Michael Stich

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Michael Stich

Michael Stich as a commentator at the 2003 French Open.
Country	Germany
Residence	Elmshorn, Germany
Date of birth	October 18, 1968
Place of birth	Pinneberg, West Germany
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb/13 st)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	1997
Plays	Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money	US$12,592,483
Singles
Career record:	385-176
Career titles:	18
Highest ranking:	No. 2 (November 22, 1993)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	SF (1993)
French Open	F (1996)
Wimbledon	W (1991)
US Open	F (1994)
Doubles
Career record:	165-110
Career titles:	10
Highest ranking:	No. 9 (March 22, 1991)
Infobox last updated on: June 21, 2007.

Olympic medal record
Men’s Tennis
Gold	1992 Barcelona	Men's Doubles

Michael Stich (born October 18, 1968 in Pinneberg, West Germany) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991. He also won the men's doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, and was a singles runner-up at the US Open and the French Open.

Contents 1 Career 2 Serena Williams controversy 3 Trivia 4 Career statistics 4.1 Grand Slam finals 4.1.1 Singles 4.1.1.1 Win (1) 4.1.1.2 Runner-ups (2) 4.2 Masters Series finals 4.2.1 Singles 4.2.1.1 Wins (2) 4.2.1.2 Runner-up (1) 4.3 Career finals 4.3.1 Singles 4.3.1.1 Wins (18) 4.3.1.2 Runner-ups (13) 4.3.2 Doubles 4.3.2.1 Wins (10) 4.3.2.2 Runner-ups (6) 4.4 Grand Slam singles performance timeline 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Career

Stich was raised in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein. He turned professional in 1988, and won his first top-level singles title in 1990 at Memphis.

The highlight of Stich's career came in 1991 at Wimbledon. He shocked the tennis world first in the semi-finals, where he defeated the defending champion and World No. 1 Stefan Edberg 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–6. Then in the final he went on to beat his compatriot and three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–4.

1992 saw Stich enjoy notable success in doubles. He teamed up with John McEnroe to win the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in an epic five-set and five-hour final which stretched into Monday (the day after the tournament normally ends), and ended with a 19-17 final set. And then at the summer's Olympic Games in Barcelona, Stich teamed up with Becker to win the men's doubles Gold Medal for Germany. Stich also won the 1992 Grand Slam Cup, defeating Michael Chang in straight sets in the final.

A major highlight of 1993 for Stich came at the end-of-year ATP World Championships, where he defeated Pete Sampras 7–6, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2 in the final to claim the title. Playing for Germany, Stich also won both the Davis Cup and the Hopman Cup in 1993.

Stich reached his second Grand Slam singles final at the 1994 US Open, where he lost in straight sets to Andre Agassi 6–1, 7–6, 7–5. Stich's impressive run of success playing for Germany continued in 1994, when he was part of the German team which won the World Team Cup.

Stich's third and final Grand Slam singles final appearance came in 1996, when he was defeated in a tight final at the French Open by Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7–6, 7–5, 7–6. He also won his final career singles title that year at Antwerp. His last doubles title came in 1997 at Halle.

Stich's talent and all-round ability, mastering serve-and-volley as well as baseline play, especially with his one-handed backhand, allowed him to become one of the few players to win tournaments on all surfaces. He is one of only five players of his generation to have a positive career head-to-head record against Pete Sampras (the others being Sergi Bruguera, Leander Paes, Paul Haarhuis and Richard Krajicek).

During his career, Stich won 18 singles titles and 10 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 in 1993.

Stich announced his retirement from the professional tour in 1997 following Wimbledon. His last run in Wimbledon was a magical one that started with a win over U.S. top 10 player Jim Courier and ended with a five-set loss to Cedric Pioline in the semifinals match. Prior to the match with Pioline, Stich had played down the impression that the tournament was a swan song by saying in English at a press conference, "I had not come to retire. I had come here to win Wimbledon." Since his retirement, he has devoted most of his time to his own AIDS foundation. He also works as a tennis commentator for the BBC. Stich was married to the German actress Jessica Stockmann from 1992-2003. In 2005 he married Alexandra Rikowski. They live in Hamburg.

[edit] Serena Williams controversy

At the Wimbledon tournament in 2007, Stich accused Serena Williams of exaggerating an injury, stating that "You're either injured or you're not. I'm not sure what we saw last night." Williams had collapsed in pain in a fourth round match with Daniela Hantuchová. Williams denied the allegations angrily, stating "My career is actually more stellar than Stich's, so he can say whatever he pleases."^[1]

[edit] Trivia

• Stich played his whole career with the Fischer Vacuum Pro racquet made by Austrian company, Fischer

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Grand Slam finals

[edit] Singles

[edit] Win (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	Wimbledon	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6, 6–4

[edit] Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1994	U.S. Open	Andre Agassi	6–1, 7–6, 7–5
1996	French Open	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6, 7–5, 7–6

[edit] Masters Series finals

[edit] Singles

[edit] Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1993	Hamburg	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–4
1993	Stockholm	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 6–2

[edit] Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1992	Hamburg	Stefan Edberg	5–7, 6–4, 6–1

[edit] Career finals

[edit] Singles

[edit] Wins (18)

Legend Grand Slam (1) Tennis Masters Cup (1) Grand Slam Cup (1) ATP Masters Series (2) ATP Tour (13)

