Boris Franz Becker (born 22 November 1967, in Leimen, West Germany) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Since he retired from the professional tour, media work and his personal life have kept him in the headlines.

Tennis career

Becker is the only son of the architect who built the tennis centre (Blau-Weiss Tennisklub) in Leimen, where Boris learned the game. Boris turned professional in 1984 and won his first professional doubles title that year in Munich.

As a West German teenager, Becker took the sports world by storm in 1985. He won his first top-level singles title in June at Queen's Club and then, two weeks later on 7 July, became the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets. At the time, he was the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 7 months (a record later broken by Michael Chang in 1989, who won the French Open when he was 17 years, 3 months). Two months after his triumph, Becker became the youngest winner of the Cincinnati Masters.

In 1986, Becker successfully defended his Wimbledon title, defeating the then-World No. 1 Ivan Lendl in straight sets in the final.

Becker unexpectedly lost in the second round of Wimbledon in 1987. In the Davis Cup that year, Becker and John McEnroe played one of the longest matches in tennis history. Becker won 4–6, 15–13, 8–10, 6–2, 6–2 (at that time, there were no tiebreaks in the Davis Cup). The match lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes.

Becker was back in the Wimbledon final in 1988, where he lost in four sets to Stefan Edberg in a match that marked the start of one of Wimbledon's great rivalries. Becker also helped West Germany win its first Davis Cup in 1988. He won the year-end Masters title in New York, defeating five-time champion Lendl in the final 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6.

1989 was possibly the pinnacle of Becker's career. After losing to Edberg in French Open semi-finals, he defeated Edberg in straight sets in the Wimbledon final, and then beat Lendl in the final of the US Open. He also helped West Germany retain the Davis Cup, winning a long match in the semi-final round against Andre Agassi 6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4. The World No. 1 ranking, however, still eluded him.

In 1990, Becker met Edberg for the third consecutive year in the Wimbledon final, losing a long five-set match. He also failed to defend his US Open title, losing to Agassi in the semi-finals.

Becker reached the final of the Australian Open for the first time in his career in 1991, where he defeated Lendl to claim the World No. 1 ranking. Another loss to Agassi in the French Open semi-finals kept him from winning the first two Grand Slam tournaments of the year. He was ranked No. 1 for twelve weeks during 1991, though he never managed to finish a year ranked as the World's No. 1 player.