"I lost control when a whole country takes over your life" - Boris Becker on the price of winning Wimbledon at 17 years of age

Known as one of the greatest players in tennis history, Boris Becker has a resume that showcases his illustrious career. However, the retired German star revealed his greatest success led to more stress than he was equipped to handle at the time.

After turning pro in 1984, Becker would win his first Grand Slam title just one year later. The 17-year old would defeat Kevin Curren to win the Wimbledon title, becoming the youngest player at that time to win a men's singles Grand Slam title.

The teenager would successfully defend his title a year later, defeating World No.1 Ivan Lendl in straight sets. Becker was the talk of the media during that period, but would later reveal the stress associated with dealing with his newfound stardom at such a young age.

"Winning Wimbledon at 17 didn't help me because it's not something normal in the tennis world," disclosed Becker in an appearance on the High Performance podcast. "I lost control when a whole country takes over your life. That's what happened to me; I lost control of my life. I was judged for everything I did, and looking back now, I think I acted correctly because at 25, I realized I needed to stop; it was too much for me, I wanted to be normal."

"I was also tired of playing 75 matches every season," he continued. "It's terrifying to go back to Wimbledon at 18 and hear people say you won't repeat it again. It's very exhausting to go to Wimbledon and defend your title because you are dealing with the pressure and your own expectations. Dealing with all that makes you go through very lonely moments because you bear it alone."

The German would admit that the success took a toll on him later in life, as he began to crave moments of normalcy. Becker would compare his situation to that currently being experienced by Spanish football star Lamine Yamal, who has been touted as the future of the sport at just 18 years of age.

"Just look at everything that Lamine Yamal is going through nowadays," said the 57-year old. "I think he has a very high risk of facing certain difficulties in ten or fifteen years. In his case, he comes from very humble origins, and now he and his whole family are rich, and many people will approach him for their own interest.
"Everything he does will make headlines in the newspapers; he has lost all his privacy, which is very hard to accept. He needs to have two or three serious people around him."