Number one world ranking on a limb pick the gold medal and in between all of that a whole lot of living. Has seen the good and the bad and lived through trials and both for the town it would become a sanctuary for her who was swinging a mean racquet by 8 years of age in 1904 he turned pro shortly thereafter starting the entire world with his win of women to becoming the youngest male grand slam champion in tennis history known for his booming serves before hand and brilliantly athletic skills at the back are finally called it quits at night. But not before solidifying his spot in the International Tennis hall of fame when he couldnt play he coached in fact he took on as his protege the man now considered the number one tennis player in the world novak djokovic. He commented on sports on t. V. Then chile became a Founding Member of the laureus world sports academy. At the teen pandemic sidelines the sport he loves so much. Sits down with me for an important. About tennis. And some of the things. That maybe even more important. Than there is boris becker i think the place to start a conversation with boris becker is to maybe tell it from the sports fans point of view here in america one day its like we all suddenly woke up and all we were hearing on television was the wonder kid the wonder kin the wonder kid and were all going who is this vote under kin everybodys talking about few people in their lives have such a meteoric appearance in their industry or their sport as you boris becker had how do you think back on those days as a very fresh faced young man to the grown man that youve become now why he wasnt only a. World it was a shock for me most of all i called it my 2nd birthday 7980 so i did this im known. Many back in the day. We came to this all the night so naaman and sensation of winning wimbledon as to you know. Youngest and so forth so it was probably a bigger star called me afterwards than it was everybody else thats hard though emotionally for a human being to go from being unknown to suddenly being one of the most recognized names in the world it must have been tough on you. Because. Pretty much to you know the next day everybody you know. Who who watched the final busy obviously. Liked it and ultimately wanted to have a piece of me and you know the 1st the 1st year you know you celebrate the little bit more than you should maybe but all of all of obviously it has its consequences and the complete loss of private lives is a high price and really until today that that spirit thats been part of my life obviously i would want to change the lifting enough ive loved one with not call them all that many years of i want it to championship a few more times but this this complete loss of Christmas Eve overnight. Its frightening takes its toll and theres really you cant prepare for it right theres no book you can read that prepares you to be able to go through Something Like that. No i mean some a great set of parents have an older sister i have a great mentor called John Kiriakou and they all gave me words of wisdom but ultimately i was the 1st one so it was so there wasnt a book about somebody else that had to go through the same thing so you. Try to narrow you know you do the best you can obviously i love and its i still do and i want to become the best and its been around the world but this id show id call it you know the you will what the what does he do outside of the courtroom with this sort of source of life and all of that is. You know its good if you know it does come with a high price of course and its good to see that. Developed into a man whos made a difference in your world certainly in the world of tennis that probably need you as much now as it ever has a lot of people are wondering boras is is tennis going to recover from this coma 19 situation and how so how will it change the game. Well 1st of all i think it is probably one d of the few sports d thats hit the most d because were such an International Sport we have a lot of mens d and all d 5 continents in a pretty much in every country into war and theres 10 its going on and if so would disturb friends restrictions depending on the country 11 its very difficult to eventually travel to a tennis player to one destination from australia all from japan all from china and therefore we have just completed lockdown in tennis has been a tennis match since the beginning of march you know tennis caps were even close so we have had the french open cancelled was supposed to start today with cancelled out fortunately and were contemplating. The u. S. Open so june 15th. The day when d we officially find out whether he has open in new york would take place or not. And if you were making the decision what would it be and using what criteria. Well the big question is. What were going to do with all the science in the world and not be suggesting ads have to games played why because you know. Its better to stay neat than next weeks paycheck when the talk and hit federal arts are perverts. And all of them you know they could debate dado mind another great quote on the break but these hundreds and hundreds of freshness d they need to be playing professional tennis otherwise they have to be a boost their job so im contemplating to open the tennis obviously it has to be healthy and safe but never think lets. Get steve leasebacks up with a german blueness the guy that opened already we could go yes without spectators and i think thats a car tyria when that 1st tennis top months would be open it would be without sense you would think that tennis of all sports which is essentially a noncontact sport should be among the 1st sports to open right. Youre absolutely right so once a tennis match actually happens theres always state that the net in between so you wouldnt have direct contact with your opponent and you know the bio dad and and obviously all the all the is on the court they have a social distance but its be here bought the fads d. You know being allowed to call it or not and ultimately players arriving on site depending what