Boris Becker is a name that is well known in the tennis circuit and to anyone of my generation. He’s one of those sport stars that you don’t have to be into their sport to know about them. He won his first out of 6 major singles titles at the age of 17. He had a few nicknames referring to his fast and well placed serves: “Boom-Boom”, “Der Bomber” or (my favourite) “Baron Von Slam”.
After his career as a tennis player he did some coaching and later became a professional poker player.
I met this sizeable man in the small Champaign room at a the Connaught hotel in London. Not the best space to squeeze two 6ft5ish men in with equipment, assistant, two journalists and Boris’ lawyer - but we made it work. Boris had just had his knee operated on as well, so his hands were clutching the handles of his crutches, instead of the handle of his tennis racket as I remembered him. As it was getting dark early I managed to get him outside for 10 minutes before the interview took place. It was then time for the interview, before I got to do the second part of the shoot in the same room. The interview was in German, a language I have not mastered, but I was able to pick up on the negotiations and mood of the interview. It’s one of those times that I am happy to be the photographer. My job is to keep things amicable, let Boris’ mind drift away from any challenges that can come with an interview - and doing that I found Boris to be a nice guy to deal with. We had a laugh and he took directions well.
Shot for Stern
