The 1989 US Open trophy won by Boris Becker was sold at auction for 357,546 dollars (around 300 thousand euros)the German champion’s only success in the American tournament. The auction, organized by The Tennis Auction – Prestige Memorabilia, recorded the second highest proceeds for a tennis trophy, surpassed only by Novak Djokovic’s racket with which he won the 2012 Australian Open, sold for 540 thousand dollars.
Made by Tiffany & Co. and 35 centimeters tall, the trophy is one of the rarest pieces in world tennis since only one official copy is made for the Grand Slam tournaments. The success at Flushing Meadows in 1989 crowned a golden season for the German, who also won Wimbledon that year and led West Germany to triumph in the Davis Cup. The amount realized at the auction even exceeds the prize money received by Becker at the time, equal to 300 thousand dollars.