Boris Becker reminisced about his old sporting days and talked about his former rivals – including his relationship with them today.
Boris Becker is not only a tennis icon in Germany. The now 56-year-old, who won Wimbledon at the age of 17, fought spectacular duels with his opponents over the years. Especially with the US American John McEnroe. Becker has now spoken about his relationship with his former rival.
“I wouldn’t have signed up 20 years ago that it would be possible for Becker and McEnroe to be such close friends – but they are,” said the six-time Grand Slam winner in “Das Gelbe vom Ball – der Eurosport Tennis-Podcast.”
“We literally fought each other on the tennis court “
In addition, Becker admitted that the rivalry between him and McEnroe was not only sporting, but also verbal: “We had very rough language on the court and I think we are both glad that there were no microphones on the court at the time. That wouldn’t have been appropriate for young people. “
Nowadays, many outbursts by tennis pros and their emotional words often end up directly on social media channels and go viral. Often to the annoyance of the pros. Things were different in the 80s and 90s.
There were ten matches between Becker and McEnroe, with the German coming out on top eight times. He also believes that the duels between him and the now 64-year-old were so well received by fans because they were dominated by their passion for the sport.
“We literally fought each other on the tennis court, with all the possibilities you have. That’s why we had this huge fan base at our matches, because everyone knew they were playing for everything, they weren’t giving each other anything and that’s what made them special,” continues Becker, who still has fond memories of his active days.
