Boris Becker 'Honored' to Play against Bulgaria's PM

Sports | August 30, 2010, Monday // 18:09
Bulgaria: Boris Becker 'Honored' to Play against Bulgaria's PM Germany's former tennis star Boris Becker has stated he was honored to be invited by Ruud van den Eijnden (L) and play against the Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov at the charity match during the Zagorka Tennis Cup finals in Sofia. Photo by Publicis Consultants

The former German tennis star Boris Becker has said he was honored to play against the Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov at the charity match during the Zagorka Tennis Cup finals in Sofia.

“I want to thank the organizers for the invitation. I do not often play against Prime Ministers. I was honored. I heard that Borisov does not like losing and neither do I. So we tried to make it a very good game. Honestly, I am surprised by his tennis skills,” Becker said.

On Sunday, Becker, who was teamed together with former Bulgarian women's tennis star Magdalena Maleeva, defeated Borisov and another former Bulgarian pro, Iliya Kushlev, at the charity match during the Zagorka Tennis Cup finals in Sofia.

Ruud van den Eijnden, General Manager of Heineken Zagorka AD Bulgaria, has stated that the tournament has been organized for 15 years.

“This year we made some changes. We added the “pro-am” scheme, which teams professionalists with amateurs. We also brought one extremely popular figure in tennis, Boris Becker. We wanted to attract more audience,” he said.

This was Becker's second visit to Bulgaria after he participated in a Bulgarian tennis tournament at age 16.

“The tennis culture in Bulgaria is very developed. I was pleasantly surprised,” he said.

The German tennis star has said he has never seen in action the Bulgarian top male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov.

“I have heard about him but I have never seen him play. I work for some very big tournaments but I have not seen him in action yet,” Becker said.

He added that Roger Federer is a great professional and although he currently ranks second in the world, he remains a dominant player.

Becker did not express a negative opinion on Andre Agassi, who criticized him in his book.

“I have a great respect for Agassi but we have never been close. In his book he wrote he did not like a few people and I was one of them. However, he also wrote that he was taking drugs and that he hated tennis. I hope that after he wrote the book, he calmed down his demons. He also has a pretty German wife. Maybe she pointed him the right way,” he said.

The former tennis star has stated he has joined the Team PokerStars. He said he was traveling the world and playing in different poker tournaments.

Poker and tennis have a lot in common. You should have a face of steel, strong trumps and play your trumps last. I am glad I am doing this now, it reminds me of tennis,” Becker said.

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Tags: Boris Becker, Boyko Borisov, Magdalena Maleeva, tennis, Poker

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