‘He Was Getting Shaky’ – John McEnroe Once Left Disgusted After an Epic Encounter With Boris Becker

In 1987, two legendary tennis players, John McEnroe and Boris Becker played what is considered as one of the best matches in the history of the sport. Moreover, this was one of the longest matches in history as well.

Notably, it was a Davis Cup tie between Germany and the United States, which had plenty of stakes at that time. In the end, Becker beat McEnroe to put Germany in a commanding position. Both McEnroe and Becker later spoke about this match, as they shared their experience.

John McEnroe and Boris Becker talked about their epic match at Davis Cup

In this Davis Cup match, both McEnroe and Becker gave their all for their country, as they played for 6 hours and 21 minutes. In the end, Becker won that epic showdown 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2.

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After the match, McEnroe said, “I gave it all I had, and it was a hell of a tennis match. I wish the results were different, but it’s nice to be a part of a match like that.“

Although the American player looked frustrated and upset during the match, he did enjoy the occasion. The main turning point of the match came during the second set, as McEnroe missed an easy volley when the scoreline was 10-9, 0-30 in his favor. After almost 2 hours and 35 minutes, Becker finally won the second set 15-13. Notably, a tie-breaker was not available at the Davis Cup tournament at that time.

Later, Becker talked about his epic second set win, as he said about McEnroe, “At that moment, I realised pretty much that he was getting shaky. And it made me a little stronger. I knew I was going to put the ball in and he was going to have to make the winners.“

The third set saw another enthralling battle between the two, as McEnroe edged the German player 10-8. However, Becker won the next two sets 6-2, 6-2 to win the match and provided a crucial victory for Germany. Eventually, Germany went on to win the tie against the US to move to the final.

McEnroe and Becker’s rivalry

In terms of their head-to-head record, Becker was the more dominant one as he had an 8-2 winning record against McEnroe. Incidentally, McEnroe won their first encounter in 1985. However, the German player showed his dominance over the American star, as he won his next six matches.

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Additionally, both of their playing styles were quite different, as McEnroe was more of a serve and volley player. Whereas, Becker was a powerful baseline player, with a powerful serve and ground shots.

If we look at their individual career, McEnroe had a far more successful career than Becker, as he won 7 Grand Slam titles, compared to Becker’s 6. Despite different styles of play, fans used to love watching them battle on the tennis court, as they had many epic encounters in the past.