i mean for you know a lot of people. Make their mark on an industry in your case as tennis and then they move on to do other things you have stayed very much tied to the sport in fact you were one of the early adopters of for example the laureus awards which is something which seems very true to your heart i want to share with you what Nelson Mandela said as one of the early adopters one of the founders of the laureus awards he said. These men and women behind me are monarchs kings and queens not as a result of heredity but as a result of their personal commitments and efforts. Do you buy that message is that what you believe this award represents the laureus awards d that you have been very tied to as well but 1st of all mr nuss mandela was outsource president and we were so honored to have him and certainly one of one of the calls on this and they made this remark that was speech and of course awards ceremony in monaco 2020 years ago. And you know. Quickly obviously the way he speaks its sport has the power to change the world and in my travels all over the world you know there is this one saying that combines as all thats in that that what d you from what god you believe in the color of your skin all d or any gender is the lawful spall and in my case it certainly and its body can be created it can be built but i cant be you know any school of the world where d we play together as a team and at such a powerful d message and this is to match his message she had been carrying on for the last 20 years and the name but not some of the you know its interesting because a lot of people think that we should never talk about International Politics for example and sport in the same breath but in actuality there are some similarities and at this particular point in time where every day we read the headlines about what the United States is saying about china with china saying about the United States problems in germany in the European Union that cetera it seems that in sport we can get along better than we can as nations do you agree. Oh very much so i never cared which country my opponent all my doubles partner was from you know whether hes call my native germany or china old married couple russia or africa i wanted to beat the other guy but not because he came from a country that i wasnt that made it was so so that was you know there is to the nice handshake at the end you know its fair play we try to sound as we can and that we share the same locker room sometimes we share the same cars and leaving from sight so he was never an important way he was from. God do you believe in them and because of his skin i think that so paul clinton more necessary did never because to while its gone crazy politically i went to tell my kids that when i was in my twentys you know we hardly showed the passport crossing the borders and now you cant even enter a public country if youre from the wrong country and still you know sports sport is a very particular wall that im very proud to call this my home if you could talk to World Leaders like Angela Merkel mr putin mr trump whoever. And you could give them a message about your frustration that you just expressed what would be. Play and play doublets with each other. Play rather golf with each other its great cant just spend the afternoon biking in a beautiful park all of a sudden you realize that all of these are all the just not that theyre fun from one another and we all want to same thing for our families want to same thing for the last ones and want to live together in a safe and healthy and peaceful environment thats it well that image of mirco and donald trump and Vladimir Putin riding bicycles together in a park is one that will not leave my head for quite some time and i think its a great picture ive actually i think youre on to something i think a lot of. What we come back in my conversation with boris becker should athletes like mayans armstrong get a 2nd chance well be right back. Our culture is awash in lives dominated by streams of never ending electronic hallucinations that emerged fiction until they are indistinguishable we have become the most deluded society on politics as a species of endless and needless political theater politicians more than just celebrity are 2 ruling parties are in reality one party to Corporate Power and those who attempt to puncture this vast breathless universe of to make news just signed to push through the cruelty and exploitation to me a little more of them are pushed so far to the margins of society including by a public broadcasting system that has sold its soul for corporate money that we might as well be mice squeaking against an avalanche plus we must. Take a live news anywhere you go plus an elegant think curated online Video Library with a built in Search Engine it will sit right in your pocket to treat interact and just our skin texture stars will talk to the thousands of episodes to explore videos uploaded every hour so what are you waiting for blast off the portables. How to read read read on the t. V. Learn about the world it was happening around me i see shields on the screen in last every t. V. Because the fake news near its steady state. Building know this is what im after brick by brick pool is that they keep plenty of them in the street but ive found that there were no question. Speaking of laureus awards and it seems to be about not just sport but Ethics Principles morals d those types of things and thats as much why. Recipients are honored right but there have been some that have kind of broken their vows if you will take Lance Armstrong for example where the award d was essentially taken away because of what we later learned do you think someone like Lance Armstrong and others whove had the awards taken away could ever have them given back or should they d. Well im i am an even and i 2nd chance but im not on the committee obviously we have our d roles and boundaries and so and wants to do that. Breaking the law breaking the rules to being caught cheating naturally asked him to give the truck