
That's what you try to do in your whole life.
[Becker] Watching Björn Borg, I said, you know,
"I need to play a little bit identical."
The only important tennis tournament that was televised was Wimbledon.
When he played the famous final in 1980,
young Boris was sitting in West Germany with my parents
and watched on worldwide television.
[spectators cheering]
When you get to certain levels,
you know, you realize the game becomes more mental. A battle of wills.
[both grunting]
- [spectators cheering] - [announcer] Yes, two sets all.
[Borg] When I lost that tiebreaker in the fourth set,
I thought, "Definitely, I'm gonna lose this match" because I was so drained.
[announcer] Absolutely unbelievable.
And what must Borg be thinking?
I mean, I thought I was gonna win this.
He's-- Can't want it more than me now.
[announcer] Championship point.
[McEnroe] But he seemed to find another gear.
- [announcer] The Champ! - [spectators cheering]
[Becker] I just was in awe of him winning.
We would play our junior tournaments imagining we were Björn Borg.
[grunting]
[spectators groan]
[Becker] I wasn't well-behaved on the court back then.
I would get angry. And then, you know, break my rackets.
So, my penalty was always, after my three hours of practice,
to play another hour with Steffi Graf.
You know, the two best tennis players Germany ever produced came literally
from ten miles apart.
[Becker] By 12, I was the best under 14.
By 14 years of age, I started playing with the men,
and I became the German Indoor Champion for the men when I was 14 years old.
In those days, you had only really three management companies
in tennis that mattered.
They all came to see my father.
Mark McCormack offered money quickly, uh, so did Donald Dell,
and my-- my father felt disrespected that he would sell his son for money,
so he politely showed them the door. [chuckles]
And Tiriac wasn't even talking about money.
He said, "You have a very talented boy. I would like to take him over
and I would look after him as he were my son."
[Tiriac] I talk to his parents.
Very simple people, normal people.
Sweet people. They understood everything. I made a deal.
They stay home, and if he's in the finals somewhere--
Sometimes, I invite them to the final, and so on. I don't like parents mixing up.
[Becker] My mother still, until today,
says it was the biggest mistake of her life
to allow me to-- to take a leave of absence in school.
But then, you know, my father decided, "Let's-- Let's give young Boris a chance."
And, uh, that's when I became a professional at 16 years of age.
My game was power.
It was always this hard shot and how I was physically coming forward.
It was always pretty hard.
Strategy, it wasn't too complicated.
You know, instinctively, I knew it was power.
It was overpowering the other guy.
Eventually, you know, you might get tired, I won't get tired.
In the fall of 1984, I was ranked maybe 100 in the world.
I would lose in the first round the whole time,
you know, in September and October.
I've lost six, seven times in the first round,
and if you're a tennis player, that's a long stretch.
You are low on confidence, you are low on self-belief.
And I'm-- I'm breaking down, then. And Tiriac was there.
He started crying, you know.
"I cannot make it. I did this, and I do everything, but--"
I say, "Boris, you're okay."
Think about it. You're okay.
I said, "Ion, I mean, I don't mind traveling to the end of the world,
but I gotta win sometimes."
For me, the-- the lifeline was always winning.
And he said, "Boris, I can guarantee you
that if you continue another three months like that,
you will be winning big things."
- [Becker] The beginning of '85... - [applause]
...I was winning matches against the best players in the world.
And my ranking went up into 30.
I got to the Italian Open.
I reached the semifinal, and I became 20 in the world.
If you're in the inner circle of tennis, you would say,
"This young German, there's something coming up there."
People were talking about Boris Becker from Germany.
"You should see this kid playing tennis."
In... [sighs] ...February or March, I believe, of 1985, we played an exhibition match.
He was whining and complaining about all the calls.
- No! - [chair umpire] Last warning.
[McEnroe] And I won rather handily that match,
so I went into the locker room, I go,
"Hey, Boris, you know... [stammers] ...win something, you know,
and then you can start complaining, you know,
but before you win, just-- let's cut this stuff out."
Now, little did I realize in my wildest dreams
that four months later he'd win Queen's and Wimbledon.
[applause]
[Becker] Queen's was the premier grass court tournament before Wimbledon.
I played Johan Kriek in the final.
[Kriek] I'm in the finals, and I'm playing a schoolboy from Germany.
I'm like, "Huh, what an easy title this is gonna be." [chuckles]
[applause]
[Kriek] He just got confident. He just started serving bombs.
- [Becker] Yes! - [chair umpire] Game, set and match.
[Kriek] When he beat me in the finals, I don't know who it was in the press,
"Um, Mr. Kriek, what do you think about this German schoolboy?"
I said, "If he serves like that, he'll win Wimbledon."
[announcer] And there you see the parents
of Becker going absolutely mad.
- [spectators whistling, cheering] - [Bosch] Congratulations!
[interviewer] Congratulations. Hello.
You've joined some pretty famous names on this trophy.
I mean, people like Laver, Hoad, Sedgman, of course, McEnroe
- and Connors, more recently. - Yeah.
That's right, uh, I mean, it's a-- just a new name there.
It's, uh, between Connors and McEnroe. And it's-- it's unbelievable.
- [interviewer] Seventeen years old. - Yeah. That's right.
- [interviewer] It's very early, isn't it? - That's right, yeah.
I felt a tsunami's happening. I felt like this is a big wave. I'm on it.
And I just-- I just-- I play normal, and I'm winning.
[Becker] In the week between Queen's and Wimbledon,
they put you in a better practice court so everybody could watch,
and I felt that people started staring at me, and I felt good about it.
Put me on your show court, I will show you how I can play.
I mean, I wasn't thinking about winning.
I was really enjoying the moment.
I was like a little boy in a-- in a toy shop.
[applause]
I think he just took to the grass in a different way.
No one really knows how to play on grass.
Anyone that says they're a grass court specialist have to be living
in the '60s and come from Australia. Those guys were grass court specialists.
But otherwise, there are no grass courts in the world.
But then, of course, the diving part.
I mean, that's-- That was the most insane thing.
On grass? Okay, maybe.
But he used to dive on clay.
[Becker] For some of the balls, I had to dive.
I think more than anything, that impressed the other guy about what--
what I was willing to do to win that point.
To go where it hurts a little bit. [chuckles]
[chair umpire] Time.
[Becker] Now, in 1985 at Wimbledon,
the fourth round match with Tim Mayotte, he's two sets to one up...
