Champions Cup Tennis : A Year Later, Becker Starts Out With a Victory Over Tim Wilkison

This is where it all came together for Boris Becker last year, that is, before it all eventually unraveled.

Here, in 1987, Becker answered the questions about himself and his game--ever so briefly--with a convincing and dominant performance en route to his first title of the year. He opened with a straight-set victory over Tim Wilkison and finished the same way, beating Stefan Edberg in the final.

Once again, Becker has arrived in Indian Wells under more scrutiny than usual. In 1987, it was because of his temper tantrum at the Australian Open and subsequent breakup with coach Gunther Bosch. A year later, all eyes are focused on Becker because of what happened in the second half of 1987, developments that left him mentally and physically exhausted.

On Tuesday, Becker followed last year’s script as he opened against Wilkison in the second round at Grand Champions Resort. As always, Wilkison provided the 20-year-old West German with a decent test before Becker won, 6-3, 6-4, at the $702,500 Newsweek Champions Cup.

In between their two meetings at Indian Wells, Becker and Wilkison played a five-set, first-round match at the U.S. Open in September. Tuesday’s match was nothing like that meeting, in which Becker had to rally from a two-sets-to-love deficit. Nevertheless, he did see one similarity.

“The only way I got back (at the Open) was because he did all those things,” Becker said of Wilkison, who often yells and pumps his fist after hitting winners. “That he was starting to do today, even. Maybe next time, if he’s quiet, he’s going to beat me.”

Wilkison admitted Becker doesn’t intimidate him, never has, and offered his own critique.

“He’s definitely not playing as well as he was before, a couple of years ago,” Wilkison said. “He’s still a pretty darn good player to me. . . . His serve is not as good as before. He double-faults more than he used to. His toss looks sort of inconsistent.”

Said Becker: “Definitely, when you serve aces it makes it a lot easier. But then, again, it used to be when I couldn’t serve, I would lose the match, for sure. And that I have changed already.”

Wilkison also pointed out that Becker doesn’t beat people as easily he once did, saying routine matches have become close ones for Becker.

Which brings us to the tough set of standards Becker faces every day. Essentially, when you’ve won Wimbledon twice by age 19, this realization becomes apparent quickly.

“Let’s put it that way, since ‘85, since I won Wimbledon, I came up like I don’t know what,” Becker said. “And I just won it, and after that I had to win a Grand Slam and then in the next three years I’m No. 1. And then, in four, I’m retired or something.

“And, that was too much. Nobody can do that. It’s not normal evolution for a tennis player. That he goes two, three years . . . to the moon. Sometimes, you have to go to Mars before you go to the moon.”

Tennis Notes

It was basically a routine Tuesday at Grand Champions with no real surprises on the court. Fourth-seeded Pat Cash, No. 13 Christo van Rensburg, No. 11 Amos Mansdorf and No. 15 Mikael Pernfors all advanced in straight sets. Eduardo Bengoechea, the 12th-seeded player, defeated Horacio de la Pena in three sets. . . . One of the best matches was John Fitzgerald’s 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Pepperdine senior Robbie Weiss in the first round. Weiss had rallied from a 2-5 second-set deficit to tie it, 5-5, but Fitzgerald held on to win the second set and the match. Fitzgerald upset No. 1-ranked Ivan Lendl last week en route to the final at Philadelphia. Weiss, the top-ranked collegiate player in the country, received a wild-card spot into the tournament because of his victory in the Adidas Invitational in January. . . . The attendance for Tuesday’s matches was 5,325; Monday’s was 4,475.