Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker

A two-part in-depth (it's three and a half hours long) look at the rise, career, private life and fall of Boris Becker. From the position of world No.1, a phenomenon of his time, a breaker of several (often still valid) tennis records and the best, there is a hell a long fall. To say he hit rock bottom is a gross understatement. Boris's tennis career was and is fascinating material in its own right, with a private life plagued by addiction to pills, relationships and the media alike. The downfall in the form of trusting the wrong people, a tendency to sugarcoat "the story needs to be spiced up, I mustn't be boering, even if I'm deliberately lying to myself", bad investments, a career as a commentator, almost diplomat and coach, and of course the financial problems and jail. Gibney has a way with athletes, interviewing Becker during the budding debt scandal and days before he went to jail, and he is not afraid to bring up burning issues – he did it once with Amrstrong and he’s done it here. He managed to get everyone, from top players, coaches to loved ones, in front of the camera. That alone would have been strong enough, but it's not just about Becker in the end. Psychology and the proverbial "in tennis you play against yourself first and then against your opponent" are discussed at length from the point of view of several players. There are several additional themes, the careers of top athletes who have been multi-millionaires since they were teenagers, the use of slurs, etc. There really is a lot and often much more depth than one would expect. And as an added bonus, it's delivered gut-wrenchingly, with Morricone's music and the introduction of famous players with titles like Leone’s. And as with Armstrong and cycling, it's all accessible even to those untouched by tennis because it's all about a fascinating fate in the first place. (10.04.2023)