[Becker, Mayotte grunting]
- [Becker groans] - [spectators groan]
[Becker] I twist my ankle, badly.
I'm done.
- [announcer] Oh, dear. - [chair umpire] 30-15.
[Becker] Now, Tim was still on the baseline.
If he would've been at the net, he shakes my hand, the match is over.
Wimbledon wouldn't happen.
[Tiriac] He was coming to default.
And I say, "Bosch, yell at him."
I see with my corner of my eye, I see Bosch and Tiriac going like this.
All of a sudden, I wake up and I hear Tiriac,
"Call a time-out! Call a time-out!"
Can I have three minutes, please?
No, it's just a twist.
[announcer] He's taking his, uh, time-out here,
his injury break, which is three minutes.
[Becker] The physical trainer had to come from the locker room to court number 14.
The luck was that he was not playing on the Centre Court.
By the time that the doctor came, it was about 20 minutes.
[announcer 2] Well, John, it certainly took longer than three minutes
for the trainer to get here, but it's a good thing he is.
[Becker] My ankle's black and blue,
but it was good enough to continue the match.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[Becker] Fifteen minutes later, it's just different. Emotionally, he was a wreck.
- [Becker shouts] - [spectators cheering]
[Becker] Yeah, he hardly shook my hand.
He stormed off the court, and I don't blame him.
[Tiriac] After that, I had to restructure everything
because instead of 30, there were 130 journalists.
[interviewer] And then, you know Mr. Ashe, Mr. Arthur Ashe.
[crew person] All right.
Boris, are you surprised to be in the quarterfinals, 17 years old?
Yes, for sure.
[Ashe] And your-- your ankle?
Yeah, my ankle, it's-- it's not bad, but it's also not-- not good.
[Ashe] Everybody talks about the pressure for someone so young.
You're not seeded, although there are quite a few non-seeds around.
Yeah.
[Ashe] Can you handle the pressure?
Uh... [blows] ...yes, I think so. I'm-- I'm trying to handle it. [chuckles]
[interviewer 2] Let's talk for a moment about Becker.
Is he a flash in the pan, or is this kid gonna be around for a while?
[commentator] And if he were to win, he would be the youngest champion
not only here, but of any of the four major championships.
I don't think he's a flash. I think he's the genuine item.
How difficult is it for a young man that age, he's 17 years old,
to keep a grasp on reality?
[commentator] There's no way a tennis player can keep a grasp on reality.
- [announcer] That's it! He's done it. - [applause]
[announcer 2] The Championship...
- [applause continues] - [announcer 2] ...to Becker!
[Becker] After Wimbledon, Tiriac takes me to Monaco, where I was living at the time.
He says, "No. You're not gonna go back to your flat.
We're gonna check into the old beach hotel,
and I will tell you what just happened."
I say, "What do you mean?" "I will tell you what you've just done.
I will teach you the right and wrongs of your life now."
The implications of becoming
the first German, the youngest, the unseeded.
Expectations in the tennis world, expectations in Germany,
expectations of world media.
About, um, you color combine brown shoes with a brown belt,
not a black belt or shirts, ties, you know,
the whole thing of becoming an image,
becoming a superstar in sports.
He says, "Yeah, tennis is great, but when you walk off the court,
- you are now a wanted man." - [fans clamoring]
[Tiriac] I didn't do anything.
The man had it.
You know, the man had the charisma. The man had everything.
And he becomes a huge, huge megastar.
- [fans clamoring] - [camera shutters clicking]
[camera person] Boris. Boris. Boris.
[reporter, in German] What would you say if he came by here now?
I'd like to play a match with you.
[chuckles]
We are proud of Boris Becker. He has made Leimen huge.
Leimen is becoming famous!
And we are happy as kings.
[in English] Well, I like Boris Becker.
He's a good player, and I like his attitude, and he's young.
- [reporter 2] He's German. - Yep.
[reporter 3] Move over, Michael Jackson and Madonna. There's a new teenage idol.
[interviewer] No one knew better how to reap the benefits of fame
than Ion Tiriac.
Born in Transylvania, he escaped a dead-end job in a ball bearing factory
by becoming a professional athlete in tennis and hockey.
With the collapse of communism in Romania,
Tiriac bought state enterprises on the cheap
and became a billionaire.
Famous for owning 500 vintage cars.
As a manager, he used his business savvy
to enrich young Boris Becker, making him millions in endorsements.
[advertisement theme song playing]
[advertiser] ♪ Coca-Cola is it! ♪
Maybe they don't know my tennis gear is made by Puma.
[Becker] Ion Tiriac knew how to sell an image.
He did the contracts. He-- He had the bank accounts.
He controlled, on a very professional good way, my life
because there was no other way.
I teach him not to have a credit card.
Not to have money in his pocket.
Because people around him are going to profit from him.
That was when he was very little.
Seventeen is still a young man.
[Becker] I don't remember, in my playing days, ever going to a cash machine.
I don't remember, in my playing days, ever really knowing
how much money was actually in the account.
Enough? Plenty enough.
Wh-What time is your airplane?
[Becker] You know, we athletes, we didn't go to university.
We didn't study law. We didn't study business.
You know, our business was the sport.
So, by the time we get out of our sports in our 30s, right,
we don't know the hell what's going on.
- [press 1] Herr Becker. - [press 2] Herr Becker.
[press 3] Mr. Becker?
Mr. Becker, one-- one word in English--
[reporter] Former Wimbledon Tennis Champion, Boris Becker,
is facing more than three and a half years in jail for tax evasion.
Accused of failing to pay millions of pounds in tax
during the 1990s.
[interviewer] To understand the Boris Becker story,
it's sometimes easier to move back and forth in time.
[press clamoring]
[interviewer] Long before he was convicted of crimes in London,
he had a run-in with the law in Germany.
[Becker] Because of the reportedly amounts of money I earned,
the Germans started to be a little bit-- What's the word? Um, envious.
"This young guy just can do what he wants and makes a lot of money,
and I'm sure there's something fishy going on, right?"
It's really disappointing to small people like me
when big fishes like Boris Becker get away without anything.
Well, he's in the show business also and in the-- the sports business,
so he should be punished.
[Becker] They started prosecution for tax evasion.
If the opponent is the government, they're very powerful.
[interviewer] The government was fixated on a time early in Boris's career
when his manager, Ion Tiriac, had advised Becker to live in Monaco,
a famous tax haven where Boris could keep his earnings away
from the German government.
