Michael Detlef Stich (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçaːʔeːl ˈʃtɪç] ^ⓘ; born 18 October 1968) is a German former professional tennis player. 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 ten doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 2, achieved in 1993.

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.^[1]

In 1992, Stich teamed with John McEnroe to win the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in a five-set, five-hour final that stretched into Monday (the day after the tournament normally ends) and ended with a 19–17 set. No male player since has won both singles and doubles at Wimbledon.^[1] 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.^[2] Playing for Germany, Stich also won both the Davis Cup and the Hopman Cup in 1993.

He 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.

He 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 lost to 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^{[clarification needed]} to have a positive career head-to-head record against Sampras.^[3]

Stich announced his retirement from the professional tour in 1997, after Wimbledon. His last run at Wimbledon started with a win over US top-ten 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 AIDS foundation. He also works as a tennis commentator for the BBC. In 2018, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.^[4] Stich was married to the German actress Jessica Stockmann from 1992 to 2003. In 2005, he married Alexandra Rikowski. They live in Hamburg.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1991	Wimbledon	Grass	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Loss	1994	US Open	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 6–7^(5–7), 5–7
Loss	1996	French Open	Clay	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7^(4–7), 5–7, 6–7^(4–7)

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

Other significant finals

[edit]

Year-end championships finals

[edit]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1993	ATP Tour World Championships	Carpet (i)	Pete Sampras	7–6^(7–3), 2–6, 7–6^(9–7), 6–2

Grand Slam Cup finals: 2 (1–1)

[edit]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1992	Grand Slam Cup	Carpet (i)	Michael Chang	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	1993	Grand Slam Cup	Carpet (i)	Petr Korda	6–2, 4–6, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2, 9–11

Olympic men's doubles final

[edit]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	1992	Barcelona Olympics	Clay	Boris Becker	Wayne Ferreira Piet Norval	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 7–6^(7–5), 6–3

Masters Series finals

[edit]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1992	Hamburg	Clay	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 4–6, 1–6
Win	1993	Hamburg	Clay	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7^(1–7), 7–6^(9–7), 6–4
Win	1993	Stockholm	Carpet (i)	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–3), 6–2

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

Singles: 31 (18–13)

[edit]

Legend
Grand Slam (1–2)
Year-end championships (1–0)
Grand Slam Cup (1–1)
ATP Masters Series (2–1)
ATP Championship Series (3–3)
ATP World Series (10–6)

Finals by surface
Hard (4–4)
Grass (4–1)
Clay (3–5)
Carpet (7–3)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Mar 1990	Memphis, US	Hard	Wally Masur	6–7^(5–7), 6–4, 7–6^(7–1)
Loss	1.	Jan 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Nicklas Kulti	3–6, 6–1, 2–6
Loss	2.	Jan 1991	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Guy Forget	3–6, 4–6
Loss	3.	Feb 1991	Memphis, US	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	5–7, 3–6
Win	2.	Jul 1991	Wimbledon, UK	Grass	Boris Becker	6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Win	3.	Jul 1991	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Alberto Mancini	1–6, 7–6^(11–9), 6–4, 6–2
Win	4.	Aug 1991	Schenectady, US	Hard	Emilio Sánchez	6–2, 6–4
Win	5.	Oct 1991	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Jan Siemerink	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	4.	May 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 4–6, 1–6
Win	6.	Jun 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Jonathan Stark	6–4, 7–5
Win	7.	Dec 1992	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Michael Chang	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
Win	8.	Feb 1993	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	Richard Krajicek	4–6, 7–5, 7–6^(7–4), 3–6, 7–5
Loss	5.	May 1993	Munich, Germany	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–7^(2–7), 3–6
Win	9.	May 1993	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 6–7^(1–7), 7–6^(9–7), 6–4
Win	10.	Jun 1993	London (Queen's Club), UK	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–4
Loss	6.	Jul 1993	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 4–6
Win	11.	Aug 1993	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
Win	12.	Nov 1993	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–3), 6–2
Win	13.	Nov 1993	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	Pete Sampras	7–6^(7–3), 2–6, 7–6^(9–7), 6–2
Loss	7.	Dec 1993	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Petr Korda	6–2, 4–6, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2, 9–11
Win	14.	Feb 1994	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Wayne Ferreira	4–6, 6–3, 6–0
Win	15.	May 1994	Munich, Germany	Clay	Petr Korda	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Win	16.	Jun 1994	Halle, Germany	Grass	Magnus Larsson	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	8.	Sep 1994	US Open, New York	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 6–7^(5–7), 5–7
Loss	9.	Oct 1994	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Andre Agassi	6–7^(4–7), 6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Loss	10.	Feb 1995	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	Richard Krajicek	6–7^(4–7), 3–6, 7–6^(8–6), 6–1, 3–6
Loss	11.	May 1995	Munich, Germany	Clay	Wayne Ferreira	5–7, 6–7^(6–8)
Loss	12.	Jun 1995	Halle, Germany	Grass	Marc Rosset	6–3, 6–7^(11–13), 6–7^(8–10)
Win	17.	Aug 1995	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	6–7^(7–9), 7–6^(7–4), 6–2
Win	18.	Feb 1996	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 6–2, 7–6^(7–5)
Loss	13.	Jun 1996	French Open, Paris	Clay	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7^(4–7), 5–7, 6–7^(4–7)

