Following a stellar playing career, German tennis legend Boris Becker has developed into one of the biggest personalities in tennis.
Becker, who won six grand slam titles across his career, went on to coach 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Becker recently congratulated Djokovic for winning his 100th ATP Tour title, and the German is no stranger to victory himself. He won three Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens and a US Open during his illustrious career.
Recently, Becker spoke of a story from ‘good friend’ and eight-time grand slam winner Andre Agassi. The American had claimed a certain trick had helped him to defeat Becker during their careers.
Boris Becker says Andre Agassi’s ‘tongue tick’ story is not true
Speaking on Halle Open’s official YouTube channel, Becker explained why Agassi’s story about ‘a weird tick’ with Boris Becker’s tongue, is not true.
Becker said: “Unfortunately, to tell the truth, that’s just not true. No, first of all, let’s be practical. The tennis court is just under 25 meters long, which means it’s quite a lot for an opponent.
“That’s a lot, the opponent can’t see into my mouth, he has to recognise my tongue and to be honest, sometimes I didn’t even know until just before the shot whether I was going for the forehand or the backhand or slice or kick.
“It comes from Andre Agassi. A very good friend, now of course, who used to be a rival. He comes from Las Vegas and tells me a few stories, which I’ve already heard.”
Agassi, who presented the trophy at this year’s men’s French Open final, had previously made the claim during an interview with ‘Unscriptd.’
The American, who recently made a ‘shocking’ claim about Carlos Alcaraz’s best surface, said: “I started to realise he had this weird tick with his tongue.
“I’m not kidding, he would go into his rocking motion and the same routine, and just as he was about to toss the ball he would stick his tongue out and it would either be right in the middle of his lip or it would be to the left corner of his lip.
“So, if he was serving in the deuce court and he put his tongue in the middle of his lip, he was either serving up the middle or to the body, but if he put it to the side he was going to serve out wide.”
During the same interview, Becker also spoke on a huge problem for current tennis players.
Andre Agassi’s dominant record over Boris Becker
Despite Becker winning their first three encounters from 1988 to 1989, the big-serving German won only one of their next 11 matches.
Agassi, an eight-time major winner, won their last match in the final of the 1999 Salem Open in Hong Kong, triumphing 6-7 6-4 6-4. The occasion marked 11 years after their first battle, where Becker won 4-6 6-3 7-5 during their Indian Wells semi-final.
Becker only won one of their five grand slam matchups, with the German’s sole victory coming at Wimbledon in 1995.
Becker, who became the youngest male winner of Wimbledon when he won the title in 1985 as a 17-year-old, lost in the 1995 final to Agassi’s compatriot, Pete Sampras.
