Benjamin Becker

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Benjamin Becker
File:Becker RG15 (19282133136).jpg
Becker at the 2015 French Open
Country (sports)  Germany
Residence Mettlach, Germany
Born (1981-06-16) 16 June 1981 (age 43)
Merzig, Saarland, West Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro 2005
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
College Baylor Bears
Prize money US$ 4,104,807
Singles
Career record 149–208
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 35 (27 October 2014)
Current ranking No. 96 (23 May 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2015)
French Open 3R (2015)
Wimbledon 2R (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014)
US Open 4R (2006)
Doubles
Career record 58–106
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 58 (5 July 2010)
Current ranking No. 468 (16 May 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 3R (2011)
French Open 2R (2010, 2012)
Wimbledon 3R (2007)
US Open 2R (2010)
Last updated on: 22 May 2016.

Benjamin Becker (born 16 June 1981) is a German professional tennis player. Becker's primary weapon is a very big serve that he can hit at up to 220 km/h (140 mph), along with powerful groundstrokes.

Becker was born at Merzig, Saarland, then part of West Germany. He won the 2004 NCAA singles title while helping Baylor University to the team title. A rarity in men's tennis, Becker attended college for four years before turning professional.

Becker's most prolific achievement was retiring Andre Agassi from professional tennis, defeating the latter in the third round of the 2006 US Open -which was Agassi's last tournament as a professional player-. He is not related to fellow countryman and retired professional tennis player Boris Becker.[1]

Early life and family

Benjamin Becker was born on 16 June 1981 in Merzig, West Germany, to Jorg, a tax office worker, and Ulrike. Becker has one younger sister.[2] From 2001-2005, Becker played tennis at Baylor University, winning the NCAA singles championship as a junior in 2004 and leading the Bears to the team title that year. In 2005, the team finished runner-up at the NCAA tournament and won the ITA team indoor championship. He is the school's all-time leader in singles and doubles wins.[3]

Career

2006

2006 was a breakthrough year for Becker. In June of that year, he qualified for Wimbledon and defeated Juan Ignacio Chela, before losing in the second round to Fernando Verdasco.

At the 2006 U.S. Open, he defeated Filippo Volandri and No. 30 seed Sébastien Grosjean to reach the third round, where he defeated former World No. 1 Andre Agassi in 4 sets. The match was especially noteworthy as it was Agassi's last on the ATP circuit: he had announced that the 2006 U.S. Open would be his final tournament, and his defeat was followed by an 8-minute standing ovation from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. The day after Becker's win over Agassi, his own U.S. Open bid was ended by Andy Roddick in the fourth round.

Following the 2005 U.S. Open, Becker confirmed his status as a promising newcomer on the ATP Tour, improving his ranking from No. 421 at the beginning of the year to No. 62 in November 2006. As a result, Becker received the Newcomer of the Year award during the 2006 ATP Awards, and won the Sportsman of the Year award in his part of Germany. After completing his first season on the ATP Tour, Benjamin made the fastest rise of any player into the top 50.[4]

2007

2007 saw Becker improving his ranking further in the early season, including through his semi-final appearances at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, where he lost to world No. 8 James Blake; and in San Jose at the SAP Open where he lost to Ivo Karlović, the tallest player on the ATP Tour (6' 10"). As a result, Becker's ATP ranking peaked at No. 38 in March 2007. However, in 2007 Becker was unable to progress beyond the first round in any of the Grand Slams or ATP Masters Series events, with the exception of the Monte Carlo Masters, where he lost in the second round to Thomas Johansson.

Given his strong performance at the U.S. Open in the preceding year, his first round loss in the 2007 edition caused his ranking to drop to 79. Despite good form in Bangkok, where he lost in the finals to Dmitry Tursunov, Becker has thus far been unable to regain a ranking in the top 50.

Becker has the distinction of having played the match that finished second latest in ATP history, defeating Jiří Novák in Tokyo in 2006 at 3.24 am.

2009

In 2009, Becker won his first ATP World Tour title, the Ordina Open in the Netherlands, defeating local hope Raemon Sluiter.[5]

2010

File:Benjamin Becker at the 2010 US Open 01 (cropped).jpg
Becker at the 2010 US Open.

