Cunning plan to bring back Becker costs old enemy Stich his job

After a sex scandal and a long-running detective story about multi-million dollar tax affairs, Boris Becker has now become ensnared in a farce involving German tennis politics.

The three-times former Wimbledon champion's wish to return to his country's Davis Cup team three years after retirement and at almost 35 has caused a public row, the threat of a boycott, and yesterday the resignation of his old rival Michael Stich as captain.

Germany's stars of yesteryear could not be accused of lacking a sense of humour. Becker and Stich were daggers drawn for a long time after Stich surprisingly won their Wimbledon final in 1991; now they are allies in a hare-brained comeback.

Becker twice said good-bye at Wimbledon and three times in Germany, and another trip down memory lane was cooked up last month after he beat Stich in a highly popular exhibition in Berlin.

When Stich casually flattered Becker by saying he should compete again it was hard to tell how serious he was being, but Becker, needing all the money and publicity he can get as he tries to pay off his debts, was very serious indeed.

After mulling it over Stich agreed - but he could not have got it more wrong.

Two of his players, Tommy Haas and Rainer Schuttler, threatened to quit the squad if Becker returned, Haas stating that Stich should concentrate on building a young team and that picking Becker would send the wrong signal.

He did not say exactly what this signal was, though it might have been that the current lot just are not good enough to do what Stich and Becker did. And that might be why the Stich's e-mails to the players have been ignored.

When the president of the German Tennis Federation Georg von Waldenfels also publicly made known his disapproval of Becker's selection, it all became a bit too much for the captain.

"I have carried out this duty with pride," Stich announced grandly yesterday. "But unfortunately I haven't received a great deal of support."

Stich has not been in possession of a great deal of nous, either. There was no pressing need to bring Becker back. Against Venezuela at Karlsruhe, Germany should have a comfortable home tie next week (September 20-22). And although Becker might well have coped with playing doubles, which was apparently the plan, it was still exposing him to the risk of ridicule.

Stich, meanwhile, cannot or will not resign till after the tie. It may be difficult to tell where the greatest hostilities will be directed.