Boris Becker won Wimbledon at 17 and treated its Centre Court as his own. So when he talks about the player who finally took it from him, it is worth listening. In this clip from his 2019 London Real interview, Brian Rose asks him about Pete Sampras: the match that told Becker his time was up, and why he still rates Sampras as the best of his generation.
It is a candid look at what it feels like for a champion to recognise his successor, and at how Becker thinks about the endless “greatest of all time” debate.
▶ Watch the full episode: Boris Becker – Play To Win: How I Reached the Wimbledon Hall of Fame
The keys to the living room
Becker explains that for most of his career, when he was fit and properly prepared for Wimbledon, he believed nobody could beat him on his best day. Sampras changed that. Becker remembers going into their Wimbledon meeting in good form, having just beaten Andre Agassi, and still being beaten clearly.
He had played Sampras before and knew he was good, but he did not expect him to do it on Centre Court, the place Becker calls his living room. His response afterwards became famous. As he tells it, “I’ve given Pete the keys to my living room”, and from then on the court belonged to the younger man.
Playing to win, not to take part
Brian suggests that it must be hard for a fierce competitor to admit something like that. For Becker it was simply logical. He played because he loved competition, and if someone could beat him on both their best days, there was no point carrying on at Wimbledon. “I don’t play to look good. I play to win,” he says.
He frames it as handing over a throne: a young king arrives, and if he beats you fairly, you give him the key and wish him well. He calls Sampras a great successor.
Why the serve made Sampras so hard to beat
Asked to describe Sampras at his peak, Becker goes straight to the serve. It is the only shot a player fully controls, he says, and in his opinion Sampras had the best one of all time. He could go weeks without losing his serve, winning sets 7-6, 6-4 without his opponents ever getting near it.
That, Becker explains, puts constant pressure on the other player. If you cannot get into rallies on his serve, every one of your own service games becomes a battle, and once you drop one you are chasing him for the rest of the set.
Off the court, Sampras was the opposite of the showman. Becker describes him as quiet, humble and subdued, a player who “let his racket do the talking” and kept his interviews short. The two became friends, and Becker says he has great respect for him.
The greatest of all time?
Becker will not give a simple answer. In his own era, Sampras was the best. But he also points to Roger Federer’s 20 majors, won over many years against changing rivals, and says you cannot argue with that.
He adds some often forgotten context. In earlier decades more players shared the Grand Slam titles, not every top player went to the Australian Open, and at one time three of the four majors were played on grass. Grass was Becker’s best surface, and he is sure he would have won more than six majors in that era. The value of a Grand Slam, he concludes, shifts with every generation.
Who is Boris Becker?
Boris Becker is a German former world number one. In 1985, aged 17, he became the youngest man to win the Wimbledon singles title, and he went on to win six Grand Slam singles titles, including three at Wimbledon, plus Olympic gold in doubles in 1992. He later coached Novak Djokovic and has worked as a tennis commentator, including for the BBC at Wimbledon.
This clip comes from his 2019 London Real episode, Play To Win: How I Reached the Wimbledon Hall of Fame, where he looks back on his career and his biggest rivals with Brian Rose.
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Transcript
Transcript: Boris Becker – Pete Sampras And The Keys To Wimbledon
0:00 Brian Rose: Pete Sampras. He came as you were coming to the end of your career. What did you see in him? You had a famous match with him where you kind of decided that, OK, maybe this is the guy that’s going to be the new guy, maybe the same way that McEnroe passed things on to you. What did you see in Pete? And how did you know in yourself that maybe it was time? In the moment, that’s a difficult thing to feel.
0:26 Boris Becker: Yeah. When I was playing Wimbledon and I trained the right way and I was healthy, I always felt that on my best day, nobody could beat me. When Pete came around, that changed. I played him in the final and I thought I was in great form. I’d just beaten Agassi in the semi-final. I was in my late 20s, that’s true, but I was still in good shape. And then he just beat me in straight sets without a shadow of a doubt.
0:54 Boris Becker: I’d played him before and I knew he was good, but I didn’t think he would bring it on Wimbledon Centre Court, which I would call my living room. And I made this statement that I’ve given Pete the keys to my living room, so he owns it now. And for me, that was the reason why I wanted to retire, because I played because I loved the competition and I played to win. And I felt that when I was playing Pete, there was somebody who, on his best day and on my best day, on Wimbledon Centre Court, would beat me. And that’s something I didn’t like.
1:28 Brian Rose: But it’s very hard as a fierce competitor to say something like that.
1:32 Boris Becker: But for me it’s very logical, isn’t it?
1:34 Boris Becker: I play to win. I don’t play to be part of it. I don’t play to look good. I play to win. And if I feel that in my house, where I was dominating for ten years, a young king is coming and wants to take away the throne, then here’s the key. You’d better beat me. You’d better be at your best, because otherwise I’ll beat you. But he’d done that. And then I thought: you’re a great successor. Well done.
2:02 Brian Rose: Tell me about Pete. He was quite a machine there for a while, right?
2:05 Boris Becker: Well, the question always has to be asked: who was the best ever in tennis? And naturally Federer comes to mind, and Nadal and Djokovic. I never played these guys, but I played McEnroe and Lendl and Wilander, and Sampras and Agassi. And for me, in that generation, Pete Sampras was the best, because on his good day you couldn’t touch him. The serve, the physicality, just the all-court skills.
2:33 Boris Becker: Tennis always starts with the serve. The serve is the only shot that you control, not your opponent. He had the best serve of all time, in my opinion, because he wouldn’t lose his serve in a match. He wouldn’t lose it in weeks. He would win 7-6, 6-4 and you couldn’t touch his serve. And that’s how you start the game. People rally a lot now, but if you can’t get into a rally, if you’re always losing quickly on your opponent’s serve, how can you keep up the pressure of holding your own serve?
3:04 Boris Becker: So technically speaking, it was always very difficult to play him, because you were always under pressure on your own serve. You lose your serve, he’d win the first set 6-3, and then you’re running behind him. And he was a quiet man. He kept to himself. Agassi was the opposite. But Pete was very quiet, very humble, very subdued. He let his racket do the talking. In interviews it was always very short answers, because he didn’t want to talk about it. He’d say: I just won the match, so what do you need me to answer? I’m the winner.
3:43 Boris Becker: I became friends with Pete. He obviously lives in California, so we don’t see each other much, but I have great respect for him.
3:51 Brian Rose: Greatest of all time?
3:53 Boris Becker: In my era, he was. You have to mention Roger Federer, winner of 20 majors. You can’t criticise that. And also the fact that over, what, 16, 17 years now, he’s been winning against a number of different players makes him very special. Pete only won 14 majors.
4:16 Boris Becker: Now the argument is that back in our era, you had more players winning Grand Slams. You can argue that maybe the competition was higher, or you can argue the top players today are better than the rest. So there are a lot of different arguments. Also, back in the day, not every major was equally important. A lot of players didn’t play the Australian Open. There were times when three of the four majors were played on grass. Now imagine if I had played at that time: grass was my best surface, I’m sure I would have won more than six. But in my day it was clay, it was hard court, it was different. So the meaning of winning a Grand Slam varies with every decade and every generation.