Becker reached the semifinal of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle/Westfalen, the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch and the Thailand Open in Bangkok. At the Grand Slam tournaments Becker reached the second round of the 2010 Australian Open as well as in Wimbledon and at the 2010 US Open. He was knocked out in the first round at the 2010 French Open. He qualified for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, but lost to Gaël Monfils in the first round. He advanced to the second round of the IF Stockholm Open, where he lost to second seed Robin Söderling. He reached the quarterfinals at St.Petersburg, where he lost to Illya Marchenko. He qualified for the BNP Paribas Open in Paris-Bercy, where he lost to Gaël Monfils in the second round after a first-round win over Denis Istomin. He went 29–31 on the season and earned a career-high $543,431.

2011

Becker reached the second round in Brisbane and at the Australian Open, losing to Santiago Giraldo and Alexandr Dolgopolov. He also reached the second round at Indian Wells. The rest of the year, he played mostly Challenger tournaments.

2012

In 2012, Becker reached the second round in Doha, losing to Gaël Monfils, but he was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Marcos Baghdatis. His best run of the year was in Memphis, where he reached the semifinals, defeating Dudi Sela, Xavier Malisse, and Łukasz Kubot, before succumbing to Milos Raonic.

He defeated Olivier Rochus in the first round in Miami, but then lost to Julien Benneteau. He won a Challenger title in Nottingham, before reaching the second round at Wimbledon with a win over James Blake. He was eliminated by Radek Stepanek.

He made the quarterfinals in Newport, Rhode Island, avenging his loss to Raonic in the second round, but losing to Ryan Harrison. In Washington DC, he defeated one American, Steve Johnson, in the first round, but fell to another, Sam Querrey, in the second. He also made the second round in Winston-Salem, defeating Tatsuma Ito, but losing to Jarkko Nieminen.

2013

Becker reached the second round of the Australian Open, losing to Juan Martín del Potro. He then suffered a succession of first-round exits before again reaching the final in Nottingham, where he lost to Matthew Ebden. At the Aegon Championships, he reached the quarterfinals, defeating Bernard Tomic, Lukáš Rosol, and Alexandr Dolgopolov, before losing to eventual champion Andy Murray. At Wimbledon, he went down to Murray again in the first round.

He won a Challenger even in Istanbul in July. In Cincinnati, he qualified and reached the second round, only to meet Rafael Nadal.

At the US Open, he defeated Lukáš Rosol in the first round, but lost to Novak Djokovic in the second. He reached the quarterfinals in Metz with wins over two Frenchmen, Benoît Paire and Albano Olivetti, but lost to another, Nicolas Mahut. He won another Challenger tournament in Eckental, Germany in October.

2014 - Career High Ranking

In 2014, Becker reached the second round at Chennai, losing to Stanislas Wawrinka. He also reached the second round in Memphis, defeating Lukas Lacko, but succumbing to Kei Nishikori.

In Miami, he qualified and made the fourth round of the main draw, where he lost to Milos Raonic. In Houston, he made the second round, where he was eliminated by Jack Sock.

He made the final of the Rosmalen grass tournament that he had won in 2009, but he lost in the final to Roberto Bautista Agut.

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 series (1–2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 24 September 2007 PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok, Thailand Hard (i) Russia Dmitry Tursunov 2–6, 1–6
Winner 1. 14 June 2009 Ordina Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Netherlands Raemon Sluiter 7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 2. 21 June 2014 Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Spain Roberto Bautista Agut 6–2, 6–7(2–7), 4–6

Doubles: 2 (0–2)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 series (0–2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 2 August 2009 LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, United States Hard Germany Frank Moser United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan		 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up 2. 14 February 2010 SAP Open, San Jose, United States Hard (i) Argentina Leonardo Mayer United States Mardy Fish
United States Sam Querrey		 7–6(7–3), 7–5

