Boris Franz Becker was born November 22, 1967, in Leimen, West Germany. He is a former World No. 1 ranked professional tennis player. Becker is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, as well as an Olympic gold medalist.

Becker also held the record for the youngest tennis player to ever win Wimbledon, at 17 years of age. Becker has secured an impressive number of career titles with 49, and is heralded for his exciting one-handed backhand play. Upon his retirement in June of 1999, Boris Becker had accumulated over $25-million in prize money.

Becker is the only son of his architect father. Skilled at his profession, Boris' father built the Blau-Weiss Tennisklub in Leimen, where Boris learned the game. His childhood years were spent on the courts, perfecting his game. And in 1984, Becker turned professional and won his first doubles title in Munich the same year.

The young West German teenager took the tennis world by storm in 1985. Not only did Becker win another singles event at Queen's Club, he also became the first unseeded player and the first-ever German to win Wimbledon. He defeated Kevin Curren in four sets, and at the time was the youngest male to win the event (Michael Chang - 1989: current record holder). Because no ranked players made it to the finals in Wimbledon, Becker's win was considered by many to be a fluke.

Only two short months after winning Wimbledon, Becker proved to the tennis world that his win wasn't a fluke. He knuckled down on an impressive field and became the youngest winner of the Cincinnati Masters.

Becker would keep the winning going, successfully defending his Wimbledon championship the following year, defeating the world's No. 1-ranked Ivan Lendl in straight sets. The next year, Becker found himself heavily favored to win his third consecutive Wimbledon title, but unexpectedly lost in the second round. But Becker's persistence would become evident when later that year he played John McEnroe in a match that lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes. Becker would win the hard-fought match 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2.

Becker would go on to win some notable titles in his career. In 1989, Becker won the U.S. Open. And in 1991, he secured a win in the Australian Open, the first time Becker had reached a final in this event. During Becker's career, he repeatedly met with rival player Andre Agassi.

The two would play some impressive matches, but Agassi ultimately got the best of Becker. The two collided in the 1991 French Open and played a match for the ages. Agassi's defeat of Becker in the semi-finals kept him from winning the first two Grand Slam events of the year, and ultimately kept Becker from retaining his No. 1 ranking for the entire year.

After his duels with Agassi, Becker was aging and outmatched against tennis' new up-and-comer, Pete Sampras.

Though he would put up a good fight against the greatest tennis player in history, Becker ultimately bore the brunt of the matchups and retired in 1999. Becker preferred the indoor courts, where he has won 26 titles. Like many of tennis' all-time greats, Becker has never won a title on clay.