In Boris Becker’s opinion, tennis played prior to 1990 is rendered invalid by the ATP Tour’s record-keeping.
The ATP Tour was originally established in 1990, but Becker began playing professionally in 1983 and was a formidable competitor in the Grand Prix events, which were the forerunners of the ATP Masters series.
After learning that Alexander Zverev had matched his record of 11 ATP Masters final appearances, Becker commented.
The German legend competed in 21 finals at the level equivalent to the ATP Masters overall, but his eight Super Masters victories and ten final appearances are not included in the official records of the ATP Tour.
“I know tennis was played before 1990, but even while I greatly admire Sascha @AlexZverev for making it to the Rome final—in fact, I will be cheering for him to win the trophy twice—indicating that all titles will no longer be valid? Simply stating,” Becker stated on X.
Even after Zverev won the Italian Open twice, the Germans continued to back him.
Alexander Zverev evaluates rivals for the French Open and offers predictions about Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Despite reaching the Italian Open final in 1994, the former world number one never managed to win the Rome championship.
In 1985, Becker emerged victorious in the Cincinnati Open Grand Prix. Three more titles followed in 1986, with victories in Toronto, Tokyo, and Paris. In 1987 and 1988, he won the Indian Wells tournament twice in a row. Becker went on to win the 1988 Tokyo and Stockholm championships.
In 1989, he was eliminated in the Monte Carlo final but went on to win his second Paris Indoors title that same year.
Becker would lose his sole Italian Open final and two more Monte Carlo finals between 1990 and the year he retired in 1999. When the Stockholm Open was included in the ATP Super 9, he won three of the tournament’s finals. Becker participated in eleven finals and won six Masters titles during this time.
The German No. 1 has now tied Becker for most Masters championships and final appearances after Zverev’s victory at the Italian Open.
In addition, Zverev has won two championships at the Madrid Open and ATP 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Canada.
Records from the pre-ATP Tour era are not required to be strictly honoured by the ATP Tour.
Officially, Zverev is now Germany’s most successful player of that era, matching Becker’s record at the Masters. Nevertheless, Becker still has 49 professional tennis championships to his name in addition to his six Grand Slam victories.