One day in the late Fifties, playing in a tournament in Surrey, Roger Becker was staring at defeat, trailing the Great Britain player Alan Mills 4-1 in the deciding set. Although the television cameras captured the defiant set of Becker’s shoulders, his mother, Emma, watched anxiously at home in nearby South Norwood and then turned off the black and white set. She could not bear to watch her boy getting beaten.
When he got home she said: “I see you lost then.” Becker grinned. “Lost? I beat him 6-4 in the final set!” His mother beamed, amazed at her son’s comeback. His extraordinary fighting spirit made him a star among the up-and-coming British players of the day, including Billy Knight, Bobby Wilson, Mike Davis, John Barrett and Mills, who became a Wimbledon referee.
In the amateur era, with no prize money and only expenses on offer at far-flung tournaments, many of the top tennis players came from prosperous, middle-class backgrounds. In contrast, Becker was the younger son of a south London taxi driver. The family lived frugally in a small terraced house. A reluctant scholar, he left South Norwood School the moment he could and later joked: “I had to do well at tennis or I’d have been a dustbin man.”
In fact, he was a talented sportman. As a boy he was spotted by his local football club, Crystal Palace, and excelled at golf and cricket. He took up tennis at the age of 14 because the Shirley Park Lawn Tennis Club was a magnet for Croydon teenagers. Becker was immediately hooked.
A compact, brawny player who was quick around the court, he reached the final of the 1951 National Junior Championships at the All England Club, but lost to 15-year-old Bobby Wilson 6-0, 6-2 and resolved to intensify his efforts. “Roger was hugely determined — like a bulldog,” recalled Mills. “He’d just keep on going all day.”
A year later Becker was stunned to be called up for the Davis Cup international team championship as one of the youngsters replacing the old guard of Tony Mottram and Geoffrey Paish. The team reached the quarter-finals. At 18 years old, Becker was the youngest man selected to play for Great Britain, a record that he held until 2005, when it was broken by 17-year-old Andy Murray.
Although often impatient with the blazered establishment, the patriotic Becker made ten appearances for his country between 1952 and 1960, winning 11 of his 17 matches, ten singles and one doubles, but his career was not without its setbacks. In the amateur era the Lawn Tennis Association operated with an iron hand, ruling the lives of the players. Becker often balked at the rigid system and was banned on a couple of occasions for voicing forthright opinions. According to Wilson, Becker was “scrupulously honest with his line calls — though he’d let you know if he thought something was unfair or wrong”.
In 1952 he began two years of National Service at RAF Uxbridge, but continued playing on the British circuit, winning several tournaments. Two years later he went on his first significant overseas tour with John Barrett, playing in America, Australia, the Philippines, Malaya and Pakistan.
Money was tight, but with airfares and accommodation covered by the organisers of the events, Becker felt privileged to be paid to play tennis around the world.
At the same time he formed a close bond with the urbane, Cambridge- educated Barrett. Once, on their way to a tournament in Pakistan, they were amazed to see several rows of seats in the crowded cabin of the twin-engine Dakota piled high with film equipment. Moments later the Hollywood stars Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger arrived, on their way to Lahore to shoot Bhowani Junction. “The plane was so overloaded, it took forever to take off,” Barrett said. “We were near the end of the runway when Granger shouted, ‘Christ! We’re not going to make it!’ But we somehow shuddered off the ground and limped to Lahore, never above 2,000ft off the ground. Happy days!”
Becker with his wife, Shirley, on their wedding day in 1958
Just five days after finishing his National Service in 1954, Becker scored his greatest victory, beating the brilliant young Australian Lew Hoad, who was the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion, in the semi-finals of the Midland Counties tournament at Edgbaston. He treasured the scorecard for the rest of his life. Within a year he was the British No 1.
He even entered the Guinness Book of Records as the only man to win a match without conceding a point, but he never progressed beyond the third round of the Wimbledon singles. Playing with Bob Howe, however, he reached the semi-finals of the men’s doubles in 1957.
Fittingly, he met his future wife, Shirley Malkin, a flight attendant and model who later became a Cadbury’s Flake girl, at his home club, Shirley Park. The couple were married in July 1958, with Becker’s Davis Cup team-mates forming a guard of honour with their rackets.
The arrival of two children in the early 1960s changed Becker’s outlook; he had to provide for his young family. He turned professional in 1963, one of the few British players to join the fledgling tour, but was stripped of his membership of the All England Club, which was a bitter blow.
He was eventually made a full member in 1989 and invited with his wife to the Royal Box at Wimbledon on their 50th wedding anniversary in 2008.
He twice won the British Professional Championship and played lucrative German league tennis at weekends. His tactical skills — as well as his charm — made him an outstanding teacher. He coached the Spain Davis Cup side to an unpopular victory over Britain in 1967, but made amends as Britain’s coach in 1978 when Buster Mottram, Mark Cox and the Lloyd brothers, John and David, sensationally beat the dominant Australians at Crystal Palace in the semi-finals. The team lost to the United States in the final, but clinched the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year title.
In retirement, the old fire and competitiveness remained. Playing on the veterans’ circuit, he once bawled out an umpire for a questionable decision. The official walked off court in disgust.
As a coach, his celebrity pupils included Princess Michael of Kent and King Constantine of Greece. Elton John was a particular favourite, but he often smashed his rackets and had to order a couple more after most lessons.
Becker put most of his earnings into property and successfully converted a large house into flats, eventually acquiring a large portfolio. The family moved to a big house in Purley with a tennis court and a pitch-and-putt golf course. Although heart and knee problems forced him to give up tennis at the age of 70, he remained an avid golfer and for years played off a handicap of one.
He took great pride in the achievements of his close-knit family, particularly when his 17-year-old granddaughter Danielle became one of the youngest players to achieve her Level 3 tennis coaching qualification, just before his death. He is survived by his wife, their children, Marcus, who is a property manager, and Susanne, who is a former buyer for Harrods, plus three granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.
He followed tennis avidly to the end, insisting that Roger Federer was the greatest player of all time, followed closely by his great friend Hoad — and no doubt memories of a great victory of his own.
Roger Becker, tennis player, was born on February 6, 1934. He died from an aneurysm on November 5, 2017, aged 83