The Player

Description

The no-holds-barred autobiography of a sporting genius Boris Becker shot to fame in 1985 when at seventeen years old, he became the youngest player ever to win the men's final at Wimbledon. He went on to win two more Wimbledon titles, and a total of forty-nine singles and fifteen doubles crowns, making him one of the greatest players of the twentieth century. But his life off the court has always attracted as much attention as his triumphs on it.Now, in this remarkably candid and thought-provoking autobiography, Boris Becker tells the real story behind the headlines. He speaks of the seconds before the serve that made him the youngest Wimbledon winner of all time, and of the minutes after being sentenced as a tax evader. He talks about his marriage, his illegitimate daughter, and his painful divorce. He reveals his emotions at the end of his tennis career, and his battles with pills and alcohol. He also shares his memories of the good times, the championship wins, the make-or-break matches, and the highs and lows of life on the international circuit.Boris Becker has written this autobiography not just for his fans but also for his children, that they may one day read the true account of their father's remarkable, and often controversial, life.

Born in Leimen, West Germany, in 1967, Boris Becker burst onto the international tennis scene in 1985 when, as an unknown 17-year-old, he rewrote the record books by beating Kevin Curren and winning the men's final at Wimbledon. Not only was he the youngest player ever to win the title, he was also the first unseeded player and the first German. His exuberant, athletic style - hurling himself all over the court and making seemingly impossible shots - immediately endeared him to millions. On the back of his enormously powerful serve, he took the world of tennis by storm and by 1991 he was the world's number one. His extraordinary career includes three Wimbledon men's singles titles (he reached the final seven times in ten years) among a total of 49 singles and 15 doubles crowns, and he became the second youngest player (after Bjorn Borg) to be inducted into tennis's Hall of Fame. Retiring from the pro-tennis scene in 1999, Becker refused to fade away - his name simply moved from the back pages of newspapers to the front. After losing his last match at Wimbledon to Pat Rafter, he set out on a night of binge drinking which culminated in the infamous Nobu broom cupboard incident. As a result, his high-profile marriage to model Barbara Feltus broke up in an equally high-profile divorce. He was back in court again soon afterwards with tax problems.