respect because this is not a sport that is for example is it is a lot lympics we have a doping test on our grand slams and all the important tournament players get tested and if players dont pass to cannot compete not only then attack next tennis tournament but all to do lympics so that applies to cycling as well. We have a very famous psycho usually was 2nd behind them so his name is the an oldish so yeah an oldish wouldnt want to Tour De France 7 times if he would have beaten Lance Armstrong so d we live in a world of rules and regulations thats just part of it if you break these rules you have to pay a pretty high price fair play and playing. A sensual you know whether thats 10 as a psychiatric and you know when we when i was a little boy i was taught d by my father force and at my 1st teach on the cold that my you know they put a crop those are the rules that apply for you and everybody else if you want to participate in teh particular contests and that hasnt changed when i 1st played my professional tennis 2 i was part of the a. T. P. Tour and they had a set of rules if you break em you kick out 10000. 00 only include cheating getting to lets you know this is breaking your own record so at tekken you have the player you know using foul language with the amp by all that is part of my sport and if you break if youre great if i break them i cannot sinister contests sounds like youre saying principles matter ethics matter morals matter here. Im the fall. For most important things i teach to my children every day. Tell me a little bit about your foundation to spoil sport for Good Foundation is. Core you know we obviously love the red cup but then its blue not because the color of law d is of blue but the foundation is what matters most you know i havent fucked up where im from when i was a little boy i was given the opportunity in west d germany to play tennis so d all my my you know kind of members we havent forgotten where were from so we use we use this good plantation to create in projects all around the world. In social different over puts. And you can social difficult. To to make them. Make possible if not them to. In a sporting would be if not to you know to play a bit of cricket simply because we hope that one day these 71012 year old can be can be a wall champion and all can can make a living out of sport and therefore better his life and maybe to live family so we have you know hundreds of projects all around the world you know whether thats india what are the africa and america even germany and few projects and we support financially and we have a point that decides which which projects whats what aisle and then date they get the you know the Financial Support but also to be able to more simple off the academy and then we sort of Academy Members to these various approaches got them on the wall then for meet them out of the ark i mean i think that speaks all d of the cabinet members this is something were very proud of and we can continue to be so part of your character seems to be very here istic and i use the definition of the word juristic into love to teach you love to share your love to give people something of what you have which is really interesting one person in particular whos been the recipient of that is jack of edge who you apparently have been what training now for the last 3 years is that correct. No animal i was just coached with 3 successful years i consider no but sadly now hopefully says the same about me and we had a wonderful run and im the head of german tennis now so i look at all d the all the boys was it together with with the coaches and im also responsible for the National Team we call the davis cup with with captain mike a call a month so d i stuck in tennis but you know whats important to me tennis is giving me everything i have today the reason im talking to you is because of tennis because a woman and yes i had to win a match or 2 but ultimately i was giving a chance suppose all to better my life ive been reading a lot of articles and youre quoted recently. Someone. A lot. About the future of tennis and i hear you say that djokovic is great the doll is great and federer is great but you seem to be saying that its time for new names and new faces to come out what whats your point whats the point youre trying to make with that. I i talked about the young generation where somebody has to carry the mental. Note as down so poorly until the 15 years and so some reason. Challenging them on a week to week basis and i criticize them a little bit because i almost feel that they have it saved right behind you screen legend yet i want to see i want to see its its a pos its so i have. So many other medically treating beasties world beaters when theyre still good i hate to see the moment when the 3 mentioned who would try and bend the young generation all that takes you know my days i had to beat a meccano i had to beat a lendl i had to beat a belly and those matches would have best what a young wants not only challenging the top but actually beating them and thats why i want to i want to inspire them a little bit of saying were just a little bit hot and dont dont be complacent in the shadow 2 of federer. Turning the other way around sounds like youre saying we need a new one or can. I why wouldnt i mean its time and i mean its so easy to commentate that maxes of you know cetera and know that because ive done it so often but i dont want to talk about met the death i want to talk about you know even though those names are not the easy to dispell but i now work on it so because the double sided new ambassadors d of our sport and they have to come to the front line and ultimately when the major is how much of it is personality how much of it you know you take a player like noah for example or some of the other guys out there who are a little more colorful. How much of the tell the Young Players dont just be a great tennis player also dont be afraid to go d out there and show who you are to the world to the media for example but handle it correctly. What