Michael Stich

Michael Stich

Country (sports)	Germany[notes 1]
Residence	Elmshorn, Germany
Born	(1968-10-18) 18 October 1968 Pinneberg, West Germany
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	1997
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 12,592,483
Singles
Career record	385–176
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	No. 2 (22 November 1993)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1993)
French Open	F (1996)
Wimbledon	W (1991)
US Open	F (1994)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1993)
Grand Slam Cup	W (1992)
Olympic Games	2R (1992)
Doubles
Career record	165–111
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 9 (22 March 1991)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon	W (1992)
Other doubles tournaments
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1993)
Medal record Olympic Games – Tennis 1992 Barcelona Men's Doubles

Michael Detlef Stich (born 18 October 1968) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991, the men's doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in 1992, and was a singles runner-up at the 1994 US Open and the 1996 French Open. Stich won 18 singles titles and 10 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 in 1993.

Career

Stich was raised in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein. He turned professional in 1988 and won his first top-level singles title in 1990 at Memphis, Tennessee.

Stich won Wimbledon in 1991. He defeated the defending champion and World No. 1 Stefan Edberg in the semifinals, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–6, without breaking his service once. Then in the final, he beat his compatriot and three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in straight sets.

In 1992, Stich teamed with John McEnroe to win the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in a five-set and five-hour final that stretched into Monday (the day after the tournament normally ends) and ended with a 19–17 final set. Then at the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Stich teamed with Becker to win the men's doubles gold medal. Stich also won the 1992 Grand Slam Cup, defeating Michael Chang in the final.

A major highlight of 1993 for Stich came at the end-of-year ATP World Championships, where he was the only player in the 1990s history of the Championship tournament to claim the title undefeated, overcoming Pete Sampras in the final.^[1] Playing for Germany, Stich also won both the Davis Cup and the Hopman Cup in 1993.

Stich reached his second Grand Slam singles final at the 1994 US Open, where he lost in straight sets to Andre Agassi. Stich also helped Germany win the World Team Cup in 1994.

Stich upset defending champion Thomas Muster in four sets in the fourth round of the 1996 French Open en route to appearing in his third and final Grand Slam singles final, where he was defeated by Yevgeny Kafelnikov in straight sets. He also won his final career singles title that year at Antwerp. His last doubles title came in 1997 at Halle.

Stich's all-round ability, both from the baseline and at the net, allowed him to become one of the few players to win both Singles and Doubles tournaments on all surfaces. He is one of only five players of his generation to have a positive career head-to-head record against Sampras.^[2]

Stich announced his retirement from the professional tour in 1997 following Wimbledon. His last run at Wimbledon started with a win over U.S. top-10 player Jim Courier and ended with a five-set loss to Cédric Pioline in the semifinals.

Since his retirement, he has devoted most of his time to his own AIDS foundation. He also works as a tennis commentator for the BBC. Stich was married to the German actress Jessica Stockmann from 1992 to 2003. In 2005, he married Alexandra Rikowski. They live in Hamburg.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1991	Wimbledon	Grass	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Runner-up	1994	US Open	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 6–7(5–7), 5–7
Runner-up	1996	French Open	Clay	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7(4–7), 5–7, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1992	Wimbledon	Grass	John McEnroe	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	5–7, 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 19–17

Olympic men's doubles final

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	1992	Summer Olympics	Clay	Boris Becker	Wayne Ferreira Piet Norval	7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–3

Masters Series finals

Singles: 3 (2–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1992	Hamburg	Clay	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 4–6, 1–6
Winner	1993	Hamburg	Clay	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7(1–7), 7–6(9–7), 6–4
Winner	1993	Stockholm	Hard (i)	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–3), 6–2

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1990	Hamburg	Clay	Udo Riglewski	Sergi Bruguera Jim Courier	6–7, 2–6
Winner	1992	Monte Carlo	Clay	Boris Becker	Petr Korda Karel Nováček	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	1992	Hamburg	Clay	Carl-Uwe Steeb	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7–5, 4–6, 3–6

