Boris Becker’s 1989 US Open singles championship trophy fetches $375,000 at auction.
The men’s singles trophy from the 1989 US Open, awarded to Boris Becker, was sold for $375,546 (including buyer’s premium) at The Tennis Auction on Sunday, marking the highest price ever paid for a tennis trophy.
This sale ranks as the second-most expensive piece of tennis memorabilia ever, following Novak Djokovic’s racket from his 2012 Australian Open victory, which fetched $540,000 in February.
In 1989, Becker secured victories at both Wimbledon and the US Open, contributing to West Germany’s second consecutive Davis Cup title. He was honored as the ATP Player of the Year.
As noted in the lot description, Grand Slam singles trophies “virtually never” appear on the public market. US Open trophies have a long-standing association with Tiffany & Co., and after Becker lent the trophy to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, he relinquished it during his well-known bankruptcy proceedings in 2019.
Becker filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and was found guilty in a London court on four counts under the Insolvency Act, which included removal of property, concealing debt, and two counts of failing to disclose estate. (He was acquitted of 25 additional charges, including nine counts of not surrendering Grand Slam trophies and his Olympic gold medal to bankruptcy trustees.)
He had debts totaling $62.5 million, originating from an unpaid loan of $3.75 million.
Becker received a sentence of 2Β½ years in prison and was released early through a fast-track deportation program for foreign nationals after serving eight months in a London facility.
In 2024, Becker was released from bankruptcy court in London; a judge determined that he had done “all that he reasonably could do” to repay his creditors but had not met the obligations.
Source: espn.com
