Becker to steer German tennis

Frankfurt: Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker was appointed on Wednesday as head of men's tennis in his home country as the German federation (DTB) looks to revive the once hugely popular sport.

"Boris Becker will be head of men's tennis effective immediately and in this position he will be in charge of the entire men's game," Ulrich Klaus, the president of the DTB, told a news conference. Klaus said Becker would also have a consulting role in the Davis Cup team.

A former world number one who won six Grand Slams as a player, Becker was also a former Davis Cup coach for Germany from 1997 to 1999 but had an uneasy relationship with the federation.

He won 49 singles titles overall, two Davis Cup crowns and also clinched Olympic doubles gold with Michael Stich at the Barcelona Games in 1992.

But German men have not won a Grand Slam singles title since Becker's 1996 Australian Open victory and the last German man to win Wimbledon was Stich back in 1991.

For years, Germans were captivated by the victories of Becker and Steffi Graf on the tour and would sit through hours of daily tennis on television.