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Did you know you've become a hero in Germany? Millions saw you on TV.
l didn't know. But ...
I don't know if I'm a hero. Maybe.
Amazing!
Amazing!
McEnroe is giving it all he can.
Some people talk about moments that changed their lives forever.
The life of a seven-year-old changes nearly every day anyway.
Sometimes...
very rarely, there are events that change things completely.
The 25th of July, 1987, was such a day.
And not only because I was aIlowed to watch TV for 6 hours.
ActuaIly...
For 6 hours and 39 minutes,
these two men, talking amiably now,
played hard. There are no ties in tennis.
And from then on, I knew what I wanted to be.
Commentator.
Huh? What do you mean? Commentator?
When I grow up, I want to comment on tennis matches on TV.
No chance.
Tennis commentators ...
They're people who can't play tennis.
That's why they only talk about it.
Tennis commentators are losers.
Alright. Time for bed.
You've used up your TV watching privileges for the week.
I needed to rethink my calling the following morning.
I didn't want to be a loser, for sure.
And Boris was the big winner in the game where there are no ties.
I wanted to be like Boris.
I wanted...
to play tennis.
There's more work involved in being a tennis player than a commentator.
Boris always carried a big bag.
sweat bands, towels, bananas, salt pills,
power bars, dextrose, isotonic drinks, grip tape, shoe laces, 4 rackets,
and tons of bandages.
According to his trainer, blood blisters could form
on his feet during long hardcourt matches. - Gross!
What?
No chance.
5 years from now, Boris Becker will be long forgotten.
What will you do if you get injured and don't finish school? What then?
Sell lottery tickets?
Sports goods for Puma?
There's no future in it.
And while I wondered what my dad meant with "no chance",
I realized I was on my own.
I had to fight against all odds
to have the chance to become the new Boris.
I want ... - He wants to look like Boris Becker.
Or like Boris's younger brother.
But everybody knew that Boris just had an older sister,
and no younger brother.
And she stood by him.
Well, let's see what we can do.
No one saw any similarity between Boris and me.
I had to think of something else.
Build up my own image,
new and different. As Michi.
When Boris decided to quit pIaying, I'd be there
to let Boris's manager make me an offer.
It was a catch-22.
I couldn't afford a racket without an offer.
Without a racket no one would make me an offer.
The day after Boris beat Ivan the Terrible in a brilliant match
at the US Open in 1989,
a sports magazine revealed
he'd won using a new secret weapon.
He had a special rubber wrist
that snapped when he served, giving the ball a terrible spin
and throwing Ivan the Terrible for a spin too.
However I soon found out that this rubber wrist...
was anything but special.
What does it break through?
Yes, Michi.
The ground.
Are you nuts?
"Fault, Stefan Edberg ...
- Switching sides? -Yeah.
... who's going through a lot.
My mom's mood improved gradually as she realized
I was eating more responsibly.
lt looks like it should go faster today than yesterday,
when they played for 4 hours and 1 minute.
Here are a few statistics ...
with little impact here ...
"First serve for Becker: only 54%.
Edberg afterall 69%.
The result was 6-0 for Boris Becker.
Then the unthinkable happened.
With tears in his eyes, Michael Stich,
the new champion ...
at Wimbledon. -Someone else who trained in secret.
A different Michael
Michael Stich. And he beat me to it!
Michael Stitch, as the English pronounce it, finished high school,
waited and started late in tennis.
STICH'S HOT NIGHT
Why did they call him Stich, and not Michael, Micha or Michi?
Because the guy is a bonehead.
Michi, would you get going to school?
I got it. Boris was called Boris because he wasn't a bonehead.
Stich was a bonehead because he beat Boris,
at Wimbledon, Boris's own Iivingroom.
My big day had finaIly come. After saving for 4 years,
I had 199 Marks and 25 Pfennigs.
I had signed up for our town's Junior Champlonship and on my way
to my first match, I took a short detour.
So, how can I help you?
l'd like the Boris Becker racket with a 27/29 string pattern,
and Babolat gut strings, not synthetic fibers.
Boris Becker won with that one at Wimbledon.
But you know that already.
I take it you'd like grip strength 1 or 2?
Everyone caIled him Dankus,
and that was his first name.
He only wanted 150 Marks for the racket.
Boris, he said, was on a downswing since being unseated by Stich.
Next!
Michael Brandt. - Brandt?
Brandt, Brandt ...
Brandt vs. Prudlow.
That's 10 Marks.
Another shandy, Willi!
You'll play two sets, tie break at 6-6. You're ...
court eight. See to it he's ready quickly. Wait!
Afterwards you'll groom the court using a circular motion,
and the court lines will be swept up. Do you understand?
I want to see them again.
Or you'll owe me! Next!
Name!
But somehow everything was different
than with Boris. Different than I expected.
"No officials, no center line judge,"
"no refrigerator with beverages."
W or M? -What? -Jeez.
W or M? - M.
You lose. W. My serve.
Ready?
And then, suddenly, I thought...
it was my turn too ...
to step down.