He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon. Since he retired from the professional tour, media work and colorful aspects of his personal life have kept him in the headlines.

Boris Becker is the only son of an architect who built the center where he learned the game. As a youngster, he was often the weakest of the boys in the area's tennis program, and therefore often ended-up playing the strongest of the girls in the program who was usually another future star, Steffi Graff in training matches. Becker turned professional in 1984, and won his first professional doubles title that year in Munich.

The redheaded teenager took the sports world by storm in 1985. He won his first top-level singles title in June at Queen's Club and then, two weeks later, became the first unseeded player, the youngest-ever male, and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets. At the time he was the youngest-ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 7 months (broken by Michael Chang who won the French Open when he was 17 years, 3 months). Two months after his triumph, Becker went on to also become the youngest winner of the Cincinnati Masters.

Becker's game was based on a huge serve that earned him the nicknames "Boom Boom" and "Baron von Slam". His penchant to throw himself at everything with diving volleys endeared him to the crowds. His heavy forehand and powerful return of serve were also very significant factors in his game.

In 1986, Becker successfully defended his Wimbledon title, defeating Ivan Lendl (world #1 at the time) in straight sets. Becker unexpectedly lost in the second round of Wimbledon in 1987. But he was back in the final again in 1988 where he lost in four sets to Stefan Edberg in a match that marked the start of one of Wimbledon's great rivalries. Becker also helped West Germany win its first Davis Cup in 1988.

1989 was possibly the pinnacle of Becker's career. He defeated Edberg in straight sets in the Wimbledon final, and then beat Lendl in the US Open. He also helped West Germany retain the Davis Cup. However the World No. 1 rank still eluded him. In 1990, Becker met Edberg for the third consecutive year in the Wimbledon final, losing in an epic five-set match.

Becker reached the final of the Australian Open for the first time in his career in 1991, where he defeated Lendl to finally claim the World No. 1 ranking. He would be ranked No. 1 for several weeks during 1991, though he never managed to finish a year ranked as the World's No. 1 player. Becker reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final in 1991, where he unexpectedly lost in straight sets to his German compatriot Michael Stich.

Becker and Stich teamed up in 1992 to win the men's doubles Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Becker reached the Wimbledon final for the seventh time in 1995, where he lost in four sets to Pete Sampras. His sixth and final Grand Slam title came in 1996, when he defeated Michael Chang in the final of the Australian Open.

Becker was most comfortable playing on fast-playing surfaces, particularly grass courts. He reached a few finals playing on clay courts, but never won a clay court tournament in his professional career. His best performances at the French Open came in reaching the semi-finals in 1987, 1989, and 1991.

Over the course of his career, Becker won 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. Besides his six Grand Slam titles, he was also a singles winner in the year-end Masters championship in 1988, 1992, and 1995, and at the Grand Slam Cup in 1996. He won a record-equalling four singles titles at London's Queen's Club. In Davis Cup, his career win-loss record was 54-12, including a 38-3 in singles. He also won the other two major international team titles playing for Germany, the Hopman Cup (in 1995) and the World Team Cup (in 1989 and '98). In 2003, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

Becker now plays on the Senior ATP Tour and Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis tour. He remains a hugely popular figure at Wimbledon and commentates there for the BBC each year.