Former Wimbledon finalist, at peace with no longer being a pleaser, is on a good path after rediscovering Christianity
Bjorn Bjorg of Sweden and Roscoe Tanner of the United States before their Men’s Singles Final match of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship on 7 July 1979 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England. (Photo by Tony Duffy/Getty Images)
Remember that famous Rudyard Kipling line about treating triumph and disaster the same? The one that’s written in foot-high lettering above the players’ entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court?
Well, if there is one man whose life has faced the Kipling test, it is Roscoe Tanner, the 1979 Wimbledon finalist. A drama in several acts, Tanner’s story feels like a movie script as it moves from early fame – and chronic irresponsibility – to a dramatic reversal of fortune when he is locked up in a German jail for evading his debts. As we will see, there are many striking parallels with fellow tennis champion and ex-convict Boris Becker.