Australian Open 2023: Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina to secure title

Stats wouldn't really give the picture of how Becker loomed over Wimbledon in the next few years. He went on to win again in 1986 and in 1989. He reached the finals four other times. His contests with Stefan Edberg produced some of the best serve & volley on grass.

Becker, along with Steffi Graf in women's tennis, put Germany firmly on the tennis map in the mid and late 80's. This is both of them after winning at Wimbledon in 1989. They would be joined sometime later by compatriot Michael Stich, who upset Becker's title bid in 1991.

Becker also won the U.S. Open in 1989. He triumphed at the Australian Open in 1991 and in 1996. He became world number one in 1991, and teamed up with Stich to win the 1992 Olympic men's doubles gold. But clay remained his weakness; he never won any significant tournament on that surface.

He retired in 1999 with a tally of 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. From then on, Becker would remain in the limelight not for always the right reasons. More than his spells as television commentator and then as coach, it was his love life and financial problems that made headlines.

The champion, who won a fortune from winnings and endorsements, lost nearly all of it to a lavish lifestyle, tax problems, patchy investments and a multi-million dollar divorce settlement with first wife Barbara. In 2002, a Munich court gave him a suspended sentence for tax evasion.

Last weekend, Becker was jailed for two and a half years by a London court for hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets after he was declared bankrupt. He would serve half his sentence behind bars and the remainder on licence.

Among those heartbroken at the turn of events is world number Novak Djokovic. Becker coached Djokovic between 2014 and 2016, and guided him to six of his 20 Grand Slam titles. Reports say that in prison, the legend could be a gym instructor to fellow inmates and may even teach some of them 'paddle tennis'.