Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker had it all back in the day – money, women, fame and plush houses all over the world. However, things have changed a lot for the former world no.1.
Becker, who was the youngest player to win the Wimbledon at 17, was declared bankrupt in London. The German owes a private bank £3.34 million despite he being the fifth highest on-court earner in the tennis history.
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Reports quoted the court registrar saying there wasn't enough evidence Becker could pay back his debt. However, his lawyer asked for a final chance to pay back the debt with the funds from remortgaging a property in Majorca. But the judge said that Becker has already been given enough chances.
"One has the impression of a man with his head in the sand. I remember watching him play on Centre Court, which probably shows my age," BBC quoted Registrar Miss Christine Derrett as saying.
The bankruptcy application was made by Arbuthnot Latham. While Becker was not present at the initial hearing in London, he did release a statement and seemed confident that he would be able to pay back his debt.
"This order relates to one disputed loan which I was due to repay in full in one month's time. It is disappointing that my request for today's hearing to be postponed until this time was refused," Becker said.
"My earnings are well publicised and it is clear that I have the means to repay this debt. The value of the asset in question far exceeds the debt owed to Arbuthnot Latham."
Becker was undoubtedly one of the best players to grace the tennis court but it was his actions off the court that drove him to insolvency. He will have to abandon his commentating duties at the Wimbledon.
It all started when Becker cheated on his wife Barbara Feltus when she was pregnant with their second child. The German had a one night stand with Russian model Angela Ermokova in the broom cupboard of a London restaurant. That resulted in her getting pregnant and a paternity suit followed along with a pay-off costing the sportsman £2 million.
His wife Barbara divorced him soon after the incident which resulted in him losing up to £11.3 million in legal fees. Becker has also burned cash in other ways and one of them was him spending on his Majorcan villa and five years ago his villa was to be auctioned off to pay an outstanding debt of £225,000 to a landscape gardener.
He was also ordered to pay £345,000 to a Spanish building firm which complained he had not settled for various work and faced a £80,000 Spanish tax bill. In 2012, he was asked to pay £800,000 to a former business partner after an online organic foods firm flopped. To make things worse, he was told pay £2.5million to the Berlin taxman when his claims to have been a resident of tax haven Monaco were rejected.
Becker, who managed to get back his Majorca villa after paying his previous bill, is now trying to sell this villa to pay off his debt. His lawyer has asked for a 28-day adjournment saying Becker expect the Majorca property deal to be completed in a month's time.
