Benjamin Becker

Began playing at age seven...Nicknamed "Benni"...Father, Jorg, works in a tax office; mother, Ulrike, works at a retail store; one younger sister, Kathrin...No relation to former No. 1 and six-time Grand Slam title winner Boris Becker...Played four years from 2001-05 at Baylor University in Texas and earned All-America honors last three years...Captured NCAA singles title (d. Michael Kogan of Tulane) and helped Baylor to its first team title in 2004 (d. UCLA)...Majored in Finance and International Business and is one semester short of earning his degree...Favourite surface is hard courts and considers his serve and forehand as most important parts of his game...A big soccer and basketball fan and favorite soccer team is 1. FC Koln and follows NBA Dallas Mavericks because of countryman Dirk Nowitzki...Idolised Becker and Andre Agassi growing up...Voted Sportsman of the Year in November, 2006, in his home province Saarland in Germany by 38 percent of the viewers of German local television channel SR...Named 2006 ATP Newcomer of Year.

2012 -- The German returned to Top 100 after an elbow injury in 2011 sidelined him for 6 months...Jumped 240 ranking positions from previous season, 3rd biggest improvement in Top 100...Compiled a combination of ATP World Tour and Challenger results with SF in Memphis (l. to Raonic) and QF in Newport (ret. vs. Harrison) while winning title at Nottingham Challenger (d. Tursunov) in June and Ortisei (d. Seppi) in November...Went 7-10 on hard and 3-3 on grass courts...In Challengers had 21-8 record... 

2011 -- The German was sidelined for 6 months due to an elbow injury before coming back in final month of season...Has a protected ranking of No. 80 to be used for 9 tournaments or 9 months in 2012...Prior to injury, played 4 months, compiling 3-9 record and reached 2R in Brisbane (d. No. 9 Verdasco), Australian Open (d. Gulbis) and Indian Wells (d. de Bakker)...Returned in November and reached QF at Ortisei Challenger (l. to Petzschner) and 2R in Salzburg...

2010 -- The No. 3 German finished with his second best year-end ranking just outside Top 50…Won a personal-high 29 matches…Reached three SFs, first two on grass back-to-back weeks in Halle (d. No. 5 Davydenko, l. to eventual champ Hewitt) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Tipsarevic), and later in Bangkok (d. No. 8 Verdasco, l. to Nieminen)… Also a QF in Delray Beach (l. to Nieminen) and St. Petersburg (l. to Marchenko)…Advanced to personal-best 4th RD in Miami* beating No. 13 Ljubicic, No. 22 Robredo (l. to  No. 8 Roddick)…Earned a career-high $553,431.

2009 -- The German finished in Top 50 for first time in his career and won his maiden ATP World Tour title…In first five months, compiled a 27-4 Challenger record with four titles…In February, won Heilbronn title (d. K. Beck)…Then in a seven-weeks in April-May, reached four consecutive finals…Captured titles in Baton Rouge (d. R. Ram), Rhodes, Greece (d. Stadler) and Cremona (d. van der Merwe)…Runner-up at Ramat Hasharon (ret. vs. Lu)…Climbed from No. 131 on April 6 to No. 84 on May 25…Qualified at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and beat No. 8 Verdasco in 2nd RD and No. 866 Sluiter in final to win his first title…Afterwards, jumped from No. 82 to No. 49 on June 22 and ranked in Top 50 rest of season…Did not win back-to-back matches rest of season after title, going 6-16…Earned a career-high $430,894 and went 8-3 on grass and 6-16 on hard courts…First career doubles final at Los Angeles (w/Moser) losing to Bryans.

2008 -- Reached QF in Adelaide (l. to Llodra) and Memphis (l. to Darcis), falling to eventual champion in both…Also a QF in Basel in October as a qualifier…

2007 -- The German won a career-high 21 matches, broke Top 50 and reached his first ATP final during an up-and-down season. Finished with a 21-32 match record advancing to two other ATP SF and one QF. In February, advanced to SF in Delray Beach (l. to No. 6 Blake) and San Jose (l. to Karlovic). Broke Top 50 on Feb. 5 and spent more than half year (29 weeks) in that group. Also made his Davis Cup debut in 1st RD vs. Croatia and lost both singles matches. In his next 12 tournaments, compiled a 6-12 mark until mid-June when he advanced to QF in 's-Hertogenbosch (l. to Dupuis). Then lost seven straight opening round matches before turning things around in late September in Bangkok where he reached his first ATP final (d. No. 15 Moya in 1st, No. 10 Berdych in SF - first Top 10 win, l. to Tursunov). Went 0-4 in Grand Slam play with three of his losses coming in five sets. Compiled marks of 14-20 on hard, 3-3 on grass and 3-8 on clay. Earned a career-high $396,154.

2006 -- Put together an impressive showing in his first season on ATP circuit. Made biggest jump of any player in Top 100 from previous year, climbing 419 ranking positions. Won nine ATP-level matches and compiled a 30-15 record in Challenger play. Played in first ATP match in June at Halle (l. to Berdych). Qualified into Wimbledon and defeated Chela in 1st RD before losing to Verdasco in five sets. Won his first ATP hard court match in Indianapolis (d. Navarro Pastor) before going out in 2nd RD. In August, returned to Challenger play and reached final in Segovia (l. to del Potro). Biggest moment came at US Open where he qualified and advanced to 4th RD with wins over Volandri, Grosjean and future Hall-of-Famer Agassi in American’s last match (l. to Roddick). Afterwards, climbed from No. 112 to No. 76. During first ATP Asian trip, reached 2nd RD in Bangkok (l. to Ljubicic) and SF in Tokyo (d. Nieminen, l. to Federer). Early in season, improved his ranking with success in Challengers, winning title in Salinas (d. Witten) while reaching finals in Joplin (l. to Witten) and Valencia (l. to Niemeyer). Closed year with runner-up Dnepropetrovsk Challenger (l. to Tursunov).

2005 -- Played limited Futures schedule in second half of the year. Claimed titles at US Futures events in Laguna Nigel, California (d. Fleishman) and Waco, Texas (d. Oudsema). Also a winner at Canadian Futures events in Quebec, defeating Childs in Rimouski and defeating Hutchins in Rock-Forest. Was 27-5 in Futures events.