‘O Mundo x Boris Becker’, Apple’s series about the tennis player – 05/20/2023 – Sport

“If you can find triumph and disaster
and treat these two impostors the same […].”

These two lines from Rudyard Kipling’s beautiful poem “If” are painted above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Center Court. The message is embraced by tennis players before they enter the main arena of the iconic Grand Slam of tennis.

“Triumph” and “disaster” come out of Kipling’s verses to name the two parts that form the almost four-hour documentary “The World against Boris Becker”, by Alex Gibney, director recognized for titles such as “The Inventor: Looking for Blood in Silicon Valley” and “A Taxi to Darkness”, for which he won an Oscar.

At just 17 years old, Boris Becker became the youngest tennis player to win any Grand Slam in 1985 when he was champion on the grass at Wimbledon – the mark was beaten by Michael Chang, in 1989, in the United States, but Becker’s is still the main in the English tournament.

Treated by the press as a success of the “baby boomer” generation —it was called in a report “boom, boom, Becker”, hence the original title of the documentary, “Boom! Boom!: The World vs. Boris Becker”— , the tennis player was the ideal poster boy for a Germany on the eve of unification (the Berlin Wall fell four years later).

On the other hand, he was also a disaster at managing finances, he made bad bets, went through divorces with millionaire losses and, still in middle age, was taken to court and to prison.

Gibney breaks down these two sides with comings and goings in time and abundant archival material commented by Becker himself, a great storyteller, but not always accurate, as the director himself warns from time to time.

The director met the former number 1 of the ATP (Association of Professional Tennis Players) on two occasions, the first in 2019, when his protagonist was already facing legal problems, and the second in 2022, three days before his sentence came out. Although the encounters have a similar image record, with identical framing and almost the same costume, the difference is clear from the 2022 Becker, grayer and much more tense, sometimes bordering on despair, with a slightly trembling voice.

“I hit rock bottom,” he says. “I don’t know what to think. But I’m going to face it, I’m not going to hide or run away. I’m going to accept the sentence”, he adds.

But, to understand the size of the pit, Gibney returns to the triumphant beginning with the title at 17 years old. And for anyone who believed the title was a fluke, Becker has done it again. He was twice champion in 1986, at 18.

Becker occupied a vacant space to become one of the main idols of the sport in that generation, which no longer had Bjorn Borg or Jimmy Connors to cheer for and saw the latest moves from John McEnroe.

Number 1 was Czech Ivan Lendl, as cool on court as off, and with the charisma of an asparagus. It wasn’t that difficult for the young Becker to become one of the main darlings in the hearts of the fans.

Both his on-court earnings and advertising contracts were controlled with an iron fist by his trainer and manager, the bad-looking Romanian Ion Tiriac. But, little by little, the German abandoned the partnership and increased spending.

So debated these days, mental health also has space and has taken its toll. When the player thought about stopping early —like his idol, Borg— or when he had to resort to pills to control anxiety.

In private life, Becker was quite a character for the German tabloids for having a relationship with the black Barbara Feltus, his first wife. At the same time that they began to suffer racist persecution, the couple was also the favorite of the media and publicists, almost a symbol of the new Germany.

His extramarital escapades are highlighted in part two, “Disaster”, which also highlights failed ventures and friendships that yielded financial distress.

Whenever the documentary presents a problem related to money, Becker defends himself as if he didn’t know what was going on or with some excuse of persecution. This is the case, for example, when the German tax authorities impose a heavy fine for evasion. Or when he faces Justice again in 2022, accused of concealing assets and debts in the United Kingdom.

The mental aspect, so highlighted in his game by him and by opponents, was not used with the same dexterity in finance. Until the inevitable outcome with the “match point” of Justice.

Perhaps it would be possible to edit all the material in a single part. The relationship with Novak Djokovic, trained for a period by the German, only serves to make a link with the new generation. Pleasant, but not mandatory.

Remembering Kipling, in the face of triumph and disaster, Becker embraced them both.

“Boom! Boom!: The World vs. Boris Becker”, US/UK, 2023. Director: Alex Gibney. Available on Apple TV+ (two chapters)