By the time prosecutors started exploring his finances,
Becker had split from Tiriac, moved back home and married a young German woman.
They were on vacation in Miami when the tax police came knocking.
I got an early morning call from my lawyer saying the police... [stammers]
...with the tax authorities, uh, you know, they want to break into your house.
Uh, you know, and most importantly they want to break into your safe.
It was 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning when I got the call,
and I got the code wrong the first time.
You don't expect the government to break into your house in Munich.
Everything became unsure after that, you know.
I feel... [inhales deeply] ...how's that possible?
People just walking in doing this, you know?
Treating him like a criminal, you know?
Like, it felt very painful for him, especially because we weren't there.
There's nothing we could do.
And, um, it came out of the blue.
And we felt like it was, like, a complete intrusion, invasion.
[Becker] I said, "There's jewelry and there's, uh, many documents, uh,
but there are nude pictures from my pregnant wife, yeah,
just-- just be aware of the pictures."
They took everything, and the pictures haven't been returned since.
I mean, I-- I remember him being on the phone a lot,
and, um, not understanding.
Completely confused and, yeah, taken by surprise.
And sad. Hmm.
Their claim was I had a theoretical residence in Munich
while I was officially residing in Monaco.
[reporter, in German] In the period of two years,
Becker spent 72 days in Monaco,
but spent 139 days in the top floor apartment in Munich.
[Becker, in English] My sister, Sabine, had a flat,
and she had a guest room,
and-- and when I was in Munich to see my-- my friends,
instead of a hotel, I went to the guest room of my sister.
That was my crime.
[in German] ...that he maintained a residence in Germany,
and for this reason,
precisely in order to reduce taxes unlawfully,
he concealed this fact in his tax returns.
As I said, the defendant himself admitted that he had acted intentionally.
[Becker, in English] We went on trial, and the prosecutor, uh, asked the judge
for three years and nine months behind bars.
And you're fuming, uh,
you wanna get up and wanna at least speak to the guy whether, you know,
he's-- he's got all his marbles right and so forth,
but it was enough to shut up.
[press chattering]
[Becker] I got two years of probation.
I paid a fine of 250,000 marks,
and the case was closed.
[reporter 2, in German] Boris Becker issued a prepared statement
saying among other things,
"This was my most important victory, and I am free."
[Becker, in English] Now, imagine the German headlines.
Whenever there is a bit of a wind in my life, it becomes a tornado.
The current chief editor of the most-read daily newspaper in Germany
gave me a wonderful explanation.
There were three topics that always work to sell his papers.
One is Adolf Hitler,
one is the unification of Germany,
and one is Boris Becker.
[Becker] And that's been the misunderstandings
I've had since 35 years.
[Tiriac] I told him, "If you become a champion on court,
you have to be one off the court.
Don't make me beat the hell out of you.
Because in front of everybody, I will do it.
Doesn't matter how much money you are going to make
because most of the money I'm going to make
for you, and that's happening."
Big megastar makes 10%, 15%,
20% on the court
and the rest, off the court.
[Becker] Tiriac had a whole new marketing campaign
about his new superstar in sports,
and I had great endorsements
with the major companies and corporations in the world,
and part of that plan was young Boris Becker winning.
If he'd be-- wouldn't-- winning anymore the whole story doesn't fit, right?
- [spectators groan] - [announcer chuckles]
[announcer, speaking French]
[Tiriac, in English] How I say, "It goes with the package."
The man can do it, or he don't.
If you had want to have a good number one out of Boris,
you have to build him up as a solid tennis player.
[Becker] I couldn't freaking get over a quarterfinal list in,
I think, five consecutive tournaments.
It was quarterfinal here, quarterfinal there, quarterfinal--
Quarterfinal was good, but it wasn't really good enough.
And then we had a big crisis before Wimbledon.
Pressure coming.
"Can Boris defend the title, or was he flash in the pan?"
[chair umpire] Game, set and match, Becker.
[Becker] Win the quarterfinal in-- in straight sets. I win the semifinal.
I started thinking, "Hmm, this is good.
This is-- I'm starting to feel the power."
And everybody then went, "Hmm, this is it-- this is--
He's-- He's feeling it again."
So, in the final I'm playing Ivan Lendl.
Lendl, number 1 in the world.
[announcer] Yes. My goodness.
[applause]
[Becker] He had one of the best forehands of all time
and one of the biggest serves of all time.
He played with very little emotion, uh, very, um, computerlike.
He wasn't, uh, charming with the crowd.
He wasn't, uh-- He wasn't a showman.
I call him the first professional in tennis.
- [spectators cheering] - [chair umpire] Game, Lendl.
[Becker] Before Wimbledon,
I had a long talk with Tiriac and Bosch.
I've done now everything you wanted me to do...
so I'm asking you for once, "Can I play the match the way I want to play?"
I became a champion because of my power.
[applause]
[chair umpire] 15-love.
- [spectators cheering] - [chair umpire] Game, Becker.
[announcer] Well, I don't really think I've ever seen a player
more determined than Becker is.
[spectators gasping, cheering]
[tennis official] Quiet, please.
- Yeah! - [chair umpire] Game, set
and match to Becker.
That to me, was absolutely incredible that you can have that pressure,
and he wins it again.
Winning Wimbledon twice before your 19th birthday, I mean, that's just insane.
[Becker] Probably my most important tournament win
was defending my Wimbledon title.
Can call it "becoming a man," maybe.
Becoming mature enough to understand that I can trust my instincts.
I can trust my-- my own strength.
And I talked to my father then afterwards.
I said, "Dad, don't you organize another car ride in the middle of Leimen."
But he did.
And then we had a big fight over it. I said, "I'm not gonna do it."
[stammers] Then, he said, "Son,
then I can't go back to my hometown. You embarrass me if you don't show up."
I said, "Dad, for the last time, it's my life.
It's my win. It's my decision.
I do it because I-- I love and respect you,
but it's the last time you make a decision for me."
When you are so young, and you thrown into the big ocean with all the sharks around,
it's very difficult to learn to swim.
But once you learn to swim,
it's the feeling of invincibility that means you're winning.
In the fall, I did something that nobody has done, uh, before and after.
I won three Master Series in consecutive weeks in three different continents.
Don't ask me how I slept, though. [chuckling]
'Cause I didn't.
Back to back to back, I won almost every tournament.
