Boris Becker cleans up in the podcast with the Wimbledon myth

July 7, 1985 was probably the most important day in the life of tennis athlete Boris Becker: when he was just 17, he won the tennis tournament from Wimbledon – and is still the youngest player in the history of the tournament. And for the young Germans, his life changed suddenly. “If I had known that, I would have served more double errors,” jokes Becker in an interview with Johannes B. Kerner.

Together, the two speaks in the “The Fifth Set” broadcast in the 2020 podcast about the sporty career of the Leimener – and of course not avoid Wimbledon. Becker takes the opportunity to clean up with a myth: for most Germans, the young tennis professional entered the stage of the tennis world surprisingly.

Boris Becker tells the story a little more differentiated. In fact, his victory didn’t come so surprising. Because at the Australian Open, he had reached the quarter -finals six months earlier and hit number 6 in the world rankings. One month before Wimbledon, the 17-year-old also won the first tournament of his career in the Queens Club in London.

At that time he beat South African Johan Kriek in two sets in the final. He was impressed by the performance of the German and dared to predict: “If little Becker plays in Wimbledon as much as it is today, he will win the tournament.”

In Germany, however, hardly anyone took notice – tennis was not the order of the day before July 1985. When Becker competed in Wimbledon, he had already moved to 20th place in the world rankings. “I would be set today,” he says in the podcast.

Then Becker tells the way to the final again. How he kinked against Tim Mayotte in the round of 16 and was already on the way to the net to give up. And how his supervisors Ion Tyriac and Günther Bosch could just prevent this. Becker describes what went through his head against Kevin Curren in his match balls in the final and that after the victory it became clear that something had changed now.

Becker reveals his greatest defeat, was not that against Michael Stich in the Wimbledon final in 1991. “I completely underestimated him. I never thought that he could hit me,” he recalls the match. However, the final defeat against his permanent rival Stefan Edberg hurts him much more. It was also about first place in the world rankings.

Kerner illustrates how Groß Boris Becker’s sporting success and his reputation are: Both sat in a restaurant in Berlin a few years ago when an American stepped deeply at the table, showered Becker with praise hymns and described him as inspiration. It was Hollywood star Matt Damon.

At the time, Kerner wanted to know whether this would happen to him more often from Becker. His answer: “Actually every day. Actually all over the world. Except in Germany.” Which is pretty sad – and no good light throws on Germans.

The podcast “Boris Becker – The Fifth Set” is available at Amazon Music.