“Shit enough…”
Sting receives great honor, but a wound does not heal
April 20, 2024, 5:27 p.m
Michael Stich is a tennis legend, the German won Wimbledon in singles and doubles. Now, years late, Stich will have an official ceremony to mark his entry into the tennis hall of fame. The former world-class player is deeply moved – and reports on a lost memory.
Almost six years after his induction into the international tennis hall of fame, Hamburg’s Michael Stich was also presented with his hall of fame ring. After a small, emotional ceremony on the sidelines of the ATP tournament in Munich, the 55-year-old said: “I tend to always be someone who is rather moved when it comes to stories like this.”
At the same time, the ex-professional revealed that he likes to think about his playing days, looks at matches from the past and also has a lot of memorabilia. What is particularly annoying in this regard is that he no longer has the racket he used when he won Wimbledon in 1991. “I used to have it, but it was stolen from me,” Stich told journalists. When asked for details, he blocked it and simply said: “Stolen, that’s enough. Shit enough…”
In 2018, Stich was the sixth German to be inducted into the Hall of Fame; Boris Becker and Steffi Graf had achieved this before him, among others. There was already a celebration in Newport, Rhode Island. The awarding of a ring, as is customary especially in US sports for great achievements, was then delayed, one reason was the corona pandemic.
Wimbledon against Becker and with McEnroe
The North German was one of the most successful tennis players in the world in the 1990s and also triumphed in the doubles alongside John McEnroe at Wimbledon a year after his singles victory. In the summer of 1992 he also won Olympic gold in doubles with Boris Becker, and in 1993 he became ATP world champion. After his active time, he remained connected to tennis as a TV expert and as organizer and tournament director of the tournament in Hamburg.
Stich ruled out a return to the ATP tour as a coach – similar to his former Davis Cup teammate Becker. “The idea of spending 20 weeks a year on tennis courts is not a pleasant one,” he said.