I was in the zone. I-- Just couldn't touch me.
- [Becker yelps] - [applause]
[in German] For many Germans, does an underage professional tennis player
embody what may have been lost in reality?
A fighting spirit, will to perform, unlimited self-confidence?
In a way, yes. We are a battered people,
and we are happy, rightly so,
about anyone who succeeds in achieving international success.
[in English] He was the first German
that after the war--
He was the young Siegfried.
[grunts]
[Tiriac] He was a young man that could handle himself.
And the man had the presence that a megastar needs.
And the people took him like this.
[reporter, in French] Boris Becker saw one of his dearest wishes fulfilled.
He met the Pope at the Vatican.
The two-time Wimbledon champion
even brought a tennis racket for John Paul II.
The Pope plays tennis. He is a great sportsman.
He also practices swimming.
And it was John Paul II who had already invited Boris Becker
a few months ago to come and visit him.
Recall that he has won three tournaments on three continents,
on three different surfaces, alone!
Thanks for being with us, Boris Becker.
Your opinion on a few players?
McEnroe is going to come back?
[translator, in French] In the three tournaments that just ended,
he was there.
Well, of course, it's going to be a long road for him,
but I think he has the possibility of actually returning.
[interviewer, in English] Did you play McEnroe after his comeback?
Yeah, I played John McEnroe in, uh, Stratton Mountain in Vermont.
[applause]
[line umpire] Fault!
[announcer] McEnroe cracking the backhand into the net.
What was wrong?
[McEnroe] Early in the year, I took time off.
I was very wound up when I went to Stratton Mountain
because I felt like I needed to go out and prove something.
And he was just coming back after a sabbatical,
and he's gonna teach this young German a lesson.
So I was ready to, you know,
really let it out, like, in a way, um-- Not that I had trouble doing that,
- but, uh, more so than normal. - [interviewer chuckles]
[grunts]
- [line umpire] Out! - [applause]
[Becker] John holds serve, 1-love.
[announcer] Mac is back.
Those days we didn't have microphones on the court yet,
so you couldn't really listen to what players had to say. [chuckles]
So, you know, I was gonna go intimidate him,
um, and, you know, sort of--
Tennis's version of trash talking a little bit.
[announcer 2] At the first changeover, Cliff,
uh, McEnroe had a word with Becker about, uh, respect.
And we don't quite know what it was. We didn't hear all of it.
He says, "Boris, I'm gonna beat the shit out of you, you motherfucker."
Imagine somebody doing that now.
He'd be fined on the spot.
I was shocked. I was intimidated. What do I do?
I learned a new set of English in those two and a half hours.
Words I've never heard before, and I seldom use.
[interviewer] He said on the first changeover, you gave it to him.
I gave it to him, but apparently it didn't work too well.
[both chuckling]
[Becker] He ends up winning the first set, 6-3.
[umpire chatter]
[Becker] It became a battle.
[announcer] Yes, I think we did miss John McEnroe a little bit.
[Becker] I've never-- never seen a guy with more feel for the ball,
so he could find angles, and he could find ball placement
that you can't practice, or you can't teach anybody.
He had a very awkward technique
that made him so awkward to play against, because nobody played like that.
He was just full out, and I-I responded.
I don't walk away from a fight.
[McEnroe] I loved the way he played.
He was diving all around the court, and just-- He was fun to watch.
He was like a-- The exuberance of a kid, but he had a grown man's body.
[spectators cheering]
[McEnroe] And then I'm thinking,
"This guy has got the biggest serve in the history of tennis."
[Becker] I won the second set,
and then we end up third set tiebreaker, he has four match points.
[commentator] 8-7 McEnroe.
[McEnroe grunts]
[spectators gasp]
- [McEnroe grunts] - [spectators cheering, applauding]
[interviewer] What else do you remember about that match?
Uh, I remember getting cheated on match point.
[grunts]
- [chair umpire] Out! - [McEnroe] Oh, no!
[spectators cheering]
[McEnroe] I had a few match points, the first of which,
right as I'm about to hit it-- "Out!"
What?
I guess my karma caught up with me on that one.
Not too many had cost me, but that one, it did.
And then it sent me in a total tailspin.
[commentator] Difficult situation.
- [McEnroe] How do you know? - [spectators jeering]
[commentator] A young and rising genius named Boris Becker, winning.
[Becker] You know, John, I think felt,
"This son of a bitch on the other side is as strong-willed as I am.
He doesn't-- doesn't take no for an answer."
And he-- he pretty much, from that moment on, respected me.
Sprechen Sie English?
The game was changing. It was becoming more of a power game.
He just basically, like, served me off the court in a way.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[McEnroe] We played five hours and we were only done with three sets.
And Boris seemed like he was fine.
- [commentator] This day is over. - [spectators cheering]
[McEnroe] My record against him
was about as poor as any top player I've ever played.
And I wish that I had played him when I was at my best.
I'm sure he would've won some anyway,
but I would've liked to think I would've done better.
I had a great and unique ability of getting under the players' skin,
and then the players would try harder than they ever tried.
You know, I'm like, "Why didn't you just shut up and let 'em self-destruct?"
I couldn't help myself.
I decided once when I played Boris in Paris, you know,
'cause he had this fake cough that he always did, um,
and he pretended like it wasn't fake.
And, like, he'd go... [coughing]
You know, but it'd be, like, break point down.
You're like, "Come on, Boris. You're better than that."
[interviewer] He felt that you were coughing a lot for effect,
- and not so much for-- - [coughing]
- Yeah. - [interviewer chuckles]
[coughs]
[coughing]
[spectators laughing, applauding]
I'd had enough of it, so I decided every time he did it, I was gonna do it.
So when he's mimicking my coughing, uh, I-I probably coughed even more.
Hence we had a proper match, right? [chuckles]
- [Becker coughing] - [McEnroe coughs]
[spectators laughing]
[coughs]
- [spectators laughing] - [commentator chuckles]
[announcer, in French] A little bit of quiet please, thank you.
[commentator 2, in French] Sometimes to put pressure on, he coughs.
- [coughs] - [commentator 2 chuckles]
- [line umpire] Out! - [McEnroe coughs]
[announcer, in French] 0-15.
[spectators laughing, applauding]
[McEnroe, in English] After about literally ten times,
people are like, "Ooh." You know?
They don't know what to make of this, right?
And I'm enjoying it because I'm calling him out for this BS he's doing.
