In a recent essay published in “Zeit Magazine”, former professional tennis player Andrea Petković has offered a revealing glimpse into a period of intense admiration for Boris Becker, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Becker’s historic first Wimbledon victory.
Petković, reflecting on her own career aspirations, described a desire to emulate Steffi Graf’s perceived composure and emotional control on the court. However, her fascination with Becker took a different form, consuming herself with his public image and playing style. She recounted an almost obsessive engagement with Becker’s matches, describing them as evocative of “Greek tragedies” with the feeling that “each match could potentially be the end.
A particularly memorable encounter occurred when Petković watched a Becker match against Jim Courier, witnessing Becker’s remarkable defense of multiple match points. The intensity of the moment proved overwhelming, forcing her to temporarily leave the room to regain composure before resuming the viewing. This experience, Petković confessed, led her to adopt a similarly driven, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, approach to her own matches, mirroring the well-documented struggles and downturns in Becker’s later career.
Petković acknowledged that Boris Becker may not have always possessed the complete technical skillset of other top players, but highlighted what she believed to be his defining quality: unwavering fearlessness. She praised Becker’s confidence in entering London with the expectation of victory, coupled with his audaciously playful attitude towards his environment – a characteristic that resonated positively with the English audience.