Boris wins Kolkata with charm, personality and nostalgia

Form being at his resplendent best at a pasta cookout at Oberoi Grand, to his brief meeting with the city police cpommissioner Rajeev Kumar, he was a perfect sport legend and gentleman.

"I am thankful to Puma for inviting me here to be a co-hosting TSK 25K in this lovely city. I will be very honoured tomorrow to be part of the race with over 10000 people and that is incredible. I am very proud that they have got a shoe in my name--Boris Becker limited edition. As a little boy I wanted to have the shoes of the stars I admired. I could never imagine 30 years ago that I would have my name on a shoe," Boris later told the media at a packed press conference, but not before posing with the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross stationed at the venue.

Asked about his first Wimbledon win, Boris said: "I had a life before July 7, 1985 and a life after that. It was like a second birth; life changed completely and I became a household name.But the bigger accomplishment was coming back to Wimbledon a year later and defend it at the age of 18. Climbing to the top is one thing and staying there is another."

Becker also spilled out the secret behind his nick name Boom Boom, "Vijay Amritraj was my first doubles partner before I even won the Wimbledon. He was playing with me in Luxemberg and seeing me serve he said Boris I have never seen a boy hitting the ball as hard as you. To make it easier I will call you Boom-Boom. That remained stuck to me even today."

Even as he recounted the importance of running to stay fit, he remembered his rivalry with Ivan Lendl on and off the court: "Lendl tried a number of years to win the Wimbledon. He has won many tournaments and was a great champion. You have to give him credit for that, though I beat him in Wimbledon. He was number one in the world and I was number 2 and for a number of years we were rivals. Naturally as a number two, I wanted to be number one and hence our intense rivalry.

But many years later we again crossed paths as coaches. Ivan has his way about it. He doesnt like any nonsense. He has a dry sense of humour. Over the years we have become friends. His work is very focussed and concentrated. He has worked (Andy) Murray back to number one. You know what I am talking about. I have great respect for him."

Asked though he had his moments of greatness with players like Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras, is there anyone he would have loved to play against: "They were great characters and fabulous players. But yes I would have loved to play Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the centre court oin Wimbledon."

Aske who is the most difficult adversary, Boris said: "Its most difficult to beat the man in the miorror. It is most difficult to win over your own fears and demons. You need to win over yourself before you are strong enough to face your challenger."

While breaking into a banter on why the run has to start so early on a chilly winter morning, Boris recounted his relations with the city and Indian tennis players: "This is my first visit to Kolkata. I am overwhelmed by the love showered on me. This is certainly not my last i promise.

I am in touch with Leander (Paes), (Mahesh) Bhupati. But in fact the player I see most is Sania Mirza. She is the number one in doubles. We see each other in the final weekend when we have this goodluck routine. Everytime we had lunch together, she with her doubles partner and me with my team, we would go on to win. She insisted that in all the important tournament we had lunch together as I bring her luck and she brings me luck. Its true."  

On his new limited edition shoe, the first German to win the Wimbledon said: "I am thankful to Puma for inviting me here to be a co-hosting TSK 25K in this lovely city. I will be very honoured tomorrow to be part of the race with over 10000 people and that is incredible. I am very proud that they have got a shoe in my name--Boris Becker limited edition. As a little boy I wanted to have the shoes of the stars I admired. I could never imagine 30 yeras ago that I would have my name on a shoe."

On who would that star be, the six time grand slam champion signed off: "I would have loved to have worn a Bjorn Borg tennis shoes as a little boy. I camed to tennis because of him."

(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)