"He has this weird tick with his tongue" - When Andre Agassi decoded Boris Becker's serve

Sports at the highest levels is sometimes determined by the tiniest of margins, as Andre Agassi demonstrated when he defeated Boris Becker by reading his serve by only looking at his opponent's tongue.

In the late 80s and early 90s, Becker and Agassi were at the peak of their game. However, with his powerful serve, Becker had the upper hand against the American during their initial encounters, leading by a comfortable 3-0 in their head-to-head at one point.

Agassi devised an innovative method of interpreting his great rival's serve after realizing he had to step up his game regarding countering the German's serve. Speaking in an interview years after his retirement, the eight-time Grand Slam champion revealed how he noticed Becker's tongue position during his ball toss to be a good indicator of his serving position.

From there on, the American employed the tactic carefully against Becker, ensuring that the German did not latch on to the fact that his weakness had been spotted.

“Boris Becker, who beat me the first three times we played because his serve was something the game had never seen before. Well I watched tape after tape of him and stood across the net from him three different times and I started to realise he has this weird tick with his tongue," Andre Agassi said.

"I’m not kidding, he would go into his rocking motion, his same routine and just as he was about to toss the ball, he would stick his tongue out. And it would either be right in the middle of his lip or it’d be to the left corner of his lip. If he’s serving in the deuce court and he put his tongue in the middle of his lip, he was either serving up the middle or to the body. But if he put it to the side, he was going to serve out wide," he added.

In fact, Andre Agassi claimed that after the hardest part about the whole ordeal was not returning Becker's serve but making sure that he didn't do it too conspicuously and let the German in on the act. After their retirement, Agassi did end up confessing his strategy to Becker over a beer, leaving him completely shocked.

"We went out and had a pint of beer together, and I couldn't help but say, 'By the way, did you know you used to do this and give away your serve?' He about fell off the chair," Andre Agassi said. "He said, 'I used to go home all the time and just tell my wife, it's like he reads my mind. Little did I know, you were just reading my tongue.'"

Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and their unrealized rivalry

Andre Agassi with Novak Djokovic during the 2017 French Open

In an ideal world, Andre Agassi and Boris Becker may have created a great contrast as players, with their committed fan bases and natural charisma. Becker's serve and net-rushing style were primarily adored by classicists, while Agassi's big groundstrokes and flamboyant wardrobe were more well-liked by younger fans. They could have had the most fascinating rivalry since McEnroe-Lendl, if not McEnroe-Connors. Unfortunately, this never happened.

Despite Becker just being two years older, their careers did not run concurrently. Becker won his first major in 1985, then reached a career-high in 1989 by winning his lone US Open and third Wimbledon.

Andre Agassi, meanwhile, won his first major in 1992, and it took him until 1995 to reach the top spot. Neither player was a familiar sight during the finals, and their eventual head-tp-head record ended up being far too lopsided.

Becker prevailed in their first three encounters before Andre Agassi put together an eight-match winning streak. By the time they both put down their rackets, the American was leading 10-4, with only one of those encounters coming in a final.