TENNIS
Who is the youngest male player to win Wimbledon?
The third major of the calendar is the most prestigious tennis event and everybody wants to win it. But who was the youngest male player to lift the trophy?
Once Wimbledon starts 128 players try to become the champions and lift the oldest and most prestigious tournament in world tennis.
This year, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are regarded as the main favorites to reach the glory at the All England Club facilities in London, with the Serb looking to lift his eighth Wimbledon title.
While Nole represents the experience, Alcaraz is one of the young guns that are ready to take over as part of the next generation. Alcaraz already proved he was a special player last year, winning his first Grand Slam tournament at the age of 19, when he went all the way in the US Open.
The youngest male player to conquer Wimbledon
While talents like Alcaraz, Holger Rune, or Jannik Sinner are regarded as the natural replacements for Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and Roger Federer’s ‘Big Three’ and are expected to emerge victorious at Wimbledon, there was a time in the past when player reigned supreme in the tournament at an even earlier age.
Boris Becker was the youngest player to win the gentlemen’s singles title. The German star was 17 years and 227 days when he won the 1985 Championships. Before Becker, the youngest champion was Wilfred Baddeley, who was 19 when he won the trophy in 1881.
He also became the youngest ever male to win a major, a record that was later broken by Michael Chang in 1989, when he won the French Open when he was 17 years, 110 days.
Becker, regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time with six majors won, went on to win the Wimbledon title two more times, in 1986 and 1989.
In 1985, the Leimen native defeated the South African Kevin Curren in four hard-fought sets (6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4) in a match that confirmed his star status and paved the way for more success in majors and other competitions.