Tennis legend Boris Becker reveals saucy details of rivalry with Andre Agassi

The German faced Agassi 14 times over an 11-year spell between 1988 and 1999, with his American rival holding a 10-4 edge. After Becker won the first three encounters, Agassi triumphed in 10 of the last 11 meetings, which came from 1990 onwards.

Becker secured 49 titles, including six Grand Slams, during a career spanning from 1984 to 1999. Agassi, who played from 1986 to 2006, won 60 titles, including eight majors.

In 2009, Agassi recalled some brutal comments Becker made about him after he lost to the German in the 1995 Wimbledon semi-finals.

"To be permanently judged by colleagues, the media and the public was horrifying," Agassi told Spiegel.

"And the worst was what Boris Becker said after beating me in the '95 Wimbledon semi-final: that nobody liked me, that I was an elitist, that tournament directors were giving me special treatment, and that I was not able to win on a windy outside court. It hurt, it was personal, and it left a deep wound.

"I like Boris, and if we had dinner today, we would both say that the unfriendly feelings we had for each other back then is long past and that we both talked like juveniles.

"But our lives are not connected anymore. We just see each other at various ceremonies on some centre court every once in a while for three minutes. That's all."

During an appearance on Virgin Radio UK, Becker did not hold back when discussing how he felt about Agassi's emergence on the tour.

"When I first came on the scene in '85 I was branded the new superstar and I liked it," said the former world No 1.

"You know, we all have a little bit of vain and we like when people appreciate us.

"So, when he came on the scene in the early nineties with his long colourful hair and the earrings and you know the born and raised in Vegas, I thought he was a clown, but he took all the publicity, all the attention away from me.

"[To] make matters worse, he was a really good tennis player. Then he started to beat me and he took away all that status that I had, so I was seriously, you know⦠I was very upset. I was very upset about the arrival of Andre Agassi. I didn't like it."

Becker also declared that both Agassi and Pete Sampras were "better" than him and admitted that this led to his retirement.

"You had these two Americans (Agassi and Sampras) that were better than me, point blank," Becker said. "And, you know, I always played tennis to win, I always played tennis to win Wimbledon and to be the number one player.

"I didn't want to play just to be part of it or to be happy with the semi-final. But when Agassi and Sampras came along, they were clearly better than me.

"Hence the reason I started to retire, even though I was still a pretty young tennis player. I couldn't beat them on their best day even when I had my best day."

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