[Becker coughing]
[commentator, in French] There it is, "The Cough."
[McEnroe, in English] So finally Boris, he goes, "John, I mean, come on.
Take it easy on me.
I've got a cold."
And I go, "You've had it for five years."
I can't believe that it still isn't better.
Only 4 years.
[commentator, in French] It's difficult to think that he's not doing this on purpose.
[in English] The crowd turned on me like I was, like, Attila the Hun.
I'm like, "Why are they turning on me? He's the guy that's doing this shit."
And you still think after what's happened that that's right?
[Becker] Tennis is played on a big stage and spectators are very, very important.
They give us the energy or they take away the energy,
you play for the crowd or you play against the crowd.
[spectators screaming, cheering]
[commentator, in French] He raises his fist.
He raises his arm in victory, Boris Becker!
He raises his finger!
He has won, he was the better one...
[in English] At the end, I'm like, "Hey, Boris, man, I just--
Sorry about whatever."
Thankfully, to his credit,
"Oh, it's the heat of the moment, you know, we're friends."
It's like, "Thank you, man."
I think I won that match, by the way.
So there goes the story.
[in French] So Lendl number 1,
Becker number 2.
Will it be "Becker number 1" next year?
Ooh la la, huh?
[interviewer] Difficult. Ooh la la.
[chair umpire, in English] Game, Becker.
[commentator] No trouble there for Boris Becker.
Günther Bosch in the tracksuit.
[chair umpire] Code violation. Coaching, Mr. Becker. Warning.
[commentator 2] Very interesting.
First of all, you cannot even see where my coach is.
[chair umpire] I know where your coach is, Mr. Becker.
But I know you want me out of the tournament.
- No. - I'm not gonna get out.
[commentator 2] Boris Becker having a little altercation there.
- [spectators cheering] - [line umpire] Out! Hit the line.
[chair umpire] Correction. The ball is good.
- [commentator 2] Now listen to the-- - [chair umpire] 4-2 Masur.
[commentator 3] Definitely, the ball was good.
Boris throwing a tantrum.
Now he's totally destroyed that racket.
- Shut up! - [announcer] Quiet, please.
- [spectators exclaiming] - [announcer] Quiet, please. Thank you.
[reporter 2] Just two days after being bundled out of the Australian Open,
19-year-old Becker is now without the guidance of Günther Bosch.
Becker told Bosch he no longer wanted constant advice.
[interviewer, in German] What's going on with Günther Bosch
ten days after the separation from Boris Becker?
Not much better than ten days ago.
I have to honestly admit that I haven't worked through this whole thing yet
and I believe it'll take some time until I'm over all of this.
[reporter 2, in English] Becker was tight-lipped
when he and his girlfriend, Benny,
left Melbourne for Brisbane this morning.
Somehow, I'm gonna survive.
[Becker] I really didn't have a coach because I didn't wanna have a coach.
Nobody's gonna tell me how to practice and what to do.
And-- And, in those days, maybe I needed somebody.
Wimbledon that year, I was top seeded.
I was supposed to be the next Borg, win it five times and all that.
- [Doohan grunts] - [Becker grunts]
- No! - [applause]
That's out. Come on!
[spectators cheering]
[Becker] I lost, and everybody looking at-- the world stopped.
"What happened? Oh, God."
[interviewer] What do you think happened?
Well, basically, I lost a tennis match, you know?
I didn't lose a war, nobody died. I lost a tennis match.
[reporters clamoring]
[Becker] I was questioning maybe everything.
The so-called pressures and responsibilities.
I was looking around a little bit, I was searching.
I thought there must be more to life than tennis.
I was stuck. I was-- I said, "I... [stammers] ...I can't get out of it."
The tabloids are always great to read.
Here it's "Bonked! Dames spell doom."
[comedian] Boris Becker has found an excuse
for why he hasn't won any tennis matches for a while.
He says it's 'cause he's been doing too much bonking.
Well, frankly-- Come on. "Well, why aren't you winning?"
"Well, I'm getting too much of that, ain't I?"
[commentator] Yes, game, Gilbert. Gilbert.
You know, when you're playing somebody
you're always trying to figure out what you can do.
And the way I played, I always thought about my opponents.
Playing Boris.
By then, he was already a massive superstar.
I gotta run everything down, I gotta be doggedly determined.
Maybe if I could make a ton of balls, I could frustrate him.
You know, there was an opportunity.
[commentator] Game and fourth set, Gilbert 7-5.
[Gilbert] When I did break back, Boris would start yelling at himself...
[speaks German] ...and all these different things.
I did enjoy seeing him get frustrated.
[spectators cheering]
[reporter] Even more forlorn has been a face
in the German television commentary box.
[in German] It looks like Boris will have a lot of trouble today...
[reporter, in English] Günther Bosch,
who until the start of the year was Boris Becker's coach.
[Bosch, in German] It's his own fault.
[commentator] Yeah, this curse was for the airplane...
The airplane just thundered by over our heads.
Becker was forced to take a break.
[Bosch] It took too long.
He has to serve there.
He has to serve, otherwise he gets out of rhythm.
This break is far too long.
- [commentator, in English] Unbelievable. - [screams]
[Becker] Everybody go through a phase
where they feel pressure for the right or the wrong reasons.
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place,
that's why I felt the pressure.
I was simply tired.
I had very tough matches the whole week, it was more a struggle.
And, uh, so-- After a while, it's going to go in your bones.
In '87, I couldn't cope with the pressures anymore
of-of performing and winning and I couldn't sleep anymore.
I was jet-lagged and I just-- My mind just wouldn't stop.
I had two long years, I was a bit exhausted.
I spoke to the German team doctor,
he said, "Well, there's this very soft sleeping pill,
you can take it easily and it's--
You know, you wake up after six hours and you're perfectly fine."
Well, it's very addictive. And it's very strong.
And you don't wake up after five, six hours fresh.
You feel like you're in a haze.
And it made me sleep to a point where I just couldn't sleep without it.
After tournament, then I would not take it.
But if you're addicted to strong sleeping pills,
you can't sleep without them anyway.
I'd be wide awake at night.
I was talking to somebody, I would go out, I have a drink.
I was just not living the lifestyle of a pro athlete.
I kept pretending to play and pretending everything was fine.
I didn't know then how can I change it.
[reporter, in German] It should be said,
that the circumstances at Hamburg's Rothenbaum were not normal.
