Retired tennis star Boris Becker has claimed he’s reaching the ‘last phase’ of his life and is intent on ‘making a difference’ and ‘achieving something’ new as he creeps towards old age.
The three-time Wimbledon champion, who in December was deported to Germany following a stint in British prison for insolvency fraud, told Brazilian outlet Veja that his time behind bars helped him to become more humble and learn from his mistakes.
‘I’ve had a very intense, sometimes over-exposed journey, but I can look forward to at least another 25 years and I think the experiences I’ve had, including life in prison, will teach me how to make the right choices,’ the 55-year-old said.
‘I think I became a more experienced and humble person after what I went through in prison… It made me reflect on the past and learn from my mistakes. That’s my challenge now.’
Becker gave the interview while promoting a documentary series about his life and scandals on Apple TV – one of many new enterprises the disgraced six-time grandslam winner has embarked on while officially residing with his 87-year-old mother Elvira in Leimen, Germany.
Retired tennis star Boris Becker has claimed he’s reaching the ‘last phase’ of his life and is intent on ‘making a difference’ as he creeps towards old age
A tearful Boris Becker claimed he ‘hit the bottom’ after being jailed for 30 months for tax evasion in a new tell-all documentary on Apple TV
Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro and Boris Becker attend the ‘Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker’ premiere during the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin on February 19, 2023 in Berlin
Becker is pictured with his 87-year-old mother Elvira
On the court, ‘Boom-Boom’ Becker was utterly sensational, but led an off-court life of tumult and scandal characterised by divorces, money problems and broom-closet tumbles.
In April 2022, he landed a two-and-a-half-year jail term for hiding millions in assets despite having declared himself bankrupt.
Upon his December early release from jail, the disgraced tennis star has set about trying to rebuild his image and income, working with financial risk analyst girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro to manage his funds via a new company, BFB Enterprises.
Almost immediately following his return to Germany, he conducted a lengthy interview with German media for a reported £450,000, and just weeks later was commentating on the Australian Open on a reported six-figure contract.
Then in February, Becker appeared on the red carpet at a film festival in Berlin where he enjoyed rapturous applause and fielded questions about the new documentary film on his life – a project that’s sure to make him a few extra bucks.
When asked by Brazilian media what his next enterprise would be, Becker responded: ‘I don’t know yet, but I see the TV show as good training… I’m happy to be back in my old [tennis] world and hear so many colleagues talking about me.’
A 17year old-Boris Becker became the youngest person ever and the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon men’s single’s final. Photo dated 07-07-1985
Boris Becker is interviewed on German television at the end of December last year
Becker’s documentary dropped on Apple TV+ on April 8 and features legends of tennis such as John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Novak Djokovic – who has worked with Becker as a coach – reflecting on his legacy.
But it’s Becker in his own words that provides by far the most insight, especially when reflecting on his more controversial moments of his life.
On his time in prison, Becker gets tearful and chokes up as he admits: ‘I’ve hit my bottom. But that’s not the end yet, there is going to be another chapter.’
He also opens up about discovering about his lovechild after a fling with Russian model Angela Ermakova in 1999 which cost him his marriage with then-wife, Barbara Feltus.
Becker explains: ‘She came in, she had a big coat on. She took the coat off and she was heavily pregnant. You just can’t believe it. The wake-up call came very late.’
The fling occurred while his wife Barbara had gone to hospital as she was feeling discomfort during her own pregnancy with her and Becker’s son Elias. The encounter happened in a broom cupboard in London restaurant Nobu.
‘She looked directly at me, the look of the hunter that said, ‘I want you’,’ Becker recalled. ‘There she was again, walking twice past the bar. And again this look. A little while later she left her table for the toilet. I followed behind.
‘Five minutes small talk and then straight away into the nearest possible place and down to business.
‘Afterwards she went off, I had another beer, paid and went back to my hotel. As there wasn’t any news from the hospital I went to bed around 2am. In the morning I went to Barbara: the pains were a false alarm. We packed up our things and left England.
‘As to the consequences of the previous evening I didn’t have a second thought.’
Becker pictured attending court in London, with his partner Lilian de Carvalho, shortly before being sentenced to 30 months in prison last April – he served eight before being released
Becker opens up on the affair that cost him his marriage to his previous wife Barbara (left) in his Apple TV documentary
In 1999, Becker had a one-night stand with Angela Ermakova (right) in a restaurant in London – she later gave birth to his daughter Anna (left)
Becker initially denied Anna was his but later accepted that he was her father
When Ermakova gave birth to a baby girl called Anna, Becker initially denied that he was the father before eventually accepting responsibility in 2001, when she was 10 months old.
Barbara left Becker soon after, but she appears in the documentary and explains what life was like for her when she and Becker were together.
‘To pick a black woman as his wife was a big deal,’ she says. ‘To the German press, it was a black and white thing.’
Becker shot to fame when we won Wimbledon at the age of just 17. Reflecting on his whirlwind rise, he says in the sneak preview: ‘Nobody told me to win Wimbledon at 17, I just did it. My game was power.’
McEnroe then says that Becker ‘was like Michael Jordan in Germany’.
The Apple filmmakers had access to Becker for more than three years – up until he went to prison.
In the film Becker is seen solemnly accepting his conviction and wrestling with his life’s missteps – though by no means appears humbled by them and is unable – perhaps unwilling – to hide his arrogance.
Becker admitted he had ‘weaknesses and some dark moments’ but said he thought his tumultuous life lent itself to cinema.
‘My life seems like a movie,’ he told reporters. ‘It just happened to be real.’
But perhaps that’s exactly why Becker keeps adding to his catalogue of scandals, and rebounding time and again with more cameras in his face and money in his pocket.
He is always, imperfectly and unapologetically, real.
Unlike many celebrities who try to publicly atone for their transgressions and beg forgiveness only for the sentiment to ring hollow, Becker has no desire to give fake apologies.
He is who he is, a charismatic, mold-breaking risktaker whose traits have got him into trouble – but also catapulted him to the summit of world sport and secured him a level of respect and admiration on which he can trade for life.
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