Legend
Grand Slam (1–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
Olympic Gold Medal (1–0)
ATP Masters Series (1–2)
ATP Championship Series (1–1)
ATP World Series (6–3)

Finals by surface
Hard (3–2)
Grass (3–1)
Clay (3–2)
Carpet (1–1)

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

Performance timelines

[edit]

Key

DNQ

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	3R	3R	QF	SF	1R	3R	A	2R	0 / 7	16–7
French Open	A	2R	2R	SF	3R	4R	2R	4R	F	A	0 / 8	22–8
Wimbledon	A	1R	3R	W	QF	QF	1R	1R	4R	SF	1 / 9	25–8
US Open	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	1R	F	4R	2R	A	0 / 8	15–8
Win–loss	0–0	1–3	6–4	17–3	11–4	12–4	7–4	8–4	10–3	6–2	1 / 32	78–31
Year-end championships
ATP Finals	Did not qualify	RR	DNQ	W	Did not qualify	1 / 2	5–3
Grand Slam Cup	Not Held	DNQ	SF	W	F	DNQ	1R	DNQ	1 / 4	9–3
National representation
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held	2R	Not Held	A	NH	0 / 1	1–1
Davis Cup	A	A	QF	SF	PO	W	SF	SF	QF	A	1 / 6	21–9
Grand Prix	ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	A	A	A	SF	SF	2R	A	3R	A	A	0 / 4	8–4
Miami	A	A	2R	4R	A	4R	A	2R	A	A	0 / 4	5–4
Monte Carlo	A	A	1R	A	QF	2R	3R	2R	A	2R	0 / 6	5–6
Rome	A	A	A	1R	1R	A	QF	A	2R	A	0 / 4	4–3
Hamburg	A	1R	1R	SF	F	W	SF	3R	A	2R	1 / 8	18–7
Canada	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	0 / 2	3–2
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	A	QF	SF	SF	A	A	0 / 3	8–3
Stockholm¹	A	A	A	2R	3R	W	QF	A	2R	A	1 / 5	9–4
Paris	A	A	QF	A	3R	QF	2R	A	1R	A	0 / 5	6–5
Win–loss	N/A	0–1	5–5	10–5	11–6	16–5	13–5	7–6	2–3	2–2	2 / 40	66–37
Career statistics
Titles	0	0	1	4	2	6	3	1	1	0	18
Finals	0	0	1	7	3	9	5	4	2	0	31
Year-end ranking	269	100	42	4	15	2	9	12	16	64

¹ Held as Stockholm Masters until 1994, Stuttgart Masters from 1995 onward.

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	QF	1R	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 4	3–4
French Open	A	3R	2R	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	5–3
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	1R	W	3R	SF	A	A	A	1 / 6	13–5
US Open	A	1R	1R	QF	SF	3R	A	A	A	A	0 / 5	9–5
Win–loss	0–0	2–3	2–4	8–4	10–2	4–2	4–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	1 / 18	30–17
National representation
Summer Olympics	A	not held	G	not held	A	NH	1 / 1	4–0
Davis Cup	A	A	QF	SF	PO	W	SF	SF	QF	A	1 / 6	14–2
Career statistics
Titles	0	1	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	1	10
Finals	0	1	6	2	5	1	0	0	0	1	16
Year-end ranking	216	73	27	27	16	76	89	156	359	206

Season	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	Total
Wins	0	0	0	1	7	6	14	3	6	2	0	39

