Benjamin Becker
 | ||
| Country |  Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Residence | Orscholz, Germany | |
| Date of birth | June 16, 1981 | |
| Place of birth | Merzig, Saarland, West Germany | |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |
| Turned pro | 2005 | |
| Plays | Right-handed; two-handed backhand | |
| Career prize money | US$1,182,511 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record | 51–67 | |
| Career titles | 1 | |
| Highest ranking | No. 38 (March 5, 2007) | |
| Current ranking | No. 40 (February 8, 2010) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 2R (2010) | |
| French Open | 1R (2007, 2008) | |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2006, 2008, 2009) | |
| US Open | 4R (2006) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record | 18–33 | |
| Career titles | 0 | |
| Highest ranking | No. 89 (October 8, 2007) | |
| Last updated on: August 3, 2009. | ||
Benjamin Becker (born June 16, 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 (136.7 mph), along with powerful groundstrokes.
Becker was born at Merzig, Saarland, then part of West Germany; he is not related to former World No. 1 Boris Becker. He won the 2004 NCAA singles title while helping Baylor University to the team title.
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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 #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 #421 at the beginning of the year to #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.[1]
2007
2007 saw Becker improving his ranking further in the early season, including through his semi-final appearances in the ATP event held in Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, where he lost to world #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 #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 a strong performance 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 a.m. Lleyton Hewitt has the distinction of winning the latest match, finishing his third round encounter in the Australian Open with Marcos Baghdatis at a whopping 4:34 am.
2009
In 2009, Becker won his first ATP World Tour title in 's-Hertogenbosch in Holland, defeating local hope Raemon Sluiter.[2]
| Legend (Wins) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 Series (0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 Series (1) |
Wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | June 20, 2009 | 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass |  Raemon Sluiter | 7–5, 6–3 |
Runner-ups (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 30 September 2007 | Bangkok, Thailand | Hard |  Dmitry Tursunov | 2–6, 1–6 |
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2010 Australian Open.
| Tournament | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | A |
| French Open | A | 1R | 1R | A | |
| Wimbledon | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | |
| U.S. Open | A | A | 1R | 4R |
References
- ^ Benjamin Becker Tennis: December 2006
- ^ "German Becker claims maiden title". BBC Sport. 2009-06-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8111142.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
External links
 | Wikinews has related news: American tennis player Andre Agassi retires |
- Official website
- Benjamin Becker at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Becker Recent Match Results
- Becker World Ranking History
- Baylor University Profile
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