Challenger finals

Singles: 15 (9–6)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (9–6)
Outcome Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 13 February 2006 Joplin, US Hard (i) United States Jesse Witten 3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Winner 1. 13 March 2006 Salinas, Ecuador Hard United States Jesse Witten 4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 2. 10 April 2006 Valencia, US Hard Canada Frédéric Niemeyer 6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 3. 31 July 2006 Segovia, Spain Hard Argentina Juan Martín del Potro 4–6, 7–5, 4–6
Runner-up 4. 13 November 2006 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Hard (i) Russia Dmitry Tursunov 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Winner 2. 26 January 2009 Heilbronn, Germany Carpet Slovakia Karol Beck 6–4, 6–4
Winner 3. 6 April 2009 Baton Rouge, US Hard United States Rajeev Ram 6–2, 3–6, 6–4
Winner 4. 27 April 2009 Rhodes, Greece Hard Germany Simon Stadler 7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 5. 4 May 2009 Ramat HaSharon, Israel Hard Chinese Taipei Yen-Hsun Lu 3–6, 1–3 ret.
Winner 5. 18 May 2009 Cremona, Italy Hard South Africa Izak van der Merwe 7–6(7–3), 6–1
Winner 6. 10 June 2012 Nottingham, UK Grass Russia Dmitry Tursunov 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner 7. 11 November 2012 Urtijëi, Italy Carpet Italy Andreas Seppi 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 6. 9 June 2013 Nottingham, UK Grass Australia Matthew Ebden 5–7, 6–4, 5–7
Winner 8. 14 July 2013 Istanbul, Turkey Hard Israel Dudi Sela 6–1, 2–6, 3–2 ret.
Winner 9. 3 November 2013 Eckental, Germany Carpet Belgium Ruben Bemelmans 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–4

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Current at end of 2016 French Open.

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 SR W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R 1R A 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 0 / 9 5–9
French Open Q3 1R 1R A 1R A 1R 1R 1R 3R[a] 1R 0 / 8 2–7
Wimbledon 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R A 2R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 9 6–9
US Open 4R 1R Q1 1R 2R A 1R 2R 1R 1R 0 / 8 5–8
Win–Loss 4–2 0–4 1–3 1–2 3–4 1–1 1–4 2–4 1–4 4–3 0–2 0 / 34 18–33
ATP Masters Series 1000
Indian Wells A 1R 1R LQ 1R 2R A 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 7 1–7
Miami A 1R 2R 2R 4R 1R 2R 1R 4R 1R 1R 0 / 10 9–10
Monte Carlo A 2R A A 2R A A A A 1R A 0 / 3 2–3
Rome A 1R LQ A 1R A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Madrid LQ A A A 2R A A A 1R 1R Q2 0 / 3 1–3
Canada A A LQ A A A LQ 1R Q1 1R 0 / 2 0–2
Cincinnati A 1R 1R 2R 1R A LQ 2R 2R Q1 0 / 6 3–6
Shanghai Not Masters Series 1R 1R A A Q1 A A 0 / 2 0–2
Paris A LQ A 2R 2R A LQ A A A 0 / 2 2–2
Hamburg A 1R A Not Masters Series 0 / 1 0–1
Win–Loss 0–0 1–6 1–3 3–4 6–8 1–2 1–1 1–4 3–4 0–5 0–1 0 / 38 17–38
Career Statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 1 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 1 / 3
Year-end Ranking 58 84 129 40 53 304 65 79 40 97 $4,031,768

a 2015 French Open counts as 2 wins, 0 losses. Kei Nishikori received a walkover in the third round, after Becker withdrew because of a muscle tear in his right shoulder,[6] does not count as a Becker loss (nor a Nishikori win).

Doubles Performance Timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Current till 2016 French Open.

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 SR W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R A A 1R 3R A 1R 1R 3R 2R 0 / 7 5–7
French Open 1R A A 2R A 2R 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 6 2–6
Wimbledon 3R A 1R 1R A 2R A 1R 1R 0 / 6 3–6
US Open 1R A 1R 2R A 1R A 2R A 0 / 5 2–5
Win–Loss 2–4 0–0 0–2 2–4 2–1 2–3 0–2 1–4 2–3 1–1 0 / 24 12–24

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Be/B/Benjamin-Becker.aspx
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Benjamin Becker Tennis: December 2006
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards
Preceded by ATP Newcomer of the Year
2006		 Succeeded by
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

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