Boris Becker Biography

Birth Name : Boris Franz Becker

Born On: 22 November, 1967

Born In: Liemen, Germany

Nationality: German

Career: Tennis Player

Boris Franz Becker was born on November 22, 1967 in Leimen, West Germany, the only son in the family of an architect. His father built the tennis center (Blau-Weiss Tennisklub), where young Becker was usually playing against young Steffi Graf in training matches.

Becker won his first professional doubles title in Munich in 1984, the same year he turned professional. The next year turned out to be one of the biggest in his life. After winning his first top-level singles title in June, at Queen's Club, he became the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title (July 1985). At the age of 17 years and 7 months, he also became the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion. The record was later broken by Michael Chang, who won the French Open at 17 years, 3 months.

At the age of 31 Becker retired from professional tennis. In 1993, he married Barbara Feltus, who was the daughter of an African-American serviceman and a white German lady. The celebrity couple appeared naked on the cover of "Stern" magazine before their marriage (the photo was made by her father). They married on December 17, 1993, and had their first son, Noah, born on January 18, 1994, and their second son Elias, born on September 4, 1999. Becker gained respect for his stance against racism. But in 2000, his wife took both sons to Florida and filed a petition in Miami court, ignoring their prenuptial agreement, that entitled her to a single payoff of $2,500,000. She got 14,400,000 and the custody of both sons, and her lawyer was paid for by Becker.

In 2003, Becker was inducted in the Tennis' Hall of Fame. His gross income amounted to $25,080,956 for Tennis that landed on the third spot for sport career earnings. Becker was able to overcome the challenges that came in his life. In 2004, he released an autobiography entitled "Boris Becker - The Player: The Autobiography." He is also working as Winbledon Commentator for BBC and team captain of a British Sports Quiz show.