How was Boris Becker generally perceived?

[aceroberts13]

I watched Legends of Wimbldone: Pete Sampras last night and I was a little surprised by how frank Boris was when speaking on how much better Sampras was than him. I thought it took a lot of humility to be able to admit those things. I never really knew anything about him other than seeing him play in replays so I was wondering if he was one of the classier guys to ever play or was that out of the ordinary for him to say?

[eric draven]

Originally Posted by aceroberts13

I watched Legends of Wimbldone: Pete Sampras last night and I was a little surprised by how frank Boris was when speaking on how much better Sampras was than him. I thought it took a lot of humility to be able to admit those things. I never really knew anything about him other than seeing him play in replays so I was wondering if he was one of the classier guys to ever play or was that out of the ordinary for him to say?

Becker was an interesting person when he was playing. He won Wimbledon at such a young age that it was a classic case of too much too soon. He seemed to fall into the trappings of fame and was not highly regarded by some of the top players because of his perceived gamesmanship (most notably McEnroe and Agassi had issues with him). But his battles with Edberg at Wimbledon created a great rivalry and as he aged he seemed to mature and embrace his place in the game. He's a player that I believe would have won more grand slams had he been able to focus more on his career but it's still an outstanding career.

[robow7]

He was sure loved and adored by his homeland, so much to his fellow countryman Michael Stich's chagrin. I always felt he considered himself an intellectual and more than a dumb jock (and he may be?), but I know in Agassi's book, he makes a point that he was always trying to use his size to intimidate and in fact was a dumb jock. Ha He was quite stubborn according to Tiriac who claimed he could never get him to attack enough on clay or slower surfaces but instead wanted to stay back and prove that he could outgrind the grinders. In the end, I always liked Boom Boom and his play.

[Limpinhitter]

Boris Becker was somewhat of an underachiever. When he won back to back Wimbledons beginning at age 17, he was expected to dominate the men's tour for years to come. Rod Laver said that he thought Becker had the best chance of anyone since himself to win a Grand Slam. Lendl, Edberg, Sampras and, to some extent, Agassi didn't let any of that happen.

Having said that, Becker has said more than once that he thought Sampras was the best player of all time, which may be true. But, IMO, there's very little in terms of talent and shotmaking ability that Sampras had over Becker. If anything, I would say that Sampras was just mentally tougher on big occasions than Becker.

[robow7]

Sampras stated in his book that he felt he was just a touch bit better at everything than Becker was...... movement, serve, volley, and consistancy of strokes.

[sandy mayer]

Originally Posted by robow7

Sampras stated in his book that he felt he was just a touch bit better at everything than Becker was...... movement, serve, volley, and consistancy of strokes.

Completely agree.

[Tar Heel Tennis]

You might read Hard Courts by John Feinstein. It chronicles the 1990 professional tennis season and features personal insights into all of the major players of that time - including Becker.

I'm in the middle of the book right now...an enjoyable read

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by robow7

Sampras stated in his book that he felt he was just a touch bit better at everything than Becker was...... movement, serve, volley, and consistancy of strokes.

I give Becker the edge on backhand, and on the dive-n-roll.

[kiki]

The guy took Pete Sampras the best of him and was his major threat on indoors , where he rates as one of the greatest ever , and grass.

had too much of everything: shots,mind,power.But, sometimes, too much makes for too little...

[ramos77]

He was Federers childhood idol (along with Edberg)

He was mine as well. I've got some nice pics of him in some old photos, will post up one day.

[abmk]

Originally Posted by robow7

Sampras stated in his book that he felt he was just a touch bit better at everything than Becker was...... movement, serve, volley, and consistancy of strokes.

yes, except the backhand IMO ....becker's was better ...

[theagassiman]

Some of his net approaches wouldnt cut it today and his lateral movement was never that great.

But this isn't really about his game

[SystemicAnomaly]

Nothing wrong with this lateral movement:

[Herdsman76]

Originally Posted by Tar Heel Tennis

You might read Hard Courts by John Feinstein. It chronicles the 1990 professional tennis season and features personal insights into all of the major players of that time - including Becker.

I'm in the middle of the book right now...an enjoyable read

I love that book. I have one of the first hardcovers which was a gift from my boss...

H76

[helloworld]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

Nothing wrong with this lateral movement:

Boris Becker was a BEAST. He was like Safin, not fully focused in his entire career. Had he focused on tennis more, he might have been among the GOAT contenders already!!

[eric draven]

Originally Posted by kiki

The guy took Pete Sampras the best of him and was his major threat on indoors , where he rates as one of the greatest ever , and grass.

had too much of everything: shots,mind,power.But, sometimes, too much makes for too little...

Uh... what?

[droliver]

Becker was kind of viewed as a prototype for the changing of the guard from Mac, Connors, and Lendl after he broke through to win Wimbledon in 1985. While there were some big servers around (Curren, Tanner, Dent), no one had really put together those kind of skills together with an athlete like Becker. This was the harbinger of 1990's attacking/power tennis

Watching Becker at the time as a teenager blitz the field, it felt exactly like when you later watched Sampras get beat down by Hewitt & Safin in US Open finals. You just felt that everything had changed suddenly in what it was going to take to be the best player going forward. Hewitt's win in 2001 in particular to me was the sign of things to come in terms of where the tour was going in terms of footspeed and defense. Hewitt vs. Nalbandian in the 2002 Wimbledon is kind of the 1st grand slam title match for 2 players with the modern game IMO.

[Devilito]

He was an amazing player but of course he’s going to be humble comparing himself to Petros. It’s going to be kinda rough for anyone when you’re matching yourself up against the GOAT.

[Winners or Errors]

Originally Posted by droliver

Becker was kind of viewed as a prototype for the changing of the guard from Mac, Connors, and Lendl after he broke through to win Wimbledon in 1985. While there were some big servers around (Curren, Tanner, Dent), no one had really put together those kind of skills together with an athlete like Becker. This was the harbinger of 1990's attacking/power tennis

Watching Becker at the time as a teenager blitz the field, it felt exactly like when you later watched Sampras get beat down by Hewitt & Safin in US Open finals. You just felt that everything had changed suddenly in what it was going to take to be the best player going forward. Hewitt's win in 2001 in particular to me was the sign of things to come in terms of where the tour was going in terms of footspeed and defense. Hewitt vs. Nalbandian in the 2002 Wimbledon is kind of the 1st grand slam title match for 2 players with the modern game IMO.

Mac and Connors, maybe, but Lendl was still quite early in his run as the world's best clay-, hard-, carpet/indoor-court player at the time. I see young Becker as a talented rival to Lendl, but not a superior.

[jaggy]

When he beat Cash at Wimbly they got into a debate at the net that seemed pretty heated