IBM/ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 13, 1995

Boris Becker

BORIS BECKER: Between Muster and me, there have never been any any feuds. We only battled on the court. I know Thomas since I was twelve years old. And we never had problems with each other. And some statements I did have been understood -- were understood wrongly. I talk to him about that. After his successes in Vienna and Stockholm, I think he could win here.

BORIS BECKER: I am surprised that Agassi did not take the chance to come here in order to play for No. 1. It is a shame because he has had a spectacular year. And it is sad for such a big tournament as Frankfurt at which the best participate. But he seems to be gravely injured.

BORIS BECKER: It is the same surface as last year with the balls from Paris. Also the serve and volley players have a chance to win. When we came in '94, the surface seemed to be quite slow because the tournaments before had a fast surface. Now compared with Paris, or Essen, it seems faster. But you can still play from the baseline and here it is not decided by who plays most aces, but who has the most complete game.

BORIS BECKER: For a couple of years they are trying to change the system so we always play on the same surfaces. There are so many indoor tournaments. If they try to change that, it will be for the big tournaments. If that does make any sense we will see when it has been changed.

BORIS BECKER: If the third Round Robin match is really not shown on the German television, I would be very surprised because nowadays every little event is shown on TV. It will be nonsense not to show it, the eight best players of the world play here and it should be broadcast.

BORIS BECKER: Next year the Grand Slam tournaments will be ranked better by more points, but I still think they should have a more drastic change because it is much more difficult to win a semifinals of a Grand Slam than a Super 9. And the relation is not correct. If you think about it, I received more points for in Paris-Bercy finals than for a U.S. Open semifinal and the latter is more difficult to win. In general, I don't think that it makes any sense not to count every tournament at which you participate, only the 14 best tournaments are counted which means that many bad results are not counted. This is unique in sports that defeats do not count if you play enough tournaments. We have been arguing about that for a long time. Many players think this regulation is good because they can play them so many tournaments and are not punished for defeats. But from a sporting point of view, both should be equal, losses and wins.

BORIS BECKER: In order to find out what the best ranking system is, I would take more than five minutes.

BORIS BECKER: My back has caused problems for a long time. Since Moscow I have been badly injured with my back. And only in Paris I could play the first tournament without pain. And my ribs were hurt. I had twisted my back and it even hurts when you breath. It is was no orthopedic problem and it wasn't because I was worn out. I am in good medical hands in Munich and every three months I have a complete checkup. As I said for the many kilometers I have laid back on the court, I am feeling very fresh.

BORIS BECKER: Yes, I am feeling a bit sorry that the tournament is -- is the last tournament here in Frankfurt. Because with respect to the spectators, it has been the best and nicest tournament for me here in Germany. In no other tournament I have been supported in that way, but also all other players did receive a lot of support. It was always an atmosphere like a public festival. No matter whether the winner was Sampras, Stich, Becker, or whoever; all matches were supported. Maybe it is also the hall. The hall is almost perfect for an indoor tournament. The spectators are very near to the court and could really live the match. Now we are going to Hanover. I have never played tennis there and I don't know what the hall is like. But I really think it is a shame because this was a perfect indoor tournament.

BORIS BECKER: My win in '92 was surely one of the nicest tennis experiences, but there were also some other factors. It was my 25th birthday. I had managed to get into the ATP Finals at five to 12. I won the finals against the No. 1. All this nicend my experience.

BORIS BECKER: I always think I have chances at the ATP Finals as in former times at the Masters. I have very hard group, but it seems to be normal that I always have the hard group here in the Round Robin. I know that tomorrow I have to give 100% to talk about a semifinals or finals; now would be far too early. I have to get into the game, but I think that I am one out of eight players who have a chance to win the tournament.

BORIS BECKER: This is my 10th ATP Finals. At the moment it is very easy for me to motivate myself. There have been phases in my career which have been much harder and where I didn't play that well, but for the past one and a half to two years, it has been quite easy for me and so I am not worried. It is another thing to really reach the No. 1 because the other players don't give it away so easily. When I look back on to this year, I have had some matches which have been very tight to make this -- to reach the top, but I did not manage it even with some matchpoints, however, the difference is not that big.

BORIS BECKER: I have had bad luck with my injuries and with my back. I have been very good indoors in the springtime. This year I have made my points on the harder way, which is in the Super 9 tournaments in the Grand Slams where you have to work much harder in order to get into a semifinals or finals. I am very happy because it shows that I am capable to show world class tennis even at important tournaments.

BORIS BECKER: With Mike DePalmer I have found a very good man. He has had the chance to work himself into this position for one and a half years as Nick's right-hand. He has developed that good that he could take over the job by himself. We have been working together since Flushing Meadow, and have had some good successes together. I cannot say anything on my relationship to Agassi. We haven't spoken. I personally do not have any problems with him. Maybe he understood a statement of mine wrongly. Maybe he feels attacked. But I didn't attack him. I cannot see a reason why he is always very short when I am in a room, but that will change eventually. I will play the Qatar Open. What I expect, I hope to ride some nice camels and meet my friend Alia Sadam (Phonetic). I have not yet lost a match there. I come as defending champion.

