Boris Becker's drama began when he was still active
As successful as Boris Becker was on the tennis court during his great career, it was difficult for the three-time Wimbledon champion afterwards. A comment on the verdict that Becker received on Friday.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Apr 29, 2022, 06:40 pm
When Boris Becker was first spotted by the cameras on the morning of April 29, 2022, he had a sports bag on his shoulder and was wearing a Wimbledon tie with his suit. One would have thought the six-time Grand Slam champion was on his way to an appointment at the All England Club, the place in the southwest of the British capital where he won his first major career title almost 37 years ago.
But Becker had completely different, rather bitter obligations in London. He had to appear in court to find out what the verdict would be after serious misconduct in his bankruptcy proceedings. After hours of waiting, it was clear in the afternoon that Becker would not leave the courtroom as a free man – Judge Deborah Taylor gave him two and a half years in prison for crimes such as money laundering and evasion of assets as a debtor.
This court day in London is as drastic for Becker as July 7, 1985, when he became the youngest Wimbledon winner of all time - and has remained so to this day. Because for Becker, the self-inflicted turbulence, which reliably accompanied him more than two decades after his great tennis career, ended yesterday with a crash. It was a wild rollercoaster ride with falls and climbs, a never-ending drama. Becker got so hopelessly tangled up in financial calamities that at some point he crossed the famous red line.
Becker did not score the important points in business
His lawyer argued in court that Becker's situation was due to naivety and excessive demands. Faithless, incompetent advisors would have taken care of dear money. Judge Deborah Taylor didn't believe it and ruled that Becker knew very well what he was doing. Which, by the way, is to be expected in a grown man over fifty.
Becker's drama began when he was still active, when he rejected important companions from his entourage if they became uncomfortable or annoying. Becker preferred to trust himself during his professional tennis days. But also afterwards. Last but not least, he had the sincere idea that after his life in the touring circuit, he would also score the important points in business. He liked to glorify his failure as an entrepreneur by claiming that he was not born as a greeting August. He also has to take risks. But these risks were no longer offset by sufficient income, instead there were a series of unexpected expenses - maintenance payments for wives, children.
Claims of almost 60 million euros
Becker's first manager Ion Tiriac recently shook his head when he looked at Becker's considerable difficulties and the tiresome court process. In the humble opinion of the Romanian businessman, who has meanwhile become a billionaire in his home country, Becker should, if not had to, become one of the richest athletes ever. But as much as Becker was clairvoyant on the tennis court, following the rules and being able to assess his options coldly, he lost control after leaving Center Court and lived beyond his new circumstances. After all, the claims of his creditors eventually accumulated to almost 60 million euros.
The court case in Germany in 2003, in which he barely escaped imprisonment with a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion, should have been a warning shot for him. But nothing got better for him afterwards, in any respect. Now he is threatened with the hardest time of his life, as a man whose freedom has only once been taken away.