Players: Boris Becker and Pete Sampras
- Boris Becker. The German who became the heartthrob of Wimbledon
Boris Becker was born in 1967 in Lehmen, Germany. In 1985, at the age of 17, he became the youngest champion in Wimbledon history, defeating Kevin Curren in the final (6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-4). He would go on to win three titles at the All England Club. His powerful serve, which he often followed at the net, earned him the nickname “Boom Boom”.
The German was known for his spectacular diving volleys, as well as his dramatic play and emotional outbursts. Becker’s peak was definitely from 1989 to 1991. During that period, he won three Grand Slam titles and eventually became world No. 1 on 28 January 1991 after defeating Ivan Lendl (1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4) to win his first Australian Open.
Becker then struggled in the following years, and in 1993 he even fell out of the Top 10 for the first time in eight seasons. In 1994, she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon and won the title in Stockholm, defeating three of the world’s best players and ending the year as world No. 3.
In 1995, the German finished runner-up to Pete Sampras at the All England Club (6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2) and reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, and in 1996 he won his sixth Grand Slam crown in Melbourne, defeating Michael Chang 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. in the final. 6-4). After his fourth win at Queen’s Club in June (defeating Stefan Edberg 6-4, 7-6 (3)), a wrist injury kept him out of the circuit until the off-season.
- Pete Sampras. The dominant American in men’s tennis in the 1990s
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1971, Pete Sampras dominated the game in the 1990s. After his first Grand Slam title at the 1990 US Open (where he defeated his rival Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the final to become the youngest champion of all time), Sampras would become world No. 1 in April 1993.
He then finished the next three seasons (1993-1995) as the best player in the world. The American’s service volley game was particularly lethal on the grass at the All England Club, where he won three straight titles between 1993 and 1995, winning 25 straight matches before Richard Krajicek defeated him in the 1996 quarterfinals (7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Sampras won the US Open four times (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996) and the Australian Open once (1994). In addition, the American won the season-ending Masters Cup twice (1991, 1994) and amassed a career total of 41 titles, including seven Grand Slams and six Masters 1000s.
Sampras could easily compete to be the greatest of all time if it weren’t for his obvious weakness on clay. His best performance at Roland Garros was in the semifinals in 1996 (lost to Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7–6(4), 6–0, 6–2), and he had only won one tournament on red clay.
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
The Stuttgart Indoor Open was first established in 1979 as part of the Grand Prix circuit. The tournament was off the calendar from 1981 to 1989 and returned in 1990 as a Championship Series event held in February. In 1996, the Stuttgart Open replaced Essen in the Masters 1000 category and attracted 29 of the world’s top 30 players.
Facts: Becker goes on to win in five sets
The 1996 Stuttgart Open final was a repeat of the 1995 Wimbledon final, where world No. 1 Sampras faced local favorite Becker. While the German had just returned from a wrist injury, the American was at the end of an intense season.
In May, his longtime trainer Tim Gullickson died after suffering from brain cancer. A few weeks later, Sampras had his best run at Roland Garros, falling short of the title only in the semifinals, where he lost to Kafelnikov. After losing to Krajicek for the first time in five years at Wimbledon, he salvaged his season by winning the US Open, defeating Michael Chang (6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3)) in the final.
Although 29 of the world’s top 30 players took part in the event, both players reached the final without dropping a set. In fact, Becker’s serve was so sharp that week that he breezed through his first three rounds without a single break point. The German defeated the world No.1 for the first time since the 1994 Masters Cup in the five-set service-volley master’s, after losing four in a row. With the support of the crowd, the German missed 29 aces, but in the end he earned only two points more than his opponent (139 to 137).
“Becker is the best indoor soccer player I’ve ever played,” Sampras said in tribute to his rival. “He is to Germany what Michael Jordan is to the United States. There is only one king in Germany, and his name is Boris.”
Becker talked about how he was determined to win the final set after the match. “My muscles started hurting in the fifth set, but I gritted my teeth and hung on.”
What next? A few weeks later, Sampras gets his revenge on Becker
Sampras and Becker will meet again in a few weeks in Hanover, Germany, during the season-ending ATP Masters Cup. The German would win again in the quarterfinals (7-6 (10), 7-6 (4)), but in the final, Sampras would defeat him in one of the greatest matches in tennis history (3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (11), 6-4.
The 1996 Stuttgart Open would be Becker’s last Masters 1000 title. In December, the youngest ever Wimbledon champion will claim his final Grand Slam title in Munich, defeating Goran Ivanisevic (6-3, 6-4, 6-4) in the final. The German would finish his career with a 7-12 win-loss record against Sampras.
Sampras would remain world No. 1 until the end of 1998, setting a record six consecutive years at the top of the ATP rankings. He would retire from his 14th Grand Slam (then the all-time record in men’s tennis) at the 2003 US Open, defeating his rival Agassi in the final (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4).
