Boris Becker wins Wimbledon at 17 and child genius graduates from uni
This week in 1985, and German teenager Boris Becker rewrote the tennis history books by winning Wimbledon at the age of 17. He also became the first unseeded player to lift the coveted trophy when he defeated Kevin Curren in the final of the men’s singles following a thrilling four-set match which lasted just over three hours.
Becker went on to win the Wimbledon men’s singles championship again the following year, and for a third time in 1989.
He won a total of six grand slam titles in a glittering career, and in 1991 was ranked world number one in the world.
In the women’s singles, Martina Navratilova notched up her sixth win by beating Chris Lloyd in the final.
Navratilova also added the mixed doubles’ trophy to her collection with partner Paul McNamee.
Thirteen-year-old Ruth Lawrence achieved a first in Mathematics at the University
of Oxford, making her the youngest-ever British person to achieve a first-class degree, and also the youngest-known graduate of the university.
She later went on to become a professor of mathematics.
Also in this week, the film Back to the Future opened in cinemas in the USA and would go on to become the highestgrossing film of the year.
Starring Michael J Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown, it was the first in a trilogy of films which saw the pair travel through time in a modified DeLorean car.
Meanwhile, a psychedelic 1965 Rolls-Royce used by The Beatles to tour Europe at the height of their popularity was sold for a record £1,745,400 at an auction at Sotheby’s.
The hand-decorated Phantom V was bought by Canadian magnate Jim Pattison.
It was sold as part of an auction of more than 200 Beatles’ items and other rock memorabilia, including a gold disc of the Magical Mystery Tour, which went for £10,480, and a postcard from John Lennon to his son Julian, which sold for £2,600.