Becker vs McEnroe on Grass, At Last, to Celebrate Becker's 20th Stella Artois Anniversary

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Boris Becker will celebrate the 20 th anniversary of his first stunning victory at the Stella Artois Championships by playing against John McEnroe on a grass court for the very first time.

Becker, who memorably burst onto the tennis scene by winning the 1985 Stella Artois as a 17-year-old and then Wimbledon three weeks later, will face McEnroe in a special challenge match after the pair have joined the BBC television team for the singles final.

Despite winning eight Stella Artois and six Wimbledon titles between them, Becker and McEnroe have never previously played each other on grass. The prospect of finally doing so is one that McEnroe relishes.

“I always wished I could play Boris on grass, so it's nice that I can get out there with him before it is too late! I'm looking forward to it quite a bit,” he said.

Becker and McEnroe are the only two players to have won the Stella Artois Championships four times since the inception of the event in 1979. McEnroe reached the final of the first six editions between 1979 and 1984, winning the event three times in a row between '79 and '81, and again in '84. He followed both of his '81 and '84 victories with titles at Wimbledon . Becker lifted the Stella Artois trophy in '85, '87, '88 and ‘96, and also won Wimbledon titles in '85, '86 and '89.

“The times that I did well at Wimbledon always coincided with me doing well at the Stella Artois ,” said McEnroe. “I decided not to play in '85, the year that Boris won, because I wanted to stay in the States and train on the grass courts there, but the grass courts in New York were a disaster! In hindsight, that was a mistake.”

McEnroe's loss was Becker's gain, and the German rampaged through the draw, beating Pat Cash in the quarterfinals and Johan Kriek in the final to become the first player, other than McEnroe or Jimmy Connors, to lift the trophy.

“I didn't realise how good Boris was at the time,” said McEnroe.

“The first time that I played Boris was in Milan in March that same year – 1985. He was complaining about calls, bitching and whining about everything, so I said to him during the match: ‘You know, you've got to win something before you can start complaining'. Little did I know that he would win the Stella Artois and Wimbledon back-to-back just four months later! He was so physically mature and mentally tough for his age, and in retrospect I would have loved to have had the chance to play him during that period of time.”

He will get his chance on the 12 th June, 2005 , and anyone expecting it to be just ‘hit-and-giggle' will be in for a surprise.

“I don't play any match that isn't competitive, especially against Boris – I had a lousy record against him,” McEnroe said. “I lost to him most of the time in my career and one of my goals has been to turn that around.”

Defending champion Andy Roddick, three-time winner Lleyton Hewitt, and Britain's Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski have already announced their intention to vie for the Stella Artois singles title when the event gets underway, 6 th -12 th June.

Boris Becker vs. John McEnroe

Head to Head: Becker 8-2

Year Venue Round Surface Winner Score

1992 Paris Indoor R32 Carpet Becker 6-4, 6-4

1992 Rotterdam S Carpet Becker 6-2, 7-6

1992 AusOpen R32 Hard McEnroe 6-4, 6-3, 7-5

1989 Masters, S Carpet Becker 6-4, 6-4

1989 Paris Indoor S Carpet Becker 7-6, 3-6, 6-3

1989 Milan S Carpet Becker 6-2, 6-3

1988 Indianapolis F Hard Becker 6-4, 6-2

1987 GER V USA DC RR Carpet Becker 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2

1986 Stratton Mountain S Hard Becker 3-6, 7-5, 7-6

1985 Milan R32 Carpet McEnroe 6-4, 6-3

Becker McEnroe

Stella Artois Titles: 4 ('85, '87, '88, '96) 4 ('79, '80, '81, '84)

Wimbledon Titles: 3 ('85, 86, '89) 3 ('81, '83, '84)

Highest ranking: No.1 No.1

Other GS titles: 3 (US Open '89 4 (US Open ‘79, '80, '81, ‘84)

Aus Open '91, '95)

Career Titles: 49 76

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