Former Nº1 tennis player of the world Boris Becker is on his way to become Nº1 in a very different game: poker. “I’ve been training intensely since last year,” Becker told the press and added that he has already signed an important sponsoring contract with one of the most important international online porker tournament organizers.

“What’s fascinating about poker is the psychology of the game: what is the opponent thinking about me and what do I think about him?” the three-time winner of Wimbledon (1985, 1986 and 1989) commented. The German player retired in 1999 and has taken part in exhibition games since then.

Becker, who is now 40 years old, confessed that he played poker when he was an ATP tennis player, especially in Wimbledon, during the interruptions caused by rain. In this new stage of his career, Becker could face again former tennis players like French Henri Leconte or Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who now play poker.

“I would like to see if people like Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl or even Jimmy Connors are able to stay cool in a poker game,” Becker joked. During his career, he won 49 individual tournaments and more than 25 million dollars.

The former German champion will play his first poker tournament as a professional next week in Berlin. His main objective is winning a place in the European final, which will reunite 800 professional players in Montecarlo next April.