Career finals

Singles: 31 (18–13)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	5 March 1990	Memphis, US	Hard	Wally Masur	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–1)
Runner-up	1.	7 January 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Nicklas Kulti	3–6, 6–1, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	14 January 1991	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Guy Forget	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	25 February 1991	Memphis, US	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	5–7, 3–6
Winner	2.	8 July 1991	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Winner	3.	22 July 1991	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Alberto Mancini	1–6, 7–6(11–9), 6–4, 6–2
Winner	4.	26 August 1991	Schenectady, US	Hard	Emilio Sánchez	6–2, 6–4
Winner	5.	21 October 1991	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Jan Siemerink	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	11 May 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 4–6, 1–6
Winner	6.	15 June 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Jonathan Stark	6–4, 7–5
Winner	7.	14 December 1992	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet	Michael Chang	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	8.	22 February 1993	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet	Richard Krajicek	4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 7–5
Runner-up	5.	3 May 1993	Munich, Germany	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–7(2–7), 3–6
Winner	9.	10 May 1993	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7(1–7), 7–6(9–7), 6–4
Winner	10.	14 June 1993	London (Queen's Club), UK	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	6.	26 July 1993	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	11.	12 August 1993	Basel, Switzerland	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
Winner	12.	1 November 1993	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Winner	13.	22 November 1993	Tennis Masters Cup, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Pete Sampras	7–6(7–3), 2–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–2
Runner-up	7.	13 December 1993	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet	Petr Korda	6–2, 4–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 9–11
Winner	14.	28 February 1994	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Wayne Ferreira	4–6, 6–3, 6–0
Winner	15.	2 May 1994	Munich, Germany	Clay	Petr Korda	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	16.	20 June 1994	Halle, Germany	Grass	Magnus Larsson	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	12 September 1994	US Open, New York City	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 6–7(5–7), 5–7
Runner-up	9.	24 October 1994	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Andre Agassi	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	10.	27 February 1995	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet	Richard Krajicek	6–7(4–7), 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up	11.	8 May 1995	Munich, Germany	Clay	Wayne Ferreira	5–7, 6–7(6–8)
Runner-up	12.	26 June 1995	Halle, Germany	Grass	Marc Rosset	6–3, 6–7(11–13), 6–7(8–10)
Winner	17.	7 August 1995	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Winner	18.	26 February 1996	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	13.	10 June 1996	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7(4–7), 5–7, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 16 (10–6)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	9 October 1989	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	Omar Camporese Claudio Mezzadri	6–3, 4–6, 6–0
Runner-up	1.	26 February 1990	Memphis, US	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	Darren Cahill Mark Kratzmann	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	7 May 1990	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Udo Riglewski	Sergi Bruguera Jim Courier	6–7, 2–6
Winner	2.	17 May 1990	Munich, Germany	Clay	Udo Riglewski	Petr Korda Tomáš Šmíd	6–1, 6–4
Winner	3.	18 June 1990	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Jakob Hlasek	Jim Grabb John McEnroe	7–6, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	20 August 1990	Long Island, US	Hard	Udo Riglewski	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	4.	22 October 1990	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Udo Riglewski	Jorge Lozano Todd Witsken	6–4, 6–4
Winner	5.	9 January 1991	Memphis, US	Hard (i)	Udo Riglewski	John Fitzgerald Laurie Warder	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	11 February 1991	Philadelphia, US	Carpet	Udo Riglewski	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	4–6, 4–6
Winner	6.	27 April 1992	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Boris Becker	Petr Korda Karel Nováček	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	4 May 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Carl-Uwe Steeb	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7–5, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	6.	8 June 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	John McEnroe	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	4–6, 7–6, 4–6
Winner	7.	6 July 1992	Wimbledon, London	Grass	John McEnroe	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 19–17
Winner	8.	3 August 1992	Summer Olympics, Barcelona	Clay	Boris Becker	Wayne Ferreira Piet Norval	7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3
Winner	9.	9 August 1993	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	Grant Connell Scott Davis	7–6, 7–6
Winner	10.	16 June 1997	Halle, Germany	Grass	Karsten Braasch	David Adams Marius Barnard	7–6, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Stich.

• Michael Stich at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Michael Stich at the International Tennis Federation
• Michael Stich at the Davis Cup

Awards
Preceded by Boris Becker	German Sportsman of the Year 1991	Succeeded by Dieter Baumann