An emotional Boris Becker won his first major title in three years, beating Michael Chang 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) in the ATP Championship final Sunday.
It was a fitting farewell gift to Becker's faithful Frankfurt fans, who have supported him boisterously in all his appearances in the 9,000-seat Festhalle, which was filled.After six years, the ATP Championship is moving to another German city, Hanover, next year.
"This was the best crowd I've ever had in Germany," the teary-eyed Becker said, while the fans gave him a standing ovation.
He only missed the 1993 tournament, when he failed to qualify.
After the awards ceremony, with the spotlight on Becker in a darkened hall, the fans swayed with lit lighters in their hands, while his wife, Barbara, came down to kiss him.
Becker, who also won the tournament in 1992 and in 1988, when it was the Masters and played in New York, has played in 10 of the last 11 season-ending championships of the top eight players in the world.
This was his seventh final. He was runner-up in 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1994, when he lost to Pete Sampras.
Becker had not won a major tournament since the 1992 ATP Championship. His last Grand Slam title was the Australian Open in 1991, when he held the No. 1 ranking for 12 weeks.
"Maybe next year I can get closer to No. 1 again," he said.
Three days short of his 28th birthday, Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, had won only one title this year, in February at Marseille, France.
He began poorly against Chang, dropping his first service game. But he caught up in the ninth game, breaking Chang with aggressive play, and the set went to a tiebreaker, which Becker dominated.
Becker was devastating in the second set, changing pace and hitting stunning winners from all over the court. Considered one of the top players indoors, Becker was in his element.
Chang fell behind two breaks when he double-faulted at the end of the fourth game and Becker was in command.
He finished the set with another break, clinching the set point with a tremendous backhand winner down the line.
"I couldn't miss a shot," Becker said. "I played like I was on another planet."
Chang agreed.
"He served unbelievably," Chang said. "I've never seen anyone serve like that. He played great."
Chang has vastly improved his game, gaining a big serve and playing more aggressively. But it was not enough against the man who thrives on such a game.
The third set went with serve, although Becker had to save a break point in the seventh game. He finished the match with his 24th ace, after 2 hours, 16 minutes, and raised his arms in triumph.
Becker and Chang exchanged places in the rankings, with Becker moving up one place to No. 4.
The German earned $1.225 million, while Chang got $575,000.Chang, who beat top-ranked Sampras in the semifinals, had won only two matches before this year at the ATP Championships, where he first appeared in 1989 and has played continuously since 1992.
Despite his semifinal loss, Sampras is assured of finishing as No. 1 for the third consecutive year. Andre Agassi, who missed the tournament because of an injury, will stay No. 2, ahead of Thomas Muster.
Becker, who leads Chang 3-1 in their series, won his 44th career title, 27 of them indoors.
At New York, known for how quickly she ends matches, Steffi Graf also does pretty well in marathons.
Graf, despite having to treat blisters on her right foot several times, prevailed in only the second women's five-set final in 94 years Sunday, beating Anke Huber to win the WTA Tour Championships.
"It's an incredible end to an unbelievable year," Graf said after outlasting her German compatriot 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
The baseline battle on Madison Square Garden's blue carpet lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes.
"Knowing it could go either way and the serve was so important, probably excitement-wise the fifth set was special," Graf said.
Only when Huber's backhand was intercepted by the net to cap a long rally, giving her opponent a service break in the eighth game of the fifth set, was Graf close to winning the title and the $500,000 prize in this season-ending tournament.
Even then she had to hold serve to close the match. On the first point, when she cracked a winning forehand down the line, she let out a half-word, half-hiss, "Yes." It was the first emotional display on the court all week.
She followed with her 10th ace. Two points later, she cried tears of joy.
The last five-set final was in 1990, when Monica Seles defeated Gabriela Sabatini. The previous time a women's match went five sets was in 1901. After that, women were limited to best-of-3 sets matches, with the Championships adopting a best-of-5 sets final in 1984.
"I'm not sure if I'm numb or not," Graf said. "Obviously I'm extemely happy to get through this one."
Huber earned $250,000, her biggest payday, and now has a 0-10 lifetime record against Graf.
Ranked No. 1 in the world and top-seeded in this elite 16-player tournament, Graf was expected to have an easy time winning her fourth Championships crown.
She started as if it were going to be a quick day, needing only 11 minutes to lead 4-0.
"I was thinking I hope it doesn't go on like this for three sets," Huber said. "I was really, really nervous. I think everybody saw it. ... I didn't know how to hold my racket in my hand."
The two slugged it out. And, at the end, not much separated the two.
Graf's feared forehand was not only matched by Huber, but was negated by the quickness of the third unseeded player to reach the final. Time and again, Graf found her usually winning forehands being returned. And when she played to Huber's two-handed backhand, Huber returned even harder.
"I just tried to play my game aggressively and tried to let her move," Huber said. "And I think it worked pretty well."
Following the fifth game of the first set, Graf took a three-minute injury timeout to tend to her blisters. The trainer twice more came on the court during changeovers to assist, But Graf's foot never appeared to bother her during play.
"I've had the last two weeks problems with my foot," Graf said. "That's why I changed to orthotics, and that's why I got some nasty blisters on my foot. It's been trouble me a lot. Then the problem that I had with the left foot, with the bone spurs, happened to come up gain. So it was like my feet were kind of killing me at times."
Huber fought from love-40 to hold serve in the sixth game, then Graf closed the opening set with a love game.
Again Huber had trouble holding serve, going to deuce five times before taking a 1-0 lead in the second set. Then she took Graf to five deuces in the next game as the crowd began to sense a tough match.
Teeing off on Graf's serves and chasing down every ball, Huber broke in the sixth game of the second set. That came in the midst of a four-game run by Huber, who broke in the eighth game to even the match at one set apiece.
The next two sets went the same way - Graf imposing her will in the third set, Huber using the entire court to fight back in the fourth.
Graf opened the fifth set with a love game; Huber matched it by holding at 30. Then Graf staved off break point before taking a 2-1 lead.
By now, Huber was holding easily and Graf was struggling on her serve. That changed in the eighth game, a 12-point marathon in which both players sparkled, bringing the crowd to its feet.
But when Huber's backhand plowed into the net, Graf had her break and Huber tossed her racket to the floor. Four points later, Graf was the champion.
In one respect, it made no difference who won. With Boris Becker's victory in the ATP World Championships earlier in the day in Frankfurt, Germany, it meant German players won both year-ending tournaments.