BORIS BECKER: I have met Bernd Schuster a couple of times, but that has been -- but that was sometime ago. I cannot say anything on his leaving, probably only three or four people in Leverkusen.

BORIS BECKER: There are some things I expect from a coach, but it changes with my game and with my personality. I am not always -- I don't always need the same trainer. Since two years I have had a lot of luck with Nick Bollettieri and with Mike DePalmer. Both of them fulfilled the factors I needed at that time. The factors are knowledge, know-how of tennis that you know the sports by heart to know the tactical area and to have had the feeling and this is in the case of Mike to be in front of 10,000 spectators under a kind of pressure and still have to perform. The coach is a good lad.

BORIS BECKER: In 1996 I will play Doah and no other real tournament before Melbourne. Next year is a very full year with a lot of highlights. One of them is the olympic games.

BORIS BECKER: Wayne Ferreira has been contacted almost in the desert in Tansania when he was on an safari. We talked in Paris about it, that, me too, I had the plan to go on a safari. He was on his way to go there. From the point of view of tennis, he is a counter-puncher player and a player who lives from the pressure of his opponent. I have had good experience with him in the last matches. It is the first time he is at the ATP Finals. He will be very hot for the first match, but also very relaxed because he has nothing to lose. I have to be very careful.

BORIS BECKER: It is my tenth year here. It still hurts a bit because it should have been eleven years. It is a shame that I have not succeeded all 11 ATP Finals in a row. It is nice when I see the other players, they are still miles away from that number and who knows whether they ever will reach that number. I still feel capable to reach 12 or 14 ATP Finals and I am very proud of that.

BORIS BECKER: The difference between Edberg and my development is that I always tried to adapt my tennis, which means I have tried to change my game. In former times I was a serve and volley player. Now I have added my baseline game. I have improved my leg work. I had to get more power in order to be in line with the so-called service and the power players. I changed my training. Edberg somehow always played his game which was easy in some way because he never had to think very much about it. But this is one of the main reasons why he is not here now. He has never changed his game.

BORIS BECKER: There are more baseline players here. The event speaks for the development of the tennis sport. There was a time, one and a half years ago, when everybody moaned about the service. The fact is that it was only one player whom they talked about, which is Goran Ivanisevic who served 30 to 35 aces per match. All the others can't do that. Goran even served his aces in Wimbledon where they slowed down the game by using a heavier ball because he is such a perfect server. But even one and a half years ago all the others played from the baseline. This year he has not had such a good year and nobody is talking about the service battles. There is also Sampras and me, too, I hit an ace now and then, but it was never that the service dominated the game. The last years have shown with Agassi, Muster, and this year, Courier, and also Ferreira, that they are all counterpunchers. Chang also, Kafelnikov too. That the complete game is wanted.

BORIS BECKER: I am the wrong person to ask what the German tennis will become when I am no longer playing. I will watch this from a distance, by I am far away from commenting on this now.

BORIS BECKER: I am occupying myself with with the young people in tennis, but you can't make Wimbledon winners. You can sit down with some experts and decide how the training has to look like and how to support the younger players, but to make champions is very hard. We have had a lot of luck with Steffi Graf, Michael Stich and myself. That everything went that good in the past ten years, but there is no guarantee for that. Here in Germany not as many people play tennis as in America. In Sweden there has been a time where there were world class players en masse and suddenly there is only one left, which is Enqvist. It happens in cycles. That is why I cannot think about the future too much. Because I can't really influence it. There are some in Germany who have the talent to play right at the top, for instance, Carl-Uwe Steeb, but I cannot name them because I would put too much pressure on them and that is not right.

