On This Day In 1985: Boris Becker Becomes Youngest Man To Win Wimbledon

On This Day In 1985: Boris Becker Becomes Youngest Man To Win Wimbledon
08:57, 07 Jul 2017

Boris Becker seems to have copyrighted the act of winning the men’s singles Wimbledon title as a teenager. Not only did he manage it twice in the Open Era, but no-one else has done it since.

The first of his adolescent victories took place on July 7, 1985 when a 17-year-old Becker triumphed 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 over Kevin Curren to write his name into the record books, becoming the youngest-ever men’s winner at SW19 as well as becoming the first German and first unseeded player to claim the trophy.

It was, quite frankly, a remarkable victory that might never be bettered again. Even if a younger champion claims the ultimate prize at Wimbledon in the future, the chances of him being seeded and the first man from his country to do so as well would be slim-to-none.

At the time, Becker pencilled in his status as the youngest men’s Slam winner for good measure, but Michael Chang’s 1989 French Open win quickly erased that a few years later.

Becker, his blonde bob so bright it almost lit up centre court on its own that mid-80s afternoon, was in a ferocious mood against Curren, his eighth-seeded opponent. Time and again, the wildcard German produced powerful serves, one after the other – ultimately claiming 21 aces throughout the course of the contest as the sun shone strongly across the grass surface.

From the moment he stepped out to play, Becker looked ready to do something special and he got off to the perfect start. Storming away to a comfortable lead, he had claimed the opening set within 36 minutes, cracking a deadly ace past the helpless Curren before nonchalantly strolling back to take his seat where he sipped water from a miniature paper cup.

Curren, who looked intimidated by Becker’s unorthodox style, did well to claim the second set, but largely looked outclassed, perhaps shackled by too much focus on his opponent’s game, instead of concentrating on his own. Indeed, the then 27-year-old has since said that he was waiting for Becker to ‘self-destruct.’

After all, there was little the South African could do to combat the pinpoint accuracy of Der Bomber’s first and second serve, but stretching it out to four sets did at least make for a more tense event.

The third set saw Curren break Becker to go ahead for the first time in the game. Having beaten both John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors en route to the final, it seemed like ’85 really should have been Curren’s defining year, but he failed to use his new-found momentum to grab the win, ultimately allowing the young German back into the contest after failing to put away a number of crucial volleys.

Finally setting himself up for Championship point, Becker swung his racket to go for victory but when the ball zoomed past Curren, a shout went up from the umpire in tandem with a few fans who thought he had won it. Groans and laughter followed suit before Becker then smashed his second serve into the net.

Curren might well have thought Becker’s meltdown had finally arrived, but just 30 seconds later the teenager’s arms were raised in celebration, the crowd were on their feet and history had been made.

Then, a year later, he did it all again, aged 18 – just to prove his doubters that it hadn’t been a fluke.

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