Tennis: Five most unexpected Grand Slam finals in the Open Era

Boris Becker of Germany places the trophy on his head in to celebrate his first Wimbledon title in 1985. (Getty Images)

1. Boris Becker (GER) beat Kevin Curren (US) 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, Wimbledon 1985

Boris Becker won six Grand Slam titles in his career but his visit to the Wimbledon as a 17-year-old remains the most memorable. He became the first unseeded player to win the event, and still retains the feat of being the youngest player to win the Wimbledon.

His thunderous serve, powerful ground-strokes and agile play at the net was to treat to watch. His opponent’s journey to the final, however, was greater feat in a sense. Kevin Curren became the only player to defeat John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in the same event and the irony of it was that he fell at the last hurdle, where few expected him to.

The match was tightly contested and once the first two sets had been shared, it stood in balance. Becker pulled through a tie-break in the third set and that left Curren drained as he stormed through the fourth set to win the title.