In the overflowing arena,
many people couldn't find a spot even though they had valid tickets.
The growing restlessness was felt on center court,
where Boris Becker was outdone, at times, by every trick in the book.
[spectator] If you try to blame the court or the audience...
you just have to admit that he didn't play well.
And he doesn't want to recognize that.
I haven't played a tournament in Germany since Wimbledon '85.
I didn't know I had so many fans!
I just wanted to be treated like all the other players.
In Germany, that's not possible for me
because for other people, I am probably something special.
[McEnroe, in English] With Boris and Steffi Graf,
tennis became extremely important at that time in Germany.
You know, it was, like, exploding then.
The attention was just unbelievable.
You know, he was like Michael Jordan in Germany.
You know, you could say I was a big star in the States,
but I-- I was never, like, when it's all-encompassing.
He had to deal with that.
[attendant] You're staying for the 14 days, is it?
No, more. It's about a month.
- [attendant] About a month? Okay. - Yeah.
[attendant] You mind if I ask you for an autograph?
Yeah, sure.
[attendant] To Vel. V.
- V? - [Vel] V-E-L.
[Borg] They were very proud of Boris in the beginning in Germany.
He was big hero,
but he went through-- I think it was more like jealousy problems.
The same way I had in Sweden.
[crowd whistling, cheering]
[camera shutters clicking]
[Borg] No problems.
- Everything is... - Not yet.
...under control.
[photographer] If you don't work out as a tennis player,
you know, you could become a male model, huh?
[reporter] Why aren't you playing tennis?
- That's a good question. - [chuckles]
[Borg's partner] Some girls, they write unbelievable letters--
- [reporter 2] To Björn? - [Borg's partner] Yeah.
And I open them because he has no time to do that.
Well, I don't have enough time.
She doesn't let me open the letters. That's the problem. [chuckles]
[reporter 3] What sort of things were they saying in those letters?
[Borg's partner] "I want to meet you." And they give the telephone numbers,
they send pictures all the time and that's, uh, small things. [chuckles]
There are other things too but I cannot mention them. [chuckles]
- [reporter 4] Really? - [chuckles]
- [photographer] Good, good, good. - Right.
They take you to a level that you reach as an athlete.
And maybe when you reach that level,
maybe they want to take you down a little bit.
That's exactly what happened in Germany with Boris.
He is an icon in his home country. He's always been, he's always gonna be.
[Wilander] To compare Boris to anyone, you can't.
Because Boris is the first German tennis player that had done anything big.
And we had Björn Borg.
And Björn Borg had already-- he cleared a path in Sweden.
We had the same hairstyle even for a while.
I was even wearing a headband until my brother said,
"What are you wearing a headband for?" I'm like, "I don't know."
But Boris, he literally couldn't go out.
I think that the pressure is enormous, being a German superstar.
[Becker] I felt like I had obligations with the tournament
and the sponsorship in Germany and God knows what.
So I felt trapped and I wasn't man enough maybe to-- to say,
"Listen, stop. I'm taking a break."
I wasn't fulfilled in my private life.
I was with the wrong friends, maybe with the wrong girlfriend.
The-- You know, the wrong surroundings that weren't fulfilling me
and giving me the answers that I was looking for,
uh, as a young man growing up in Europe.
What did I do? I changed scenarios.
I appointed a new coach that I picked, not Tiriac or Bosch.
It was an Australian called Bob Brett.
[Brett] Ion told me at that time that I was not his choice.
That was fine with me.
Boris was his own man.
[Becker] Ion said, "Don't take him. I don't think he's good for you."
And the more he said that, the more I wanted Bob.
[chuckles, stammers] Another classical Boris.
It was a point to prove again to Tiriac
about my point of view and his point of view.
Yes, he was still my mentor, he was still the main guy,
but I felt like I had to take a different route
to get to the promised land, no? [chuckles]
["Boom Boom" playing]
[announcer] Championship point to Boris Becker.
[commentator speaking German]
[Becker] To qualify for the Masters,
be amongst the top eight players of the world.
In '85, I reached the final. I lost to Lendl.
In '86, who did I lose to? Lendl.
Guess who I'm playing in the final again?
Tie-break fifth set, back and forth.
He didn't wanna lose, I didn't wanna lose.
I have match point.
We have the longest rally ever in a match point situation.
If I win, then I'll win the match.
[song continues]
[Becker] I hit the net cord...
and it bounced.
We both didn't see on which side.
We had to listen to the umpire.
When he said, "Game, set, match," somebody with a German flag came over
and ran around a little bit.
Then I went from strength to strength.
I won the US Open, I beat Ivan.
[spectators cheering]
I spent less and less time in Europe. [stammers]
Started to spend more time in America and-- and in Australia
and just away from-- from maybe being Boris Becker.
I really liked-- liked Bob and what he brought to the table
and how he practiced.
And I started enjoying tennis again
because it wasn't the only thing I did during the day.
[marching band playing]
[Becker, in German] It's not enough for me to play tennis for three hours a day
and then go to bed.
For me, that would be horrible.
Therefore, I have to do other things that stimulate my mind,
inspire me.
[interviewer] Mr. Bosch, you've known Boris for a decade, maybe even longer.
A bit longer, yes.
[interviewer] In retrospect, what do you think
are his biggest strengths and weaknesses?
[Bosch] I wrote about this in my book.
During the tournaments, it's not Becker against Edberg or Becker against Lendl.
Often it's Becker against Becker.
And if he's able to tackle this Becker,
this internal opponent, he will win the game.
[in English] It's just too much, you know?
[speaks indistinctly]
[Becker] Stefan Edberg was my toughest opponent.
One of the finest serve-and-volley players of all time.
[commentator exclaims]
Oh, la, la, la.
[Becker] I compared him to Baryshnikov.
He was floating on the court like Baryshnikov on stage.
He was light on his feet and flying and never off-balance
and always in the right position.
[in German] I play against Edberg and I know exactly where I stand.
If I win against him 6-4, 6-4, I know I'm in top shape
or when he kicks my butt I know I have to train a lot more.
[spectators cheering, whistling]
[Becker, in English] '88. Edberg.
On Wimbledon Centre Court, which I consider my home.
[exhales]
[commentator] Edberg really came back quite beautifully.
He was being dominated by Becker, but he held on.
[interviewer] When they went head-to-head, as a Swede, who were you rooting for?
- Were you rooting for-- - [chuckles]
I have to root for-- for Stefan, of course.
