There are only a few moments that have burned themselves into the collective German sports memory like Boris Becker's match point for his first Wimbledon victory in 1985. The seesaw before the serve, the tripping steps on the way to the net, the cheering in the hollow back with outstretched arms .

A moment that made Boris Becker one of the biggest sports stars in the nation in one fell swoop.

The “17-year-old from Leimen” has long since become a “54-year-old from London”.

But Wimbledon 1985 still has an impact today.

And if you want to understand how the hero from back then could fall so low in the present, you will inevitably end up back at the famous scene from Center Court.

Pirmin Clossé

sports editor.

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With the conviction of Becker in the insolvency proceedings to a prison sentence of two and a half years, the sports fairy tale of yesteryear has finally become a drama.

A tale of the consequences of early fame and the cost of living in enduring publicity.

A story also about an athlete who hasn't matured enough to become a responsible adult off the pitch.

The process proved that Becker remained at least partly the inexperienced teenager from the summer almost 40 years ago.

His defense lawyer called him a "hopeless case" in money matters in London.

He painted the picture of a naïve man, overwhelmed by his turbulent private life, who blindly relied on his financial advisors.

However, the jury did not fully follow this line of reasoning, and therefore found him guilty of four out of 24 charges.

Judge Deborah Taylor announced the sentence on Friday afternoon.

Boris Becker now has the opportunity to appeal.

Nevertheless, he has to start his prison sentence now.

"I'm not your Boris"

The process was not able to give a conclusive answer to the question “How did it come to this?”.

But once again a motif was encountered that at least provided a starting point for an explanation.

Already in the TV documentary "The Player", which appeared five years ago, Boris Becker said a sentence that stands more than any other for the dilemma of a man that so many people think they know and so few really know: "I am not your Boris," he complained, speaking of a "misunderstanding" that arose from the successes in Wimbledon and for Germany in the Davis Cup and at the Olympic Games.

Of being taken over by the boulevard, by an entire nation.

"My name is Mr. Becker.

Anyone who has known me for a long time and very well can call me Boris," he said.

Anyone who has experienced Becker at tennis events around the world in recent years has regularly experienced how important this principle is to him.

Sometimes he harshly rebuked TV reporters who were too chummy.

Sometimes he ignored ball kids asking for autographs, obviously because they addressed him as "Boris".

That seemed arrogant at times.

Ultimately, however, such moments were an expression of his desire for respect.

Respect that was only given to him in this form in the cosmos of sport.

Because Boris Becker in the world of tennis and Boris Becker in the world of the boulevard, who has so often been degraded to a clown, have little in common.

In tennis, Becker is a person of respect.

Still.

Or: meanwhile again.

After the end of his active career in 1999, Becker finally distanced himself from his sport.

He hired himself out as a poker player, trying to build an image as a successful businessman.

Alone: ​​The attempt remained, as not only the process in London showed.

The triumphant return to the sport

When Becker became the coach of Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic in 2013, it was a return to the sport with effect.

First smiled at, then admired.

Because even if there are different stories about Becker's influence: the successes stand for themselves.

Three years with six Grand Slam titles and a total of 25 tournament victories for Djokovic had rehabilitated Becker in tennis.

What's more: he became one of the role models for the era of "super coaches", in which the top players brought in rows of well-known former coaches.

For Becker, the coaching job at Djokovic was followed by his ongoing commitment as a TV expert at the “Eurosport” channel.

Although he had been working in a similar capacity for the British BBC at Wimbledon for years, the Germans have now discovered the commentator Becker.

It says a lot about his image that many viewers were surprised at how well-founded, clever and eloquent Becker analyzed.

The same applies to his commitment as "Head of Men's Tennis" in the German Tennis Association between 2017 and 2020, about which in the end everyone involved made an exclusively positive judgment.

And so the tragedy in Becker's life remains.

In striving for recognition beyond tennis, he is thrown back a long way, through his own fault.

On the pitch, where the tireless fighter Becker defeated many a playfully superior opponent, his strengths often outshined his weaknesses.

In post-career life, it's the other way around.