Boris Becker Launches Limited Edition IWC Watch

December 24, 2005 (PRLEAP.COM) Lifestyle News
Former world number one professional tennis player and six-time grand slam champion, Boris Becker has endorsed a limited edition watch named after him and produced by leading Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen.

Becker was the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a teenager in 1985. He took the tennis world by storm becoming the first un-seeded player and the youngest-ever male player to win the Wimbledon singles title. At that time Becker was Wimbledon's first German champion, and the youngest-ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 7 months.

“Twenty years have passed since the young tennis talent marked the start of a breathtaking sporting career with his victory in the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon and we celebrate this milestone with the launch of a Portuguese Chrono-Automatic Boris Becker watch,” said IWC Brand Manager, Gianfranco D’Attis.

The Boris Becker watch in stainless steel, is exclusive and limited to only 250 pieces around the world. The watch depicts the former Wimbledon champion in a victorious pose as an elaborate engraving on the case back. “This is the image that once went round the entire world and elevated Becker to the status of a sporting icon for a whole generation,” said D’Attis.

The inscription “Boris Becker, Wimbledon Victory 1985” frames his moment of triumph. Wimbledon’s lush green lawns inspire the dark green dial and matching green crocodile leather strap.

At 6 feet, 3 inches, Becker's game featured a big serve, heavy groundstrokes and penetrating volleys. Becker's tennis was based on an all-action style that earned him the nickname ‘Boom Boom’. His desire to throw himself at anything and everything with acrobatic diving volleys during his matches particularly endeared him to the crowds. His heavy forehand and powerful return of serve were also very significant factors in his rise to the top.

Becker was the only son of an architect who built the tennis centre where Becker and another German tennis great, Steffi Graf, played against each other as children. He turned professional in 1984, and won his first professional doubles title that year in Munich.

1989 was the pinnacle of Becker's career. He defeated Swede Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the Wimbledon final, and then went on to beat Lendl in the final of the US Open. He also helped West Germany retain the Davis Cup that year.

He finished his career with 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. Besides his six Grand Slam titles, he was also a singles winner in the tennis' year-end championships in 1988, 1992 and 1995, and at the Grand Slam Cup in 1996. He won a record-equalling four singles titles at London's Queen's Club.

In Davis Cup, Becker’s career win-loss record was 54-12, including an incredible 38-3 in singles matches. He also won the other two major international team titles playing for Germany - the Hopman Cup (in 1995) and the World Team Cup (in 1989 and '98). Becker's career prize earnings totalled in excess of $25 million. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

Becker now plays on the Senior ATP Tour. He remains a hugely popular figure at Wimbledon and commentates there for the BBC each year.

A keen watch enthusiast, Boris Becker has joined forces with IWC, a company he has long admired and with which he has much in common. His love of mechanical watches, his cosmopolitanism and his charisma make him an ideal brand ambassador for IWC.

Leading impulses for the mechanical watch come from IWC. With its 390 employees, the company manufactures these sought-after pieces. Since the year 2000 IWC has belonged to the watch division of Richemont SA.

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