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‘To Play Another Hour With Steffi Graf’ – Boris Becker Says He Received a Penalty to Practice With Andre Agassi’s Wife

Published 04/07/2023, 5:55 AM EDT

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Saying that Boris Becker has had a rocky post-retirement life would be an understatement. Becker was accused of filing for false bankruptcy and jailed for hiding his assets. After all the drama, his life became the perfect base for a documentary. ‘Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker’ is a docuseries created on the highly eventful life of the former German player. The series’ first episode covered his childhood life and how he would be punished for his bad behavior.

Boris Becker and Steffi Graf are two of the most famous German players in the history of the sport. It is no mystery that the two learned the sport in the same academy and started winning tournaments at the same time. The two were also close friends.

Boris Becker once received a unique punishment involving Steffi Graf

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In the first episode of the docuseries, the six-time Grand Slam champion recalled his childhood years as he grew up playing tennis. Becker stated that he idolized Bjorn Borg growing up. Watching his matches against John McEnroe and winning slams pushed him to practice hard. He remembered watching the 1980 Wimbledon final between Borg and McEnroe.

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McEnroe had a championship point in the fourth set, but Borg bounced back. Becker said that moment pushed him and everyone in the junior tournaments tried to play like Borg. But unlike Borg, he was not able to keep calm. He was not a well-behaved player and had frequent outbursts on the court. He would break rackets during his anger.

Jailed Tennis Star Boris Becker Ready With a Blueprint in His Bid to Recover $160 Million He Squandered

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We were just in awe of him winning. We would play our junior tournaments imagining we were Bjorn Borg. I wasn’t well-behaved on the court back then. I would get angry and then, you know, break my rackets,” Becker said as he talked about his idol.

He added that he received punishment for the outbursts. Coaches would tell him to play with Steffi Graf for an hour after already practicing for three hours.

“So my penalty was always, after my three hours of practice, to play another hour with Steffi Graf. You know the two best tennis players Germany ever produced came literally from ten miles apart.”

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Watch this story – Estranged Wife Labels 6x Grand Slam Champion a ‘Devil’ for Abandoning Their Son

The ups and downs of Becker’s life are still going on. For now, he will remain the man who was incarcerated for his crimes in England. However, Becker is working on improving his image. Will he be able to recover his reputation?

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Written by:

Ripunjay Gaba

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Ripunjay is a Tennis Writer at EssentiallySports. He completed his bachelor’s in Economics at Ambedkar University, New Delhi and worked as a freelance writer for a renowned sports publication, covering various social media personalities. Ripunjay is a diehard Roger Federer fan, whose dominance on the ATP Tour made him fall in love with tennis.
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Edited by:

Tony Thomas