Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker says he regrets winning Wimbledon at the age of 17 because of the pressure it placed on him during and after his playing career.

The German was only 17 years, seven months and 15 days when he beat Kevin Curren in 1985, becoming the youngest Wimbledon men’s singles champion of all time.

Becker went on to win five more Grand Slam titles, including another two at Wimbledon, and became one of the greatest players of his generation.

However, Becker’s success was often overshadowed by a turbulent private life and repeated financial difficulties.

In 2023 he was released from prison in London after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.

“If you remember any other wunderkind (wonderkid), they usually don’t make it to 50 because of the trials and tribulations that come after,” Becker told BBC Sport.

“Whatever you do, wherever you go, whoever you talk to, it becomes a world sensation.

“It becomes the headline of some of the most important papers of tomorrow. And you’re just trying to mature, just trying to find your feet in the world.

“When you start a second career everything is measured at this success of winning Wimbledon at 17. And that changed the road ahead tremendously.

“I’m happy to have won three, but maybe 17 was too young. I was still a child.”

Having retired in 1999 and then working as a TV pundit, Becker coached Novak Djokovic for three years between 2013 and 2016, helping the Serb win six of his 24 Grand Slam titles.

The 57-year-old, who has written a book about his time in prison, says he took comfort from Djokovic’s 2022 success at Wimbledon.

“I was supporting Djokovic at the time I saw him on the TV, when he was winning matches and ultimately winning the title against Nick Kyrgios,” he said.

“That was very inspirational for me and in the end very emotional for me. My brother Novak is there and I’m in one of the worst prisons in the world. So it puts life into perspective.”

Becker was deported from the UK following his release.

“I was too comfortable. I had too much money. Nobody told me ‘no’ – everything was possible. In hindsight, that’s the recipe for disaster,” he said.

“So you take accountability for your actions, which is very important because you cannot look back any more. You cannot change the past. You can only change the future because you live in today.”

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin said after defeat by Dundee United he needs to “find answers quickly” to arrest an alarming start to the season.

The club are rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership after four defeats in five games, all without scoring a goal.

Add to that a meek League Cup exit against Motherwell and some fans are already starting to turn against their Scottish Cup-winning manager.

With a re-match with impressive Motherwell at Fir Park up next on Saturday, Thelin needs solutions to fix his ailing side.

But what might those look like?

Thelin has stuck rigidly to a 4-2-3-1 system since arriving in Scotland last summer, except for one famous exception.

The Swede switched to a 5-3-2 for the Scottish Cup final against Celtic, succesfully stymying Brendan Rodgers’ side before triumphing on penalties.

There has been absolutely no sign Thelin is thinking of going with that formation again, but could it help?

Having another striker to support Kevin Nisbet might spark their stilted attack into life, because they have scored the fewest goals of any side to have played in the Premiership this season and last.

Given Aberdeen’s recruitment of wingers and their importance to Thelin, 4-4-2 might be a more likely option to change it up.

Or even just playing a more traditional 4-3-3 to get more midfielders further forward and reduce the reliance on a number 10.

Former Aberdeen captain Willie Miller, though, feels it is unlikely Thelin will mix things up in that way.

“That [formation] is his identity,” he said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound.

“What he needs to do, and I think what he will do, is stick with it and try to get the right personnel in there. I don’t tink he has [got the right personnel].

“A lot of these players are young project players. They should have the energy, and he is hoping he has the quality but we’re not seeing it yet.”

Many observers believe the heart of Aberdeen’s problems are coming from midfield.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen was back in the starting XI to play Dundee United, and is often the focus of supporters’ ire.

He is viewed as Thelin’s key lieutenant, because of his experience and knowledge of the manager’s methods from their time at Elfsborg.

However, with Aberdeen’s performances lacking intensity – a point Thelin has repeatedly made – and the fact they have lost more challenges than any other side since the start of last season, Nilsen’s selection is a point of serious contention.

That is principally due to the 33-year-old’s lack of mobility across the pitch.

Thelin has insisted Nilsen sets standards in training, but whether it is a lack of legs, poor distances between players, or low confidence, Aberdeen’s midfield is toiling.

At 34, captain Graeme Shinnie could not be accused of lacking intensity, but naturally cannot go box-to-box to the same degree he used to.

Thelin has only started both Nilsen and Shinnie in midfield twice this season, but at least one of them has been in the middle of the pitch for every game, except the home defeat by Falkirk.

That performance was arguably Aberdeen’s most encouraging in attack in the league, before Nicky Devlin was sent off and they slipped to defeat.

“I can understand why he’s played Sivert Nilsen in there and why he has played Shinnie in there,” Miller added on Sportsound.

“But they are the wrong side of 30 and it’s looking like they need more energy in that area. I didn’t see an awful lot of energy or creativity.”

The problem for Thelin is, apart from 33-year-old Stuart Armstrong, whom he singled out for praise at Tannadice, others are not exactly putting their hand up and demanding to be picked when they do get a chance.

Dante Polvara has performed better when coming off the bench, while Leighton Clarkson – Aberdeen’s most creative midfielder – was left out altogether and has started two games all season.

Is it time for him to return give how few chances Aberdeen create? Do they have the right balance of players in there?

Thelin has spoken about the need for “intensity” before just about every game this season, yet when his team take to the pitch there is a distinct lack of it.

The Swede used the words “tense” and “stiff” to describe the 2-0 loss to United.

That is understandable amid fan anger and pressure amid a run of five league wins in 32 games, but that is not the only explanation.

Aberdeen have brought in 24 players in the last three transfer windows and have made more changes to their starting line-up in the Premiership than anyone other than Celtic or Rangers since the start of last season.

It is clear, then, Thelin is still getting to grips with his best team, and as a result there have been no reliable combinations formed all over the pitch.

Only Shinnie and Topi Keskinen have started more than three quarters of Thelin’s league games, while Slobodan Rubezic is the centre-back with the most Premiership starts (20) despite being loaned out in February and subsequently departing.

The team are crying out for consistency and stability across the pitch to ease help settle the tension.

Thelin says he needs to find the solutions that other managers, such as his opposite number on Saturday Jens Berthel Askou, have found in short order.

And with pressure from fans ratcheting up with every defeat, time is against him.

As club legend Miller put it succintly: “For goodness sake, he needs to find the answers quickly.”