Boris Becker: The Tortured Genius

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The tennis court to Boris Becker was his own research laboratory. He took his chances, outrageous gambles, and often flung himself like a gladiator.

There’s a touch of philosophy with every facet of life; more so, for sportspersons. The time, given the ups and downs of sport, they hang their boots is, sometimes, the best day too.

The genius in Boris Franz Becker knew this too well. The only way he’d have changed the equation was by not growing up. Rather, he’d have grown younger. Like, what he was at age 17, or 18—a dynamite on the tennis court. This is, however, not part of nature, for anyone.

If you’ve to command nature, you must first obey its nurture. Becker, for one, always obeyed nature. The outcome was obvious. Not that he was unable to command his own mind; far from it.

To highlight a brace of paradigms:

When most people thought that Becker had won his last major title at the Australian Open in 1991, he came back from the dumps at Wimbledon 1995. He knocked the daylights out of Andre Agassi, who was in rip-roaring form, in the semi-finals. True, he lost the final to Pete Sampras, but, in his own heart, Becker sure felt he was back. Came the Australian Open 1996, Becker beat Michael Chang in the final. All of a sudden, Becker felt he was young again. Like how he was earlier; a kid. That was the magic of it all. Also, when he was supposed to be too old, at 29, he called it ‘quits.’ Next, he’s in command of his country’s Davis Cup squad. Germany could not have asked for a better guy to call the shots, as it were.



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