"Bye, bye, Boris" - The US Open Showdown between Agassi versus Becker in 1995
The 1995 tennis year brought great duels between Andre Agassi and Boris Becker . The American got the upper hand in the legendary semi-finals of the US Open.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Sep 10, 2020, 10:48 am
It is the evening of September 9th that the 1995 Grand Slam year ends for Boris Becker. And how it ends, almost exactly 25 years ago: When Becker trots with sagging shoulders from the Louis Armstrong Stadium after a dramatic four-set defeat in the US Open semi-final against Andre Agassi, a loud, malicious scream cannot be ignored. “Bye, bye, Boris” echoes bloodcurdling across Center Court, it is Hollywood actress Brooke Shields who says goodbye to Becker in a particularly nice way. Becker glances briefly in the direction of Agassi's box, to his prominent partner, he doesn’t change his face, marches on towards the exit. Later he will say: "It was one of the bitterest hours of my life."
To put it with Loriot: In the past, long before Zverev and Co., long before the triumphant advance of the young hamburger up to the 2020 semifinals in New York, there was a little more tinsel when it came to the biggest trophies on the biggest stages. Becker and Agassi reconciled many years later under a big press ballyhoo on the sidelines of the Munich Grand Slam Cup, you saw the duo sitting in this half-true, half staged embrace in an Oktoberfest beer tent, in lederhosen and in front of a liter of beer. In the summer of 1995, however, within some very memorable tennis months, they were mortal enemies who fought each other to the death.
Becker's tirade against Agassi
It all started at Wimbledon, where Becker suddenly started a wild rant against Agassi in 1995 after the lost final against Pete Sampras. He runs around like a kind of bum, he would "not allow his son in life" to wear clothes like Agassi's. And that's not all: Agassi is an elitist loner, a typical American showman, someone “nobody really likes” in the traveling circus. Becker hadn't even been able to reassure him that he had pushed Agassi out of the title race in the semifinals on the holy lawn after a catastrophic start. "The competitive situation, the personal aversion was so great," remembers Becker, "that sometimes you no longer knew what you were doing."
Two months later, the two superstars reunited at the US Open. And again egoism, vanity and jealousy were in the game between Becker, who at the time presented himself as the statesman of the industry. And Agassi, the wildly rebellious tennis punk with the crazy clothing designs. In his biography “Open”, Agassi emphasized the minutes before the New York semi-final duel in a dramaturgical way: “When Becker and I are standing in front of the tunnel ( to the Center Court, the editor), I say to the security guard: Keep us away from each other. I don't want this damn German in sight. ”As soon as the game has started, Becker starts with antics, trying to provoke Agassi. Suddenly he throws Shields, Agassi's friend, air kisses in the box. Agassi almost goes nuts, he would have wanted to "punch in" Becker, he explains many years later. In his biography, Agassi also remembers how his trainer Brad Gilbert assessed his opponent Becker: "He called him BB Socrates because he thinks that Becker tries to play the intellectual, although he is too big a peasant."
"There are players you don't like that much"
In the duel at the time, Becker gave the first two sentences in the tie-break, then shortened to 1: 2 in a game full of small and large hostilities, but lost the fourth round. Becker and Agassi don't look at each other when the match is over, the handshake is icy, a compulsory exercise. Agassi shouts after the German in the press conference: “It's outrageous what he says about colleagues. He has no respect for the lifetime achievement of other players. ”And Becker? He says to Agassi: “There are players you like. And those that you don't really like. "
Today everything is different. The powder vapor has evaporated. Just now Becker, whose heir Alexander Zverev as the first German to reach the New York round of the last four after a quarter of a century, affirmed again with a faithful look: "Andre and I - we are now great friends."