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
1990
1.	Brad Gilbert	9	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	3R	6–4, 6–4
1991
2.	Stefan Edberg	1	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	QF	6–2, 7–6^(7–4)
3.	Goran Ivanišević	8	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	6–3, 6–4
4.	Jim Courier	4	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	QF	6–3, 7–6^(7–2), 6–2
5.	Stefan Edberg	1	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	SF	4–6, 7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(7–2)
6.	Boris Becker	2	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	F	6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 6–4
7.	Jim Courier	3	Davis Cup, Kansas City	Clay (i)	RR	6–4, 7–5, 6–4
8.	Guy Forget	7	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	QF	7–6^(10–8), 6–4
1992
9.	Boris Becker	4	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	SF	6–1, 6–1
10.	Pete Sampras	3	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	6–7^(6–8), 6–2, 6–4
11.	Stefan Edberg	2	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	1R	7–6^(7–4), 6–7^(4–7), 8–6
12.	Richard Krajicek	10	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	QF	7–6^(7–4), 7–5
13.	Pete Sampras	3	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	SF	7–6^(7–3), 7–6^(7–5), 3–6, 7–6^(7–2)
14.	Michael Chang	6	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	F	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
1993
15.	Ivan Lendl	7	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	QF	6–3, 6–2
16.	Stefan Edberg	3	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	6–2, 6–0
17.	Boris Becker	4	Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	QF	6–4, 7–6^(7–2)
18.	Petr Korda	10	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	4R	7–6^(7–4), 6–4, 7–6^(7–3)
19.	Stefan Edberg	5	Davis Cup, Borlänge	Clay (i)	RR	6–1, 6–1
20.	Stefan Edberg	5	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	F	6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
21.	Stefan Edberg	6	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	QF	1–6, 6–2, 6–4
22.	Goran Ivanišević	10	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	F	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–3), 6–2
23.	Andriy Medvedev	6	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	RR	6–3, 6–4
24.	Michael Chang	7	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	RR	4–6, 7–6^(7–3), 6–2
25.	Jim Courier	2	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	RR	7–5, 6–4
26.	Goran Ivanišević	8	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	SF	7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(12–10)
27.	Pete Sampras	1	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt	Carpet (i)	F	7–6^(7–3), 2–6, 7–6^(9–7), 6–2
28.	Stefan Edberg	5	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	SF	2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
1994
29.	Pete Sampras	1	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	3–6, 7–6^(9–7), 6–2
30.	Sergi Bruguera	6	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	F	2–6, 6–4, 6–3
31.	Sergi Bruguera	4	Davis Cup, Halle	Grass	RR	7–6^(7–4), 5–7, 7–5, 6–2
1995
32.	Goran Ivanišević	5	Davis Cup, Karlsruhe	Hard (i)	RR	7–6^(7–3), 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
33.	Boris Becker	3	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	SF	6–0, 6–3
34.	Richard Krajicek	10	Davis Cup, Utrecht	Hard (i)	RR	3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
35.	Magnus Larsson	10	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	7–5, 7–6^(7–5)
36.	Pete Sampras	2	Cincinnati, United States	Hard	QF	6–7^(5–7), 7–6^(7–3), 6–1
37.	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6	Davis Cup, Moscow	Clay (i)	RR	6–1, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
1996
38.	Goran Ivanišević	9	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet (i)	F	6–3, 6–2, 7–6^(7–5)
39.	Thomas Muster	2	French Open, Paris	Clay	4R	4–6, 6–4, 6–1, 7–6^(7–1)

Record against No. 1 players

[edit]

Stich's match record against players who have been ranked world No. 1.

Player	Years	Matches	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Carpet
Patrick Rafter	1994–1995	2	2–0	100%	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Marcelo Ríos	1994	1	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Mats Wilander	1991	1	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Jimmy Connors	1990–1992	4	3–1	75%	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0
Stefan Edberg	1991–1996	16	10–6	63%	1–3	5–1	1–0	3–2
Thomas Muster	1992–1996	5	3–2	60%	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–0
Jim Courier	1990–1997	12	7–5	58%	2–2	1–2	2–0	2–1
Pete Sampras	1991–1995	9	5–4	56%	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1
John McEnroe	1990–1992	2	1–1	50%	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0
Boris Becker	1990–1996	12	4–8	33%	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–6
Yevgeny Kafelnikov	1993–1997	11	3–8	27%	1–1	1–4	0–1	1–2
/ Ivan Lendl	1989–1993	7	1–6	14%	0–3	1–1	0–1	0–1
Andre Agassi	1990–1994	6	0–6	0%	0–3	0–1	0–0	0–2
Total	1989–1997	88	41–47	47%	11–16	14–12	6–4	10–15

^ West Germany prior to 1990

^ ^a ^b "Michael Stich: thirty years on". Wimbledon.com. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
^ ATP World Tour Finals#Records and statistics
^ "FedEx ATP Head 2 Head – Tennis – ATP World Tour". Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
^ "International Tennis Hall of Fame". Tennisfame.com. Retrieved 4 July 2022.

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