11 June 2022
Boris Becker is a world champion tennis player from Germany. He was a success right away, earning the first of the six major singles matches at 17. Two Australian Opens, three Wimbledon Championships, and one US Open are among the Grand Slam singles titles. Also, he won 3 year-end medals, 13 Masters Series championships, and an Olympic pair gold medal. He was named Player of the Year by both the ITF and ATP in 1989.
Table of Contents
Becker’s private life has been difficult, battling his quick success and fame. Since his playing career ended, the star has done various things, like tutoring Novak Djokovic for over 3 years, playing poker competitively, and managing an online casino but the most significant event has just taken place recently in his life when he got arrested.
Becker behind bars
He was sentenced to two and a half years in jail in April 2022 on allegations of concealing assets in connection with his 2017 bankruptcy. Boris Becker, a six-time Grand Slam champion in tennis, was recently found guilty. He was hiding assets and debts totaling 3 million euros and was jailed for two and a half years behind bars.
The 54-year-old German tennis star, who declared bankruptcy in 2017, kept his loans and assets hidden to avoid paying his 60 million euro obligations. The three-time Wimbledon winner was found guilty of four counts of insolvency early this year and received a maximum penalty of years’ imprisonment.
Becker declared bankruptcy in 2017 due to an unsecured loan of more than £3 million on his opulent Mallorca villa. According to Judge Deborah Taylor, he had shown no sorrow or acknowledgment of responsibility.
As per testimony while in the trial, Becker’s bankruptcy was a result of a 4.6 million euros or rather $5 million debt from a financial institution in 2013 and a $1.6m loan from a certain British businessperson.
Divorce cost him a fortune, he says
Becker testified that around $50m lifetime earnings were used up by his expenses for a “costly divorce,” and debts increased when some substantial sections of his earnings disappeared after retirement. Until Becker is up for parole, he must serve a year and a half of his two-and-a-half-year term in jail.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Deborah Taylor convicted the six-time Titleholder to two and a half years in prison, of which he could serve half. Boris Becker went to great measures to avoid a court penalty.
Claiming diplomatic status to get out of trouble
The German’s most shocking move was to claim diplomatic status. Becker stated in April 2018 that the Central African Republic (CAR), a small nation in central Africa, has selected him as the Sport and Culture Attaché to the EU.
International ambassadors are exempt from indictment in a host nation, including civil and criminal processes, under the 1961 Vienna Convention restrictions. “The diplomatic passport that (Becker) carries is fake,” Cherubin Moroubama, the CAR foreign ministry’s chief of staff, told Agence-France Presse (AFP).
He went on to say that the registration number on Becker’s passport came from a shipment that was seized in 2014. Moreover, Moroubama stated that the German’s purported position with the CAR “does not exist.” Surprisingly, several people and a former Muammar Gaddafi adviser have invoked CAR diplomatic immunity to escape charges in Europe.
Personal Account
Boris Becker shot to fame when, at the age of 17, he became the smallest male singles person to win the Wimbledon Tournament. He was known for his dramatic outbursts on the court. He swore and broke his rackets when he thought he was performing poorly. In 1987, he was penalized $2000 for breaking 3 rackets, “thrice throwing the ball in an abusive manner at the referee, striking the umpire’s chair on an occasion, spewing water in the umpire direction, and hitting 3 balls out of the court” in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
He won two more Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens, and a US Open. Also, he won a gold medal in doubles at the Olympics. He resigned from tennis in 1999 and has since worked as a BBC commentator at Wimbledon.
Becker began instructing in 2013, collaborating with Novak Djokovic, one of the world’s best players. Djokovic recently won Grand Slam titles during their three-year partnership. He was also in charge of the German Tennis Federation’s youth development and Davis Cup squad until 2020 when he stepped down.
Since 2012, the father of four has called London home.