Becker's 'Living Room' Becomes a Leaving Room

By JULIE CART

July 4, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WIMBLEDON, England —

Boris Becker has always been the embodiment of the bold, fearless tennis player. On Thursday, Becker made the most searching decision an athlete must ever make, on when it’s time to walk away from the game.

Moments after losing his quarterfinal match to Pete Sampras on Centre Court, Becker announced the match was his last at Wimbledon and that, possibly, this was his last Grand Slam tournament.

Becker, 29, has won six Grand Slam titles, the most cherished trophies in tennis. But he said he would not play in any more after this year, and has not decided whether to play in the U.S. Open next month.

Becker said he is not retiring from tennis, just from the Grand Slam tournaments, on which he has built his reputation. His timing, always impeccable on the court, was excellent in this regard too. The former No. 1 is now ranked 18th.

“I feel very relieved,” Becker said. “I feel like I’ve come to the end of the road, with my head held high. I feel like I’m still playing good tennis. I always wanted to go out on top, and I feel like right now I’m on top of the mountain. I can only go down.”

Sampras defeated the eighth-seeded Becker, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4, and advanced to today’s semifinals.

Sampras and Becker have steered their careers on similar courses, always aiming to reach a Grand Slam tournament at peak condition. Becker said he is now unwilling to play in Grand Slam tournaments if he can’t win.

Becker’s career--his very life, he says--began at Wimbledon in 1985 when he won the title as a freckle-faced 17-year-old. The unseeded young German waded though the draw and demolished opponents with a cannon serve and willingness to dive around the court to reach the ball.

His powerful game was instrumental in making tennis the high-velocity game it is today.

Nowhere was that style more magnified than on Wimbledon’s hard, fast grass courts. In his 13 years here Becker has won three titles and has been runner-up four times.

And he has forged a special relationship with the sometimes stodgy crowds. When Sampras beat him in the 1995 final, Becker was induced by the crowd to jog a lap around the court so that spectators might lavish applause on him.

After Thursday’s match, Sampras gave a polite wave as he left and received a similar response from the Centre Court crowd. Becker lingered and raised both arms to wave. The crowd--unaware it was Becker’s last appearance here--rose and showered him with applause in a genuine show of affection from those who normally reserve their homage for British players.

Becker is so comfortable here that he passed the time during Thursday’s three-hour rain delay reading a book in the royal box.

Perhaps because his game required so much from his body, Becker has suffered injuries in recent years. He ruptured a tendon in his right wrist here last year and had to default. That same injury kept him out of the French Open this year, the only Grand Slam tournament Becker has not won.

In deciding to enter no more Grand Slam tournaments, Becker said his body could no longer take the wear and tear that accompanies a two-week tournament.

“I realized I don’t have it anymore, what it takes to go all the way and win a championship like that,” he said. “I go very much with my gut and I saw how the draw was and I was seeded No. 8. I was able to play on Centre Court today and it was a very good moment for me.

“I feel like I don’t want to come back being No. 60 in the world and praying to God I get a good draw to win a couple of rounds. That’s not my style. I’m the type of guy who goes into a tournament and who likes to have a chance to win it. I feel that is not possible for me anymore in Grand Slams.”

Becker had kept his decision to himself, but told a shocked Sampras as they shook hands at the net after the match.

“I walked back to my chair kind of stunned that this is it for him,” Sampras said. “Wimbledon and Boris went together. This is where he made his mark as a 17-year-old, and it was like his living room out there. He’s always been a class act. I feel honored that I was his last match.”

There was little room for sentiment anywhere else Thursday: In other quarterfinals, the remaining two English players were beaten.

Frenchman Cedric Pioline defeated Greg Rusedski, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Canadian-born Rusedski became a British subject in 1995 but has never been as warmly received here as Tim Henman.

Pioline will play Michael Stich, who broke more English hearts by defeating the 14th-seeded Henman, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Stich, who won here in 1991, has been quietly cruising through his last Wimbledon. Stich announced he will retire at the end of the year, which will make for a sudden drop in the quality of German tennis.

Rusedski was immobilized, perhaps by the immense national pressure and possibly because he has played so many matches so close together.

“I just wasn’t moving enough,” Rusedski said. “Even Cedric, at the end of the match, asked me if I was all right out there, because he realized I can do a lot better than that.”

Todd Woodbridge, the Australian doubles specialist, defeated Nicolas Kiefer, Becker’s young protege, 7-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Each player flashed temperament during the match. An angry Woodbridge threw his racket and, according to Kiefer, hit someone. When Kiefer bounced his racket, he was warned by the umpire. That prompted Kiefer to call the umpire a “liar” during a changeover.

Woodbridge will play Sampras today.

It is the first time since 1967 that there are three unseeded men in the semifinals.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Boris Becker at a Glance

GRAND SLAM TITLES

In Australian Open (2): 1991, 1996.

In Wimbledon (3): 1985, 1986, 1987.

In U.S. Open (1): 1989.

Modern Day Comparison In Grand Slam Victories:

Bjorn Borg: 11

Pete Sampras: 9

Jimmy Connors: 8