BORIS BECKER: Yes, I saw Stich's accident. I called him right the next morning. He was in quite a good mood and was not too worried. But he didn't know the diagnosis then. He has had a lot of luck. It could have been much worse. It could have been much worse, a torn ligament is something that happens every day. A torn ligament happens every day. Every tennis player has gone through that. I'm sure that he will be back in shape within a short time. I have been to some smaller boxing matches in America, but I've never been to such a big event like Munich. The interest was nicer than the boxing match. It's not really my thing when two people hit their head into each other. I only wanted to see such an event when I was really facinated by the way it smelled of Las Vegas. About 18 million spectators watched the boxing on the television and it might have to do with Henry Maske because he's the messenger of this sport with a lot of advertising and imagining he can really make people enthusastic of this sport and so they realize that even boxers can count until three, but it is also because of you, because you commented so much about boxing and kept on pushing, it -- suddenly they are also some other good boxers coming up Axel Schulz. I think it is going in the right direction. Everybody has said something on the development with Bayen Munchen. I will not say anything on that. I met M. Schumacher during the boxing match. I thought he was very nice and we had a nice conversation. I, myself, think it is very brutal what the young people do every day. You cannot be offered that much money to risk your life daily. I think it is very brutal, but respect for his performance. It is amazing what he has won in a short time. He has become world champion. Once again, that is facinating. I think as a teenager, I also thought I am a Formula 1 driver. I have been lucky, but now I drive as a relaxed driver. I also met Henry Maske. We are all in the same boat. We don't have to tell each other a lot because we know what everything is about. There is a kind of comparison between us top ranking sportsmen. The spectators have been one of the main reasons in the past years why I play that well here in Frankfurt and I expect a lot from the spectators this year as well. They are some thing like my doubles partner and I'm looking forward to it. The tournaments in Halle has an inconvenient date. I will not risk my preparation for Wimbledon because of Halle. They want to torture us again and send us to the Davis Cup, but I have put the Davis Cup into my schedule. It was a surprise for me in this year that the tennis has got back to a peak. Last year, it was complained that the tennis was going downwards. That there were no longer any personalities in tennis and that it was boring, but this year has been dream tennis year. The mixture has been perfect. Some older players have won and some younger players have come into the top. Also there has not been this complete game; either there was serve and volley players or baseline players, but today everybody plays everything and also the speed and through the records and through the training, we all play a bit harder. Me, as a senior player, must say that there are still far too many big tournaments. It cannot be that we have about 10 highlights, per year. You don't find this in any other sport. We are challenged every month. Sometimes even twice per month with Atlanta this year, there's another highlight; plus the Davis Cup every round, that is too much. In my opinion, they have to think about it so that also in the future tennis players grow old in their profession because the expectations are getting higher with every year and somewhere everybody has his limits. I have a responsibility. It's not only me who is concerned, but also my family. When something critical happens or I make a critical comment not only I'm concerned, but also other people so that's why I've become more prudent. When you are so successful very young, you don't think about the money which you earn. Some people don't think about it at all. Others maybe a bit, but it would be a lie to say that one knows what is happening to the money. You could only hope that you are luckly to have the right friends and a good home. I had a lot of luck. They have also been reasons why Tiriac parted; that's why I had more luck with my parents than with Tiriac. Of course, I'm more decisive the older I get because time is not endless. For me, to win matches and in general to play world class tennis, I'm very conscious of my game. I know that I have no time to waste. Probably in five years, I am too old to be playing here. That's why I'm more concentrated. I have had a lot of offers for my time after the tennis whether as manager or as talk master or as magazine vendor, there are a lot of things which I can do and which have been offered. I have developed some ideas, but that's none of anybody's business. And I'm happy that there is this regulation that says that we do not have to talk about it. I can think about it all by myself. This is very often compounded so this is often compounded. When you're a big star, you must -- you are not necessarily a big person. I know a lot of top sportsmen who are world class in their profession who are really unique, who are champions, but don't have any qualities. I don't know anything about Mr. Schuster or Mr. Foller or others who leave their profession. I only know that we should not compound these two criterias, success covers a lot, but some day you might make a double fault or put a penalty in the out and then maybe some other things come up which you have been doing wrongly for the past years. This is no direction. I'm not relating directly to Schuster, but I'm speaking in general. I would like to stress this. I'm happy that there is no one who can put me into a match or take me out of a match, but that it's myself who puts me onto the court and I leave the court when I want. I really enjoy this liberty as an individual sportsman. In general, Monte Carlo was a very nice week for me. The margin between winning and losing is very small. Wimbledon could have turned out a disaster, but I managed to make it. It is always very tight in our sports and I don't want to miss any of it. But I think it was the first time that I lost a match with a match point. Who knows what would have happened if I had won; how many extra points I would have got; how much more self-confidence I would have to become on top. In Wimbeldon, I beat Sampras. This year was really very close during the big step towards No. 1. The doublefault was still in my head for some weeks, but with the first tournaments on grass, I forgot it. You have to realize that a champion does not discover the upportunity for himself, but that he has to have a chance at the beginning to play around for a couple of years before making the big breakthrough. So you also have to allow him to play around for some years before quiting. It is a dream to think that you think about winning a Wimbledon final is for the last time and then to quit. That is not reality. You have to have friends and good family who tell you, look, here you are looking ridiculous in your shorts, you have three or four kids at home. One self is too much into tennis that you don't see things clearly. I also think about my quiting sometimes, but in the end, I'm not afraid of it. I no longer go into a match dreaming like 10 years ago. Actually, it's only my wife who can really say something. No one is so close with my tennis like she is. Even if one day she says look here, I don't no longer want to travel that much then at the latest, I should realize that it is time to quit. The difference between the groups is not that big. Maybe the other groups, there are some players who are easier on paper, but even there I have my preferences and anyway there's no easy group here.