From Boom Boom to bust
Returning to Wimbledon today to commentate at the scene of his greatest triumphs must be a relief for Boris Becker. These days the tennis legend seems to spend more time in a very different kind of court.
The 50-year-old German, whose huge serve saw him nicknamed Boom Boom, has gone bust amid a soap opera that threatens to make him a laughing stock.
Becker was crowned Wimbledon’s youngest champion in 1985 at just 17 and netted £110million over 15 years.
But it didn’t take him much longer to blow all that and run up £54million in debts with a lavish lifestyle, bad business deals and failed relationships.
He has had to move out of a £7million mansion near the All England Club he rented for £30,000 a month.
An expensive divorce seems inevitable after he split from second wife Lilly, with whom he has an eight-yearold son Amadeus, after nine years.
He tried to escape debts by claiming diplomatic immunity as a sporting envoy for the Central African Republic.
But he was humiliated when the country’s foreign minister dismissed his passport as “a clumsy fake”. Faced with the prospect of having his silverware seized and sold, Becker insisted he did not know where his three Wimbledon winner’s prizes were. But one was found in the care of his mum Elvira.
The star has succeeded in fending off an auction of his beloved trophies and rackets but pals fear for his future.
Christian Schommers, who co-wrote his biography Life Is Not A Game, said: “Boris was a legend but now people are laughing at him because of the bankruptcy, the second divorce and this ridiculous case with the passport.
“I really hope he finds a way out but he will never be able to pay back this much. His money is gone. His wife and son are gone. Losing his trophies would be a new low.”
Becker’s mix of charm and expertise will reportedly earn him £100,000 for commentating on Wimbledon for the BBC.
He is also a pundit for Eurosport, head coach of German men’s tennis and charges up to £25,000 for after-dinner speeches.
But his lucrative salary
Boris was a legend but people are laughing at him now CHRISTIAN SCHOMMERS FRIEND AND BIOGRAPHER
is dwarfed by his spending. He bought a huge art collection and had homes in Zurich, Mallorca and the US, boasting of drinking fine wines as he jetted between them.
As his tennis rival and friend Pat Cash noted: “Boris has always felt the need to maintain an image linked with prosperity.”
Christian added: “When Boris goes out for lunch he spends £800, for dinner he spends £1,000.
“When he goes on holiday he flies first class or business class with the whole family. That’s ok when you earn £10million a year, like he did as a player. But when you earn £500,000 you run out of money very quickly.”
Becker’s love life has proved equally expensive. His first marriage to actress Barbara, with whom he had sons Noah and Elias, ended acrimoniously after he admitted cheating while she was pregnant. A divorce in 2001 cost him £15million plus monthly support payments.
The price of his infidelity rose even further when he discovered he had a daughter, Anna, as a result of a three-minute romp with Russian model Angela Ermakova in a broom cupboard at a restaurant.
Supporting youngest son Amadeus following his split from Dutch-born Lilly will stretch his already fragile finances even further. Christian said: “It is very sad. For a long time Boris and Lilly were a good couple. A strong couple.” Becker has been in a downward spiral for nearly 20 years. Keen to repeat his sporting success as a businessman, he initially invested in three Mercedes dealerships. But he lost his two closest advisers in the mid-1990s – one to bad blood, the other to cancer. Without their guidance he embarked on a string of failed deals. He reportedly lost £10million investing in Nigerian oil and gas, launched a tennis academy in China and tried to build a Boris Becker business tower in Dubai before the plans collapsed in 2011.
Christian said: “Boris was not a great businessman. He wasn’t focused on his deals, he didn’t look behind the scenes. He had bad managers who gave him bad tips.” Among all his other troubles Becker was accused in 2001 of tax evasion in Germany for living in Munich while claiming Monaco as his home. A year later he was hit with a suspended sentence and told to repay £2.5million.
In 2014 he was lent £1.75million by Phones4U billionaire John Cauldwell to clear unpaid maintenance bills on a Mallorca villa.
The property was later taken over by hippy squatters and the debt rose to £3.5million.
A private bank took Becker to court in London, where a judge declared him bankrupt and said he was “burying his head in the sand”.
Two weeks later the star was back before the bench, this time in Switzerland, as former business partner Hans-Dieter Cleven tried to claw back £32million he claimed to have lent him for a joint venture.
The court rejected Cleven’s claims, ordered him to pay costs and ruled in Becker’s favour.
But at the same time a £65,000 Maserati loaned to the ex-tennis ace by a dealership was towed away because of a string of unpaid parking fines.
Becker allegedly owes another £10million to companies in Switzerland and Spain.
Christian said: “Boris tries to make his own rules – that is not possible.
“You have to pay your taxes and your parking fines, you have to pay back the money you borrow from the bank or your friends. “He’s not a bad guy but he has the wrong people around him. He needs to focus on his job, calm down and stop spending money.
“He is a strong person, that is why he was such a great player. I think he is strong enough to solve these problems as well – but they are the biggest problems of his life.”