other mentally you want you want the best tennis players with great course. Snoddy in all raw and charisma one doesnt always go with the other i think its probably easier to win a tennis match and do you know than to be great personality or to be a great personality without winning a tennis match. For both so d in my day still it was easy if we didnt have to microphones on the court weve never heard about being politically correct you know when when i thought i was good enough at 17 i just look at what a thought was mine when i didnt like d d john mcenroe swearing at me us wall back at em it wasnt really much of a sign then nowadays i think they have most shackles on their ankles they cannot really beat themselves because we live in a different world remember and i think theyre thats that so thats a war and its a pity but thats the world we live and yes we are a family friend hes for that i want i want my children to listen to you know young 21 year old swearing maybe to which i met my at it but back in the date that was normal. Why did they call you boom. Famous indian tennis player d called v. Chip. Who became famous because he had a small role in a chamber spahn will be with roger moore he was my 1st job at the park now i was 17 it was 10 years older and i used to hit the ball pretty hard then he stopped hes the reason im called boom boom because at bowlers have never seen somebody hit the ball so hard so in my ice you boom boom speaking of boom boom and hitting the ball hard. Serino it was the best tennis player ever. You know i lost every every h i love d every generation and its very difficult to compare the best players of today with the best players of the ninetys and eightys and seventys yes. She she would one more grand slam she would be the most successful player of all time on her. Good day 8 i dont think anybody could even touch specially on the grass on the uk courts but then we have a. Player in germany called steffi graf she also won all promote it majors then dan obviously you know you have other you know great players like martin out of it love chris evans but it chinking all of them but they play it wouldnt recognize to play with that difference cant show that they travel in the world so its very difficult to compare you know the seventys with what todays game is she to most powerful the most dominant maybe the most important womens player probably since Billie Jean King yes she is by the way is speaking of women great womens tennis players which there are certainly abound right now a lot of people have the argument about whether womens tennis gets the same amount of respect as mens tennis gets and theres always the argument going back about pay for example what is your take on that. I want to say that tennis is. One of the only sports where we have equal prize money in all the majors i am im so im so prole womens tennis i love watching them i love commentating them and and in tech repotted of any major major wouldnt be a drag without womens tennis and im actually in favor. Of the top players have talked about in the last couple weeks of it in the future having a lot more combined events because you have something for every cup of tea you know not everybody likes 8 quick and call for the match some some tentative love us like to have a long grueling 3 hours with the womens match and so i would be a favor of maybe a change circuit where we have a lot more combined events than we do have now hate are you. Taking into account the things that were being told we have to do right now social isolation social distancing Wearing Masks how has it affected you personally. Well i am i am as you can see i like my freedom and for me my freedom was taken away it was probably because the biggest test of my life and the 1st 2 or 3 weeks here in london in the lockdown was difficult i was going up the walls and i just couldnt you know whats happening to the world but then on the other hand i said im healthy my my my mother still alive shes 85 shes healthy you know my kids in a safe place and so im thinking what am i complaining im living in a nice you had. You know i can go out once a day for sets or shopping i can go once a day out in the park you know yes i did stretch my morning walks d to a couple of a horse i had made but that was it so why should be i complaining and what about all the frontline work i see in the n. H. S. I mean the goal every day into how going to the hospital d or trying to have to wants to have this terrible disease and maybe not come home alive is there anything that i havent asked you that you would love to talk about because i find you absolutely intriguing you certainly are a fun person to talk to and youre not afraid to tackle just about any issue whether its political or sports. And i guess hed sometimes floor dad an opinion d but i was always taught by my mother that. Express yourselves you know we have been lucky in growing up in west germany. And always mate made the right of freedom of speech i find it very d important and not not everybody not everybody has to agree but i am a big set of democracy and i certainly listen to other opinions and hopefully we both learn from each other and this is the way i am and this is the way i want to die thats great well on behalf of all the sports fans out there its nice to see someone like yourself who so articulate so connected and with organizations like your foundation and the laureus awards is giving. Back. To the sport in and of itself thank you boris for taking time to take us through your story. Thank you very much for having me enjoy. The. International memorial awards are now open for entries all media professionals are eligible whether youre a freelance journalist work for alternative media or part of a global News Platform to participate published works in video all written for much go to award dot com and to now. Tell me the cost in charting the future we demand in the computing to proceed it is time to assess the economic. Crisis change the Global Economy and if theres going to be recalled