Tennis: the German day at Wimbledon

July 7th is the “German Day” at Wimbledon. On this date, two tennis stars from Germany have won two titles on the sacred turf, and they will not be forgotten.

It all began with Boris Becker’s first victory at the Wimbledon Championships on July 7, 1985. The then only 17-year-old secured the entry in the history books after an incredible tournament.

At his second start in South West London, Becker showed a roller coaster tournament of extremes right from the start. At the latest, the third round match against the Swede Joakim Nyström set the trend for the redhead on the way to later winning the title.

After a rain break, he had three match points against him on the second day of the duel. It was only thanks to his mental strength and his irrepressible will, which made him an international pop star, that the young Leimener scored all the decisive points for himself. After four aces at the end, he won the fifth set 9: 7.

“It was the best grass game of my career. And it was still not enough,” said opponent Nyström later about this legendary game.

Boris Becker becomes the youngest champion of all time

For Becker, more mad games followed against Tim Mayotte, Henri Leconte and Anders Järryd. These matches also lasted at least four sets, Becker was temporarily faced with the task due to a ligament injury. But he made it to the finals – nobody had made it before him at this age.

The duel with South African Kevin Curren then wrote its own story. The world number eight had previously thrown the top stars Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors at the tournament, each required only three sets.

Against the clearly favored Curren teenager Becker then threw exactly those strengths into the balance that had made him win six times in the days before: powerful serves, a tireless mileage, spectacular pike jumps and a fighting spirit that set new standards in this sport.

Boris Becker: “A soul that is unshakable”

Becker managed to play his opponent over the course of more than four hours of playing. He robbed Curren of his most important weapon, the service game.

In the fifth and decisive set, Becker had already taken the service from his opponent and served to win the match at 6: 3, 6: 7, 7: 6, 5: 4 and 40:15. It should be the second match ball that made the 17-year-old whiz kid the youngest Grand Slam winner of all time.

A world career in tennis took its course. Boris himself saw special powers prevail: “An instinct that lets me do the right thing at the decisive moment. A heart that does not allow defeat, although I cannot always win. And a soul that is unshakable, even if the body sometimes is weak. “

Stich’s greatest victory, Becker’s worst defeat

Exactly six years later to the day, the omens were completely different. Becker had meanwhile matured into a world star, adding two more victories (1986 and 1989) and two finals (1988 and 1990) to his first title at Wimbledon.

Largely sovereign, the second seeded Becker made it into the final on Church Road for the sixth time in his career. Opponent was Michael Stich, who was one year younger than him and had not made it past the third round at Wimbledon – a blatant outsider.

But what a surprise: The first German-German final in Grand Slam history on July 7, 1991 was Becker’s greatest humiliation. In Becker’s living room, the man from Elmhorn demonstrated the strength of nerves that the opponent had previously always been awarded.

From the beginning, Stich showed great precision in his strokes, a highly concentrated and balanced demeanor and a clear line in the game idea.

Strategist wins over fighting machine

With emotional outbursts or spectacular pike jumps, with which Becker became King of Wimbledon, the challenger could not serve. In return, Stich convinced with merciless baseline play and a shot security that was too good for the popular opponent that day.

Even during the finals, Becker argued loudly with himself: “I’m playing a shit together. I play my worst match in the Wimbledon final.”

On this day the “strategist” triumphed over the “fighting machine”, as Becker put it. Stich won 6: 4, 7: 6 and 6: 4 and thus secured the first and only Grand Slam title of his career – at the same time the highlight of his career.

“I think I was just the better one that day. I actually only understood the importance of this victory after my career,” said the surprise champion once soberly.

Stich maintains the tradition to this day and spends a day on Church Road during the Wimbledon Championships.

For Becker, on the other hand, July 7th since this final is not only the day of the greatest triumph in his tennis life, but also the day of his most painful defeat.

He later said of them: “The first time I cried after a match.”

Mats-Yannick Roth