[commentator 2] Championship point.
[Borg] Wimbledon, they played three times.
The rivalry, it's great for tennis.
[spectators shouting, gasping]
- [spectators cheering] - [announcer] Game, set, match, Edberg.
[commentator] Becker wanting once more to put his hand
on the most famous trophy in tennis.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[Stich] You have to learn to accept defeat and that you were wrong.
That losing is part of the game as well, and that's the tough part.
[interviewer] Because the very next match, you have to go on board
- as if you're gonna win. - Yes.
[Becker, in German] My opponent in the back of my mind is always Edberg.
[applause]
[spectators cheering]
- [spectators cheer] - [applause]
[commentator, in English] Stefan Edberg must be wondering what's hit him.
- So championship point to Boris Becker. - [spectators shouting]
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[commentator 2] Game, set, match. Becker.
[commentator 3] And a truly magnificent performance from Boris Becker,
who has just hurled his racket into the crowd.
I've never seen anyone do that before.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[players grunting]
[spectators cheering, applauding]
You see the electricity a little bit, huh? You get the vibe, yeah.
[interviewer] Yeah.
And that's what young players are intimidated from.
They can't deal with this. [scoffs]
Can't hide.
You go through your ups and downs
and lose a bit of motivation, bit of hunger.
And you just wanna do different things than always playing tennis,
so for him to come back last year--
Novak's physically fit, I think he's mentally sane.
And why wouldn't he? It's the best thing in the world.
I would've accepted it, to be able to do that.
Same thing happened with me.
Okay, Boris and Mac, thank you very much.
And Roger Federer will be on court...
[Becker] I always was intrigued by the media, by journalism.
But I had to start at back of the queue and just work my way up
to a position in front of the camera and talking about tennis.
Up to the point where they let me co-host a Wimbledon final.
[Becker] Becoming a forehand contest.
- Who hits it harder? - [applause]
[Becker] Federer's gonna run around the backhand
and just smothers the forehand.
[reporter] Welcome to the Daily Serve.
Adam Peacock alongside Boris Becker and Kim Clijsters.
[Becker] They must have liked what they saw.
Losing is part of winning, it's part of playing tennis, and...
I mean, if there's one thing I really know, it's tennis.
[interviewer] Boris's success as a commentator
was about more than tennis savvy.
He's a good storyteller. One of the reasons he was interesting to me.
He sees players as if they're characters in movies.
His commentary can be so funny, charming and seductive,
I sometimes wonder if it's too much fun to be true.
So there's two, then you skip two...
- Ah. - [interviewer] ...and there's one more.
Final, final, final, final.
[Borg] Stefan beat Boris, Boris beat Stefan.
And then they played the third time, there was the five-set match.
Really great match.
[person] Peter.
- Forty seconds. - Yeah.
[Becker] In '90, I was still very much hooked on sleeping pills.
Before the Wimbledon final,
I took my last sleeping pill at five o'clock in the morning. [chuckles]
[laughing] Mistake.
The practice was at 11:00, the match was at 2:00.
I woke up out of a dazed sleep at 11:30 in the morning.
I had something quick to eat, and I rushed to the club.
Uh, "Can I hit a little bit?"
So I hit a little bit at 12:30, one o'clock.
I start the match.
[spectators gasping]
[Becker] I was so slow, everything I do, the ball passes me.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I lose the first set, the second set.
I must have sweat enough, I must have woken up.
[applause]
[Becker] Big comeback.
I am up 4-1 in the fifth set.
[sucks teeth] I get nervous.
- [spectators cheering] - [announcer] Game, Edberg.
[Stich] Body language is how you walk on court, you know.
If your shoulders are up straight,
if you're just a little bit leaning forward, whatever you do.
What you might not realize yourself, but your opponent sees it. He senses it.
And that short moment just takes enough out of you, out of your confidence,
out of your belief, that it just gives the other player an edge.
You can't even describe it or write it down, what happens.
It's just such a short fraction of a thought
that just can turn a match, uh, one way or the other.
[spectators shouting]
[spectators cheering]
[commentator] Game, set, match, Edberg.
[Becker] He ends up winning 6-4.
I said, "You stupid idiot. You know, you could have beaten him earlier.
And you gotta stop the sleeping pills, it's not gonna get you anywhere."
So-- So that was a match that-- that thankfully I lost.
Uh... [inhales deeply]
I remember, um, soon after I had my last package and I threw it out of the window.
And I said, "no más," this is...
[interviewer] This is odd.
Boris said he threw out his sleeping pills right after losing to Edberg in 1990,
but in his book,
he wrote that his wife tossed the last packets out a full two years later.
Was this just a simple case of misremembering?
I never had any experiences with drugs.
So I thought it was, uh, the devil. [chuckles]
I didn't even understand why he would take them.
I just knew he didn't want to take them, and he said it didn't do him good,
so I just flushed 'em down the toilet. [chuckles]
Yeah. I don't know. Does he tell the story differently?
Look, there's a-- there's a phenomenon when you've been part of my life,
and she's certainly been a big part,
and some of-- other friends have been a big part,
that, um, you make up your own mind what happened,
uh, with certain things.
Uh, and you're convinced that's true.
Now, since-- since-- [stammers] I was the one needing sleeping pills,
I pretty much know when I took some and when I didn't take any.
You know, 'cause usually you're alone when you do that.
[interviewer] When we're alone, we all tell ourselves stories.
We remember things, not always the way they were,
but the way we want them to be.
If Boris tells me the way it was with sleeping pills,
who am I to question him?
Still, I have to wonder why his stories change.
Is there a difference between the way he tells stories to others,
and the ones he feels he needs to tell himself as a player
in order to reach the top?
[journalist, in German] There are people who think that sometimes
you like to create certain situations in games.
For example, maybe you bring it to a fifth set or bring it to a tiebreak.
Are you trying to artificially create adrenaline rushes in those situations?
Well, sometimes not so directly,
but deep down I know that I can beat the opponent.
It doesn't matter if my legs hurt.
In doing so, I also test my psyche. I see how strong I am.
So if I know that I can beat my opponent 6-2, 6-2,
then I get a bit lazy sometimes, I have to admit.
And then when it gets close, I have to come on strong.
That's good and bad.
I lose strength, physical strength. I win...
- [journalist speaks German] - Yeah, but I win mental strength.
- [person speaking German] - [in German] What?
