What happened to the boy wonder?

Meeting Boris Becker during his recent visit to Bahrain was a sweet-n-sour affair: sweet because it stirred nostalgia and rekindled memories of a glorious bygone era, and sour because it was heart-breaking to see the former World No 1 and one of the most gifted tennis players in the grip, in my opinion, of a seemingly mid-age existential crisis.

It was hard to miss the more moderate and middle path either: that Father’s Time does not pause for anybody.
Becker was typically boisterous, endearingly frank, and quite a hit with the kids at the Bahrain Tennis Club. Later in the day, the German legend was picture-perfect in the role of a celebrity TV personality as he mingled with Formula One drivers at the Bahrain International Circuit for some informal chats.
At the end of the day he looked honestly tired, and quite disinterested, as he sipped a fruit juice at a gala dinner and made the mandatory small talk with the usual VIP guests. All this, I admit, is part of a made-to-order celebrity package, and a perfectly orchestrated stage show.
But my trouble began once I started to look beneath that colourful and cosmetic veneer.
There was not even the slightest of traces of the lumbering kid who was not even eligible to drive, old enough to vote or big enough to shave when he beat Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 on the hallowed greens of Wimbledon in 1985 to take the tennis world by storm.
That was a magical year as tennis found a new and refreshing hero in boom boom Becker. Sure he did not beat John McEnrore, Jimmy Connors or Ivan Lendl, but he beat the players who beat them to become the first non-seed, first German and the youngest player to ever win Wimbledon. He was clearly a child of destiny.
It was also the year that I wrote my first column and received my first cheque. For 30 rupees (a little more than half a dollar at today’s exchange rate).
I still remember the picture I chose for that column, a fresh-faced Becker looking as dainty as a white rose holding aloft the Wimbledon crown.
As I looked at Becker now, the carrot-coloured hair had thinned considerably, lost its sheen and honestly deserved some serious caring. There was no twinkle in his eyes, no spring in his stride, and he clearly looked overweight and neglected.
The man-child, the child prodigy and the boy wonder, or whatever, was gone for good. He was more like a stressed out corporate executive contemplating early retirement than a multiple Grand Slam champion in the prime of his second innings.
I wondered what had happened to the most natural, crystal-clear youngster, as Becker’s former manager Ion Tiriac had once described.
Becker, however, is not the only sporting star to face such a quandary. Sports history is littered with more bizarre incidents of former stars going to seeds right in front of their own fans eyes.
In boxing, Mike Tyson is a readymade example. Soccer had George Best and Indian cricket witnessed the making and breaking of Vinod Kambli. In tennis itself, Bjorn Borg went bankrupt after failed businesses and marriages. American football, on the other hand, has its own share of fallen idols, fading stars and disappearing icons.
The greatest of them all, Muhamad Ali himself makes another epic tale.
But I like the flip side of this story which fortunately is not all that gloomy; that of stars going on to play an equally charming second innings after life on the playing field.
My favourites here are cricket legend Don Bradman, Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and soccer great Franc Beckenbauer. Gary Sobers and Pele too have had their days away from the limelight.
After a record-breaking innings as the best batsman on the planet, Bradman went on to become a skilful administrator and astute selector before becoming a much respected but reclusive and exclusive father figure. Bradman is still the benchmark for his feats on and off the field.
New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee seems to be following in the footsteps of Bradman.
Coe has taken his second innings to even greater heights showing the same unflinching nerve, remarkable acumen and great stamina in his endeavours as a politician and the head of the London Olympic committee which will be hosting the 2012 Games.
Coe was the mastermind behind London winning the Olympic Games and during that campaign one could see all the qualities that made him such a great middle distance runner: self belief, foresight, ambition and a strong will to win.
Beckenbauer, on the other hand, is uniquely talented having won the World Cup both as a player and coach. But he has not stopped at that. Moving on despite personal failures, the German was the chief of the organising committee which hosted the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
France’s Michael Platini seems well set to take on the baton from Beckenbauer in soccer while Steve Waugh has already plunged into his second innings by agreeing to support the Australian Olympic team.
Becker, by contrast, seems to have lost his stride somewhere, missed something crucial  and as a result seems to be in a quandary. Or perhaps, like Tiriac said as Becker began plunging down the rankings list in the late 90s, he is the most stubborn human being.
Wonder what is in store for Michael Schumacher?

TENNIS legend Boris Becker may come bouncing back to Bahrain to open a tennis academy if finance for the proposed project is forthcoming, writes Stan Szecowka.
Top level talks with potential investors will be taking place over the next two weeks.
Becker met fans, business leaders and royalty in the kingdom during a visit to the Riffa Views Signature Estates project development as part of a partnership to promote the luxury residential and lifestyle community.
His visit was his first official activity as a Riffa Views figurehead which will involve him working closely with the project to develop an international sports profile both for the development and Bahrain as a whole.
The visit was so successful that the management teams from both parties held talks to discuss whether the “special relationship” could be further developed.
Richard Browning, Riffa Views chief executive officer, told GulfWeekly: “An academy is being discussed – they are particularly popular in the States and in Europe where they not only have the full support of their local communities but also attract people from all over for tennis-coaching holidays.
“We are talking about appointing two or three professional coaches and providing all the facilities necessary and we need to see whether it would work in Bahrain.
“We would not consider putting it in place and then walking away. We aim to leave a sustainable legacy in everything we do.”
Although Becker has worked in his home country in helping to develop tennis talent this project would be a new opportunity for the former Wimbledon champion, alongside a host of business ventures he is now involved in including sports media work and launching his own Becker fashion brand.
He said: “I do not have a Boris Becker Academy anywhere-else and tennis is a part of me. At this point of time it is a project I would very much like to become involved in.”