Titles by Surface Hard (5) Grass (4) Clay (3) Carpet (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	5 March 1990	Memphis, U.S.	Hard	Wally Masur	6–7, 6–4, 7–6
2.	8 July 1991	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6(4), 6–4
3.	22 July 1991	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Alberto Mancini	1–6, 7–6(9), 6–4, 6–2
4.	26 August 1991	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Emilio Sánchez	6–2, 6–4
5.	21 October 1991	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Jan Siemerink	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
6.	15 June 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Jonathan Stark	6–4, 7–5
7.	14 December 1992	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet	Michael Chang	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
8.	22 February 1993	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet	Richard Krajicek	4–6, 7–5, 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–5
9.	10 May 1993	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7(1), 7–6(7), 6–4
10.	14 June 1993	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–4
11.	12 August 1993	Basel, Switzerland	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–2
12.	1 November 1993	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(3), 6–2
13.	22 November 1993	Singles Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet	Pete Sampras	7–6, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2
14.	28 February 1994	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Wayne Ferreira	4–6, 6–3, 6–0
15.	2 May 1994	Munich, Germany	Clay	Petr Korda	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
16.	20 June 1994	Halle, Germany	Grass	Magnus Larsson	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
17.	7 August 1995	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	6–7(7), 7–6(4), 6–2
18.	26 February 1996	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 6–2, 7–6(5)

[edit] Runner-ups (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	7 January 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Nicklas Kulti	6–3, 1–6, 6–2
2.	14 January 1991	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Guy Forget	6–3, 6–4
3.	25 February 1991	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	7–5, 6–3
4.	11 May 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Stefan Edberg	5–7, 6–4, 6–1
5.	3 May 1993	Munich, Germany	Clay	Ivan Lendl	7–6, 6–3
6.	26 July 1993	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4
7.	13 December 1993	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet	Petr Korda	2–6, 6–4, 7–6, 2–6, 11-9
8.	12 September 1994	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–1, 7–6, 7–5
9.	24 October 1994	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Andre Agassi	7–6, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
10.	27 February 1995	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet	Richard Krajicek	7–6, 6–3, 6–7, 1–6, 6–3
11.	8 May 1995	Munich, Germany	Clay	Wayne Ferreira	7–5, 7–6
12.	26 June 1995	Halle, Germany	Grass	Marc Rosset	3–6, 7–6, 7–6
13.	10 June 1996	French Open, Paris	Clay	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6, 7–5, 7–6

[edit] Doubles

[edit] Wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	9 October 1989	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	Omar Camporese Claudio Mezzadri	6–3, 4–6, 6–0
2.	17 May 1990	Munich, Germany	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	Petr Korda Tomáš Šmíd	6–1, 6–4
3.	18 June 1990	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Jakob Hlasek	Jim Grabb John McEnroe	7–6, 6–3
4.	22 October 1990	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Udo Riglewski	Jorge Lozano Todd Witsken	6–4, 6–4
5.	9 January 1991	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	John Fitzgerald Laurie Warder	7–5, 6–3
6.	27 April 1992	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Boris Becker	Petr Korda Karel Nováček	6–4, 6–4
7.	6 July 1992	Wimbledon, London	Grass	John McEnroe	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 19-17
8.	3 August 1992	Barcelona Olympics, Spain	Clay	Boris Becker	Wayne Ferreira Piet Norval	7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3
9.	9 August 1993	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	Grant Connell Scott Davis	7–6, 7–6
10.	16 June 1997	Halle, Germany	Grass	Karsten Braasch	David Adams Marius Barnard	7–6, 6–3

[edit] Runner-ups (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	5 March 1990	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	Darren Cahill Mark Kratzmann	7–5, 6–2
2.	14 May 1990	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Udo Riglewski	Sergi Bruguera Jim Courier	7–6, 6–2
3.	27 August 1990	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Udo Riglewski	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
4.	18 February 1991	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Udo Riglewski	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	6–4, 6–4
5.	11 May 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Carl-Uwe Steeb	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
6.	15 June 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	John McEnroe	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	6–4, 6–7, 6–4

[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	Career SR
Australian Open	A	3R	3R	QF	SF	1R	3R	A	2R	0 / 7
French Open	2R	2R	SF	3R	4R	2R	4R	F	A	0 / 8
Wimbledon	1R	3R	W	QF	QF	1R	1R	4R	SF	1 / 9
US Open	1R	2R	QF	2R	1R	F	4R	2R	A	0 / 8
Grand Slam SR	0 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	1 / 32

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• ATP Tour profile for Michael Stich

v • d • e Wimbledon men's singles champions* * Open Era · (1968–69) Rod Laver · (1970–71) John Newcombe · (1972) Stan Smith · (1973) Jan Kodeš · (1974) Jimmy Connors · (1975) Arthur Ashe · (1976–80) Björn Borg · (1981) John McEnroe · (1982) Jimmy Connors · (1983–84) John McEnroe · (1985–86) Boris Becker · (1987) Pat Cash · (1988) Stefan Edberg · (1989) Boris Becker · (1990) Stefan Edberg (1991) Michael Stich · (1992) Andre Agassi · (1993–95) Pete Sampras · (1996) Richard Krajicek · (1997–00) Pete Sampras · (2001) Goran Ivanišević · (2002) Lleyton Hewitt · (2003–07) Roger Federer

Awards
Preceded by Boris Becker	German Sportsman of the Year 1991	Succeeded by Dieter Baumann