What did you say?
[in English] I always had trouble with the Australian Open,
because it was always played in the middle of January.
Australia is very hot.
So it takes me a long time to get adjusted with the weather,
but also with the time change.
Bob Brett said, "Boris, why don't we go before Christmas,
first play a tournament in Adelaide, and really get adjusted to the weather.
It's bloody hot."
[singing]
[performer] Yes, it's a bit sad actually
because I've got to go back to all that snow and ice again tomorrow.
Oh, it's much nicer down here in the warm, I'm here to tell you.
[Becker] Christmas Eve, we were in a restaurant. I was miserable.
I was missing my family.
♪ I wish you a merry Christmas I wish you a merry Christmas ♪
And a happy new year ♪
- [line judge] Out! - [applause]
[Becker] The first small tournament in Australia was against Magnus Larsson,
ranked maybe 100 in the world.
[Becker] I lose the first set.
[in German] Sometimes yeah, I only do what is necessary in the moment.
Secretly, I know, even if I lose in the first set
and the second and the third-- I'll get him.
That's how I'm testing my psyche.
[applause]
[announcer, in English] ...6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
[Becker] I lost it. Lost in the first round,
even though I was top seeded.
[person, in German] How can you explain
the fact that someone like you lost against such a guy?
My mind wasn't fully present.
That's really what it was. I still had trouble with my...
...with my mind, such that...
I could not focus for four points in a row
on the court.
Rather, I thought after two already that I would win the game.
[person] Do you consider yourself to be a genius? In tennis?
Um...
Sometimes I do.
Sometimes I wonder how I get out of
the problem once again.
If I'm down two sets,
I don't know where I can get the strength from
to keep my head and stay cool and then still make the point.
That's often a mystery to me too.
And then I come to the conclusion that somehow I can
do it a bit better than the others.
But not often enough.
[interviewer, in English] When I found this footage,
it reminded me of something else entirely.
Harry Houdini put himself in perilous predicaments,
so he could entertain us with his escapes.
Boris Becker saw the mystery, even genius, of his talent
as doing the same thing.
Putting himself in a bad situation to summon an invincible strength.
Knowing his future, I wondered if he learned unconsciously over time
to seek out bad situations.
It didn't make sense as a philosophy of life.
But on the tennis court, it was breathtaking.
[commentator] The two combatants, a little tense.
And Lendl taking the first chair.
Ivan Lendl to serve the first game.
[Becker] There was a lot at stake. Ivan was one, I was two.
If I beat him today, I'm the new world number one.
- [line judge] Out! - [commentator] Yes.
[applause]
[commentator] So first blood for Lendl.
- [line judge 2] Out! - [announcer] Game, Lendl.
- [line judge 2] Out! - [Becker screams]
[speaking German]
- [commentator] Ace number five. - [applause]
[commentator] That's six now.
- [announcer] Game, Lendl. - [commentator] Three consecutive aces.
To set point.
[announcer] Game and first set, Lendl.
[commentator 2] I'm bothered by all the stretching that Becker's been doing.
[commentator] Perhaps he has done something.
Well, I wonder why he doesn't call for the trainer.
Well, this is going to be a real test of Becker's mental powers.
[interviewer] You hear this phrase so much,
"mentally tough" and "mentally strong."
- How would you describe what that means? - [inhales deeply]
First of all, you know who you are,
and, uh, your self-belief is stronger than your doubts.
It's really of understanding what your strengths are
and also what your flaws are.
And being vulnerable at times also is strong.
Especially in men's sports, there's no vulnerability,
you know, if you cry you're weak.
I-I don't agree with that at all.
We all go through emotions, suppressed emotions that come out when we battle.
And we have fears, we have doubts and it's okay to feel this way.
[Stich] Once, in a long match like that, you have that one doubt
and you feel like, "Well, I can't lift my right arm up for my serve," it's over.
The true champions win many Grand Slams because they have that mental strength,
not to let errors or thoughts about errors creep in
for a fraction of a second.
When they play, it's all about winning.
There should be no doubt.
[Wilander] The rest of us, we had to believe
that we could find a weakness in our opponent at some point.
But with Boris, I think it was all about himself.
That he at some point is gonna find a level
that he believes he should be playing at every day, every point.
It looked like he thought it was just a matter of time.
[Borg] He could be down, losing the matches.
But then turn around the match, and end up winning the championship.
And to be mental strong,
that is the different between winning or losing.
It could be one or two points, or one game.
And that is the difference between a champion and not a champion.
[Becker] You're alone on that court.
And if you have self-doubt, if you have a lack of confidence,
you might as well not even start the match.
It's a lonely place.
It's scary to go out in front of 20,000 people and millions watching at home.
I mean, you-- You know, as a man, you have big balls.
I mean, you have to-- You have to go out there and show it to everybody
that I'm ready to battle today.
[in German] Where I get the strength
to keep my head and stay cool and then still make the point,
that's often a mystery to me too.
And then I come to the conclusion that somehow I can
do it a bit better than the others.
[spectators cheering]
[commentator, in English] That's the Becker we've come to know and love.
["Boom Boom" playing]
[commentator 2] Lendl is really angry now.
[announcer] Quiet, please.
[commentator] Yes. The set is Becker's.
- [music ends] - [spectators cheering, applauding]
[commentator] Three match points, three championship points
for Boris Becker.
[Becker, in German] And then I realize, "Oh, shit."
It could be over soon. I also thought, "This here could be my last stroke as--
Or rather, my first stroke as number one."
What will happen if I make it? There is nothing left anymore.
[commentator, in English] That's it, Becker is the new champion.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[Becker, in German] And suddenly, I could fly!
I couldn't stand still. I had to move, I had to get out.
I didn't want to compose myself, because I've done that the entire time.
I ran outside and just kept running.
[Becker, in English] One of the security guys started running after me.
He said, "Listen, Boris. The whole world is waiting."
[commentator 3] Well, this is the walk
that Boris Becker had planned in his dreams.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
Well, I, uh, cannot say very much right now.
It's just unbelievable for me at this moment and...
Thank you all, and I'm sorry. Thank you.
[spectators cheering, applauding]
[Becker, in German] I was a little terrified of that moment.
Then in that moment,
it was as if a tremendous weight was suddenly lifted off of my shoulders.
It was a little bit like Wimbledon '85.
It will never again be how it was. That's what I felt in that moment.
Everything was free.
[inhales deeply]