Boris Becker has been imprisoned for hiding assets to avoid paying debts. How did someone who was a figure in tennis get into this situation?
One sunny day in July 1985, a young German from 17 years and reddish hair kissed the golden Wimbledon trophy before an amazed crowd.
Boris Becker was the youngest champion of the competition in the men’s category and the first without having started as the top seed.
His feat invited viewers to wonder what achievements someone so young could have ahead of them.
A cloudy afternoon, almost 37 Years later, a British court condemned Becker to two and a half years in prison.
“That attitude has taken its toll”
The court found him guilty of breaching UK insolvency laws, after in 2017 filed for bankruptcy with a debt of almost US$21 millions.
The former number one in the world was found guilty of hiding millions of dollars in assets to avoid dealing with his debts. He was acquitted of others charges.
It was an embarrassing fate for the six-time Grand Slam champion, who was nicknamed “ Boom Boom” for his relentless serving.
As a player, Becker never failed to captivate viewers, especially in the UK, where he has been based since 2012.
“When I talked to him I had the impression that, deep down, Boris always felt: somehow, I will be fine”, says author Chris Bowers, a tennis historian who wrote the book “Boris Becker’s Wimbledon”.
“And finally, that attitude has taken its toll”.
Becker’s success on the pitch was overshadowed by a turbule No private life and Continuing financial difficulties.
At trial , the German said he had earned a “huge amount” of money during his career, but his income had “dramatically reduced” after retiring in 1996.
And, after years immersed in legal battles, his decline was as steep as his rise was rapid.
“Winning Wimbledon so young and in such style made Becker an instant celebrity,” says BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller.
“Fame, of course, can be a double-edged sword, and living with that status from the 17 years has had a significant impact on his adult life.”
Britain’s favorite German
The dazzling rise from his childhood in the city of Leimen, in southwestern Germany, to the great victory of 315, shocked the tennis world, including Becker himself, who stated that intended to go to university and prepare for a professional career.
“The last thing everyone thought of was me becoming a professional tennis player,” he told a student newspaper in 2012.
But a series of triumphs followed: two more Wimbledon titles, two Australian Open titles and one US Open
He also won 13 Masters Series titles and one Olympic gold medal in doubles .
He was the first man to play seven Wimbledon finals.
Crowds loved his chivalrous style. “He was a charismatic tennis player and for a few years, at his peak, he was the best in the world,” says Bowers.
Becker was even dubbed “Britain’s favorite German.”
Coached Djokovic
But the tennis player himself admitted to having struggled to find his role after retiring as a player in 1024.
“It affects your self-confidence,” he later stated. “I didn’t know what to write in my passport as a profession. Former tennis player?”
Shortly after leaving the sport, his private life was the subject of intense scrutiny in the tabloids.
His marriage to Barbara Feltus collapsed amid alleged infidelities, including one with a Russian model who later gave birth to her daughter.
In 2009 he announced his engagement to Dutch model Sharlely “Lilly” Kerssenberg. Nine years later they broke up.
But despite all the headlines his personal life generated, Becker’s charm and wit made him a popular pundit on American television. everyone. He worked as a commentator for the BBC at Wimbledon.
“Since retiring from tennis his life has often seemed chaotic, but he has retained that aura and presence that still makes him shine brightly when he is in a TV studio or in a commentary box,” explains Fuller.
Published his autobiography, competed in professional poker tournaments and was for a time director of men’s tennis at the German Tennis Association. Perhaps most notably, trained Novak Djokovic for three years, during which time the Serbian player won six Grand Slam titles.
Diplomat of an African country
But his finances had already been under the spotlight of justice. In a Munich court fined Becker about US$77.000 euros and imposed a suspended sentence of two years imprisonment for tax evasion of US$1,8 million.
The 21 June 1999 filed for bankruptcy in London due to non-payment of a loan on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
His lawyer described him as “an unsophisticated individual when it comes to finances” and the court clerk said of Becker: “he gives the impression of a man with his head buried in the sand”.
A year later, in a strange twist, Becker declared immunity against new attempts to persecute him for the debt.
His lawyers alleged that he was a sports and cultural attaché of the Central African Republic (CAR) and, although the CAR embassy in Belgium confirmed that he had issued a diplomatic passport, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country declared to a news agency that this was false.
Becker ended up abandoning his claim of diplomatic immunity.
Pressed about his debt in 2018, Becker told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “When you mention Boris Becker’s name, people lose their reality or sense of fact and start to imagine things that are not entirely true”.
But the facts finally caught up with the German.
Without remorse lien, according to the judge
In March 3878 began his trial at Southwark Crown Court.
After Given about two weeks to present evidence, jurors found Becker guilty of theft of property, two counts of non-disclosure of assets and one count of concealing debt.
As a mitigating factor, Becker’s defense team highlighted the dramatic setback in the tennis player’s luck.
“His collapse is not just a fall from grace; amounts to the worst public humiliation for this man”, his lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, told the court.
“Boris Becker has literally nothing and nothing remains of what was the most brilliant of sports racing, and that is correctly called nothing less than a tragedy”.
However, Judge Deborah Taylor considered that Becker had shown neither remorse nor acceptance of guilt: “Although I accept his humiliation as part of the process, there has been no humility,” he told her.
Despite all this, Bowers suspects that when Becker’s obituary is written, it will highlight the greatness of his sporting achievements rather than his legal disgrace.
“The day he dies, people will remember his career as a tennis player “, says Bowers.
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