Boris Becker: How a tennis superstar

Boris Becker has been jailed for hiding assets to avoid paying debts. How did the former golden boy of tennis come to this?

One bright July day in 1985, a strawberry-blond 17-year-old stood before an awestruck crowd and kissed the golden Wimbledon trophy. Boris Becker was the youngest ever men’s champion at the competition and the first to win it unseeded.

His remarkable achievement invited every spectator to wonder what someone so young might go on to achieve.

On an overcast afternoon almost 37 years later, Becker was jailed for two and a half years at Southwark Crown Court. He had been found guilty of breaking UK insolvency laws after he was declared bankrupt in 2017, owing creditors almost £50m.

The former world number one had been accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets to avoid paying his debts. He was acquitted on a further 20 charges.

It was an ignominious fate for the six-time Grand Slam champion, who in his heyday was nicknamed “Boom Boom” for his domineering serve. As a player, Becker never failed to captivate spectators – especially in the UK, where he has lived since 2012.

“Whenever I talked to him, I always got the impression that deep down, Boris always felt: ‘Somehow, I’ll be OK,’” says author and tennis historian Chris Bowers, who ghost-wrote the book Boris Becker’s Wimbledon for the star.

“And finally, that attitude has caught up with him.”