Boris Becker didn’t need any money in December 1990. Back then, 30 years ago, a new tournament was held in Munich: the Grand Slam Cup. A controversial event, many even found it reprehensible. It had no sporting value, no world ranking points were awarded, but money – more than in any other tennis tournament. Each of the 16 players received $ 100,000 just for being there, with the winner earning $ 2 million. If he had already won a Grand Slam title in the season, there was still a million on top. Boris Becker refused to take part. He even called on his colleagues to boycott the event, admonishing them not to “think only about the money” all the time. In his opinion, the Grand Slam Cup was about to degenerate tennis into an immoral sport.
The first Grand Slam Cup began in the Munich Olympic Hall on December 11, 1990 without the best German player. The later Becker manager Axel Meyer-Wölden and Robert Lübenoff had developed the remarkable spectacle, the computer manufacturer Compaq was a sponsor. Those players who had done best in the four Grand Slam tournaments were allowed to participate. The game was played in knockout mode on carpet, and the pop band performed on the opening day a-ha and opera singer Plácido Domingo on. The tickets were expensive, but the people of Munich trudged to the hall in the slush. TV channels from all over the world broadcast. “A nice present for tennis fans”, advertised Sat1 the transfer. There was a tennis boom in Germany.
The appeal of money is great
In the semifinals, the audience could experience how great the appeal of the money was. The Americans Brad Gilbert and David Wheaton almost had a fight. When the score was 6: 6 in the tie-break of the third set, the referee overruled the linesman. Wheaton felt disadvantaged – and lost the sentence. The two players got into an argument on the net, yelled, pushed each other and had to be separated from the officials. Gilbert won in five sets and moved into the final. “It was a million dollar wrong decision,” Wheaton grumbled. The first final at the Grand Slam Cup was won by Pete Sampras, then just 19 years old. Because he had already won the US Open, the teenager took three million dollars with him after the week in Munich.
For nine years, a lot of money was lost every year at the Grand Slam Cup. Wheaton won in the second year, so the Wüterich still got his millions. Sampras even won the title a second time in 1997, thanks to the tournament in Munich alone. The level of the games fluctuated, some took the event rather loosely, others were motivated by the large amount of money.
When the tennis boom in this country subsided, the prize money was reduced a little at times, but the visit to Christmas in Munich was always lucrative for the professionals. In 1998 and 1999 women were also allowed to play for the cup. In 2000, the Grand Slam Cup organized by the International Tennis Federation was merged with the competing ATP World Championship. Since then, the best professionals have only competed against each other once at the end of the year, the event is now called ATP Finals. There is not that much money left, but world ranking points.
Incidentally, Boris Becker later took part in the Grand Slam Cup. In 1993 he changed his mind, but lost in the first round. In 1996 he even won the show tournament, defeating Goran Ivanišević in the final – and still picked up a lot of money in Munich.
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