Becker’s new love match? UK model aged 31
BORIS Becker risked an awkward encounter with his ex- wife yesterday as he was spotted with a model 20 years his junior.
The 51-year-old former champion spent much of his time at Wimbledon entertaining Layla Powell, 31. She wore a flattering white buttondown knee-length dress for the third day of the tournament. While they enjoyed each other’s company, they risked running into Becker’s ex-wife of nine years, Lilly, who was also at the All-England Club. Becker split from the hawk 42-year- old model last WIMBLEDON’S resident year. She said that he gone Rufus is said to had ‘grossly disappointed’ of pigeons to AWOL after a lack her. flown to a The German tennis chase this year Handler star and Briton Miss nearby golf course. Powell were previously she ‘ran Imogen David said spotted on a late-night lady, around like a crazy dinner date at a London looking into trees restaurant in March. and whistling’. At the time his lawyers insisted he considers himself to be single. It is not yet clear what his current status is. Becker has since ‘liked’ a string of glamorous pictures on Miss Powell’s Instagram page. She is a law graduate from the University of Winchester and food blogger whose modelling career began when she appeared on Channel 4 reality TV show Model Behaviour in 2001. She spoke in 2015 about how difficult it used to be to get work as a black model, saying: ‘Diversity didn’t sell, or so [the industry] believed.’
Becker was briefly engaged to jewellery designer Alessandra ‘Sandy’ Meyer-Wolden in 2008. His daughter, Anna, was conceived after a 1999 liaison with Russian model Angela Ermakova. In 2009, he married Dutch model Lilly Kerssenberg, with whom he has a son, Amadeus.
The Wimbledon regular was the youngest winner in its history when he claimed the first of three titles in 1985 aged 17. His trophies are being sold off in an online auction to pay off his debts after he was declared bankrupt last year.
The ex-world number one is selling 82 items including medals, cups, watches and photos. Valued at £200,000, they have already attracted individual bids of £15,000 or more. But it will not be enough to cover Becker’s debts, estimated to run to millions of pounds.
Becker, nicknamed Boom Boom because of his devastating serve, was declared bankrupt over money owed to bank Arbuthnot Latham.