Fourteen matches, five of them at Grand Slams, and the moment the baseline game worked out the big serve. Andre Agassi against Boris Becker, and the rackets behind it.
Andre Agassi and Boris Becker met 14 times between 1988 and 1995, and Agassi won 10 of them. Becker won the first three. After that, Agassi lost only one of the next eleven. Agassi has said he worked out where Becker was serving by watching his tongue.
The Rackets
Prince, then Donnay (Agassi, until 1992) — according to Tennis Nerd, Agassi started his career on the Prince Graphite Oversize, a heavy frame with a 16×19 string pattern. He signed with Donnay in 1989, in a deal that ran until 1992, and won his first major, Wimbledon in 1992, with a Donnay Pro One, according to the Tennis Museum (GB).
Head Radical Tour (Agassi, from 1993) — Head built the Radical for him in 1993, the black-and-yellow “Bumblebee”. He won the 1994 US Open with it, and seven of his eight Grand Slam titles came with Head. See our Head Radical Tour guide.
Becker — played most of his career with Puma rackets, and after Puma stopped making his model he bought the moulds and had them produced in the United States.
The Ball
Their Wimbledon meetings, in 1992 and 1995, were both played with a yellow ball. Wimbledon had given up white in 1986. Here is the story of how white disappeared.
Five Grand Slam Matches
1990 US Open semifinal: Agassi won 6–7, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3.
1991 French Open semifinal: Agassi won 7–5, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1.
1992 Wimbledon quarterfinal: Agassi won 4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, on his way to the title.
1995 Wimbledon semifinal: Becker won 2–6, 7–6, 6–4, 7–6, his only Grand Slam win over Agassi.
1995 US Open semifinal: Agassi won 7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4.
The Verdict
Agassi leads the head-to-head 10–4, and 4–1 at the Grand Slams. The one Becker won, at Wimbledon in 1995 against the world No. 1, took him to his seventh Wimbledon final.
On the record: Agassi, 10–4.
On Grand Slam matches: Agassi, 4–1, with Becker taking the one at Wimbledon in 1995.
Want to play the game the way they saw it? Join the waiting list for The White Ball, or get the free collector’s guide to start your own racket collection.
— The Editor, Court Privée
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