Nowadays, the last German to win Wimbledon’s mens’ singles title is an erudite, and one of the most engaging conversationalists on the BlackRock Tour of Champions. However it was not always like this and Michael Stich looks back on his early years on the tennis court with a sense of personal embarrassment. Many memories of a petulant youth are regrettable but he admits his reprehensible behavior even extended to not shaking the hands of his opponents.

In this country, Stich is best remembered as the man who won the Wimbledon singles title in 1991, overcoming his countryman Boris Becker with an emphatic display in a straight-sets final after ending the hopes of another former champion Stefan Edberg in the semi. Let it not be forgotten that he also won the doubles a year later alongside John McEnroe in an epic, five- set final that stretched beyond the five hours mark and required the players to come back for an extra day.

However Stich was far more than just a grass court specialist and to this day still maintains he should have joined the small group of modern players who could boast both a Wimbledon and French Open crown. In 1996 he seemed to have done the hard work at Roland Garros by eliminating defending champion Thomas Muster in the quarter finals and then ending French hopes by ousting Cedric Pioline in the semis. However he failed to produce anything close to his best tennis on finals day and allowed Yevgeny Kafelnikov to cruise to a straight sets title victory.

Away from the Grand Slams, Stich won everything else there was to win the sport. He was part of the 1993 German team that won the Davis Cup and claimed both the ATP World Championship and Grand Slam Cup, which these days have linked together to form the Tennis Masters Cup. Although he and Becker could never be termed as anything approaching friends, the pair won Olympic gold together in the Barcelona Games of 1992.

When there is not a racket in his hand, Stich leads a varied life. He is an integral member of the BBC team at Wimbledon, he is equally at home broadcasting to a television or radio audience, while business-wise, he runs a day-care clinic for patients with chronic back pain. In addition he has formed a charitable foundation that offers support to HIV-infected children.