Boris Becker has once again honored Hochheim.

Since the German tennis idol gave his name and expertise to the gigantic tennis project of Wiesbaden real estate entrepreneur Khaled Ezzedine, there has been a connection between the Leimener and the wine town on the Main.

After the three-time Wimbledon winner was present at the presentation of the Boris Becker Academy and then at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction work, he officially opened the first tennis hall on Monday, in which he symbolically cut a net.

Peter Hess

Sports editor.

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A somewhat strange act, because games have been going on in this building with eight seats, function rooms and a fitness studio since February.

"The circumstances were that the opening is only now taking place," said Ezzedine.

His huge undertaking, the centerpiece of which is said to be the largest indoor tennis complex in Europe, had stalled for various reasons.

An article in the Wiesbadener Kurier a few weeks ago questioned whether it could even be implemented.

Since then, Ezzedine has tried to dispel the doubts.

In a full-page interview in Wiesbadener Kurier, he explained the difficulties that had led to the delays and that everyone had been cleared of the way.

"We bought two more plots, the project will be even bigger," he said on Monday.

Now 21 instead of the planned 18 open-air spaces are to be built and a total of 23 indoor spaces in a total of three connected huge halls.

Fitness studios, a hotel, a boarding house for tennis students, a Boris Becker Museum and more are still part of his plan.

Everything should be finished by 2024.

300 children and young people are already training

The project got off to a “very promising start”, says Ezzedine. Over 300 children and young people are already training in Hochheim, 15 are already living here in apartments provided by Ezzedine, and the boarding school with 270 places is still being built. He assumes that it will be booked up quickly. “There is a long waiting list, my parents have yelled at me as to why Germany is building so slowly,” says the 51-year-old son of Lebanese parents with whom he came to Germany at the end of the 1960s.

Obviously there is a huge market in Europe for the professional training of tennis children.

Ezzedine knows this, because he was one of the clientele himself, and sent his daughter Sophie-Louise and his son Hani-Luke to an academy in Nice for years.

The fact that flying to his children became too stressful for him at some point was one of the reasons that he developed the idea of ​​founding his own academy and building it himself.

As a real estate entrepreneur, it was precisely this thought that appealed to him.

Becker not as a source of ideas

What was missing was a figurehead, a draft horse, a promoter: Ezzedine convinced Boris Becker, and the project has received a lot of attention ever since.

But even the tennis icon was unable to prevent the Academy from falling silent in Corona times and progressing in slow motion.

Since the Boris Becker Academy was presented, people from Leimen have been asked how much Boris Becker is in the Academy. His most striking answer: "If it says Boris Becker, Boris Becker has to be inside." His statements that he will convey his understanding of his sport to the tennis teachers at the Academy so that they can pass this on to the students are more tangible. He was also involved in the design of the halls, for example in the selection of the covering.

But less in the role of the idea generator.

Ezzedine thinks about the concepts and introduces them to Becker, who then gives his opinion.

How often does he appear on the layout in Hochheim?

"I don't want to give a number, but it will be regular," said Becker.

In any case, when it opened, he entered the hall that had been in operation since February for the first time, but it can be more frequent.

That suggested the program of the small opening ceremony.

Six of the academy's best tennis kids were allowed to audition, and Becker commented on their efforts and gave tips for improvement.

However, his health forbids him to pick up the bat himself.

“Is my mere presence enough, whether I can help with the laying on of hands?” Becker asked self-deprecatingly.

The idol has its value for the Academy anyway.

The fact that a tennis company engages an ambassador who is also the ambassador of the German Tennis Association and the whole sport has a variety of effects.

For example, the central national trainer training measures of the German Tennis Association will take place in Hochheim over the next five years.

1200 tennis instructors come together each time.