Michael Stich is best known as the 1991 Wimbledon champion when, in his fourth season as a professional, he used his fluent serve, crisp volleys, powerful groundstrokes and a solid temperament to beat the world’s best grass-court players, defending champion Stefan Edberg (without breaking the Swede’s serve in the semi-finals) and fellow German Boris Becker 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final, for his lone major singles championship. 

He partnered John McEnroe to a 19-17 fifth set win over Jim Grabb and Richey Reneberg in the 1992 Wimbledon doubles final and then teamed up with Becker to capture the doubles gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics (d. Ferreira-Norval). Stich also finished runner-up at the 1994 US Open (l. to Agassi) and 1996 Roland Garros (l. to Kafelnikov). In total he won 18 singles titles, including the 1992 Grand Slam Cup (d. Chang) and 1993 ATP year-end championships (d. Sampras). On national duty, he won the 1993 Davis Cup and Hopman Cup, and 1994 ATP World Team Championships in Dusseldorf.

The former World No. 2 picked up an ankle injury in October 1995 and subsequently announced his retirement, in July 1997, aged 28, after he lost in the Wimbledon semi-finals. He married German actress Jessica Stockmann from 1992-2003 and since 2005 has been married to Alexandra Rikowski. He works as a BBC radio commentator and Hamburg Tournament Director. In September 2012, he was nominated for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. 

Bio: James Buddell