The Player

Born in Leimen, West Germany, in 1967, Boris Becker burst onto the international tennis scene in 1985 when, as an unknown 17-year-old, he rewrote the record books by beating Kevin Curren and winning the men's final at Wimbledon. Not only was he the youngest player ever to win the title, he was also the first unseeded player and the first German. His exuberant, athletic style - hurling himself all over the court and making seemingly impossible shots - immediately endeared him to millions. On the back of his enormously powerful serve, he took the world of tennis by storm and by 1991 he was the world's number one. His extraordinary career includes three Wimbledon men's singles titles (he reached the final seven times in ten years) among a total of 49 singles and 15 doubles crowns, and he became the second youngest player (after Bjorn Borg) to be inducted into tennis's Hall of Fame. Retiring from the pro-tennis scene in 1999, Becker refused to fade away - his name simply moved from the back pages of newspapers to the front. After losing his last match at Wimbledon to Pat Rafter, he set out on a night of binge drinking which culminated in the infamous Nobu broom cupboard incident. As a result, his high-profile marriage to model Barbara Feltus broke up in an equally high-profile divorce. He was back in court again soon afterwards with tax problems.