It was the month of June, the year 1985, monsoon had arrived in Mumbai and the schools had just re-opened after the summer vacations. Going to the new class ( Class VII it was for me ) was very exciting with fresh new books, brown papered and labelled, getting together with friends, et al. The weather was a bit stormy and wet but cool to the core. 7200 kms away in London a different form of storm was engulfing the tennis courts at Wimbledon. And the storm was there to stay.
The Young Sensation
A 17 year old, strongly built, fearless , belligerent German named Boris Becker was the name of the storm which had literally stirred that year’s Grand Slam Tennis Tournament at the historical Grass Courts of Wimbledon. His thundering serve, booming returns and quick silver feet were tailor made for Wimbledon. The young boy had all the skill and talent to make it big in tennis and before sports and tennis lovers , players and critics could even realise what had hit them, Boris Becker had won the prestigious Wimbledon Championship in his debut year. He had rewritten the record books.
Boris Becker became the youngest player to win the Wimbledon ( still unbroken record ) and the first German to do so. . However the critics were skeptical ( though I was not ), they wanted to see how Boris performed thereafter. The critics were answered in some fabulous fashion. Boris Becker became a threat to the top players on the circuit and history was repeated a year later, when Boris Becker defeated the great Ivan Lendl to claim his second consecutive Wimbledon Title. Just 18, it was a phenomenal start to the Tennis career of the tough German.
The Inspirational Boris
Boris truly inspired me and there is no denying that his fierce and competitive spirit did rub on to me as well. I wanted to be like Boris, the young achiever, the aggressive go getter and therefore there was always an extra effort in whatever I did at school and even beyond. Just wanting to compete fiercely was a motto. I started following Boris’ career with deep interest.
The Heart break & Success
In 1987, his third year at Wimbledon, Boris the defending Champion was expected to win again and make a hat trick of victories. The tournament had begun and in those days only the semi finals and finals were telecast live. For the rest of the rounds the newspapers used to be the source of information. While leaving for school on that day, I just happened to check the sports page of The Times of India ( I only read the sports page at that time ). The news broke my heart. Boris Becker had lost to Peter Doohan in the second round . I prayed for it to be a fake news. But it was true, Boris was defeated.
I was extremely pained and suffered for a few days. The loss was difficult to bear. Such an impact Boris Becker had made on my life. I hated losing and so did Boris. But life goes on and Boris Becker despite the loss steadily began improving as a tennis player. He lost the 1988 Final to his arch rival Stefan Edberg, but then won Wimbledon for the third time in 1989 and that year won the US Open too and shortly after clinched the World no. 1 position. All of 21 Boris Becker was a multiple Grand Slam Champion and destined for bigger things.
The Downturn
The fast unfolding script of Boris started to veer off the pitch a bit as we moved into the 90s. Still very young Boris got into distracting problems in his personal life. A tax evasion dispute with the German authorities made things even more difficult. Boris post 1989 could not win Wimbledon again and added only two more Grand Slams to his kitty. A player as remarkable as Boris and as talented as him was destined for something much much bigger.
After leaving professional Tennis, Boris remained in the news for good and bad reasons both. He coached Novak Djokovic, the great Champion for 3 years and surely played a big role in his ascent to the top of the Tennis world. But the bad news was not far away either. Boris was declared Bankrupt in 2017 and in April 2022 was tried and sentenced by a UK court to a jail term under the Insolvency Act.
The Big Lesson
The Champion hopefully will rise from these depths and resurrect his life. For me I just remember the young sensation of 1985, the Boris Becker of yore, the fighter, the great serve and volleyer, the mighty athlete and to top it all, my inspiration.
To be able to handle success is more important than success itself, is a lesson learnt from Boris Becker’s unprecedented life.