Becker Says He Would Take Drugs if They Gave Opponent an Edge

Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Boris Becker said he would take performance-enhancing drugs if other top tennis players did.

The world’s second-ranked player, competing in the Australian Open in Melbourne, said in an interview with the West German magazine Sports that, while tennis was clean, he understood why many athletes in other sports resorted to drugs.

“If Lendl kept beating me because he was taking steroids, I would take them too, I mean that,” Becker said.

“I would try to make sure we were competing on an equal basis. That’s what it’s all about. Otherwise I would just pack it all in straight away.”

Becker said drugs were not a problem in tennis because players need a variety of qualities.

“There would be doping perhaps if you could take something for your mental strength, something that made you think harder,” Becker said. “When its 30-40 and second service, it’s about being mentally fitter than your opponent, not physically. There is no drug for that.”

Becker said at least 90% of the many track and field athletes he knew took drugs and he understood why.

“We live in 1990 and every sport is all about money--that is a fact,” he told Sports. “Everyone knows that if you become Olympic champion once, then you are made financially. Your body and health come, if at all, in fourth place.”