Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Tennis legend Becker faces possible jail term

Tennis legend Becker faces possible jail term

FORMER tennis star Boris Becker will learn on Friday (29) whether he faces a lengthy jail term after he was found guilty by a British court of charges relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.

The six-time Grand Slam champion, 54, was convicted over his transfer of huge amounts of money from his business account, failing to declare a property in Germany and concealing $866,500 of debt and shares in a tech firm.


But he was acquitted at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month of a further 20 charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and medals he won during his glittering tennis career.

He told jurors he did not know the whereabouts of the memorabilia, including two of his three Wimbledon men's singles trophies.

Judge Deborah Taylor released Becker -- who won Wimbledon as an unseeded teenager -- on conditional bail ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing at the south London court.

The former world number one told the jury how his $50m career earnings were swallowed up by an expensive divorce from his first wife Barbara Becker, child maintenance payments and "expensive lifestyle commitments".

Becker said he was "shocked" and "embarrassed" when he was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than $3.8m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

The German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, said he had cooperated with trustees trying to secure his assets, even offering his wedding ring, and relied on the advisers who managed his life away from tennis.

But the former player, who was supported in court by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro and eldest son Noah, was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.

'Income reduced dramatically'

Giving evidence, Becker said he earned a "vast amount" of money during his career, paying cash for several properties.

But the German, who went on to coach current world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, work as a TV sports commentator and act as a brand ambassador for firms including Puma, said his income "reduced dramatically" following his retirement in 1999.

Becker, who was resident in Monte Carlo and Switzerland before moving to the UK, said his financial commitments included his $27,611-a-month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London.

He also owed the Swiss authorities $5.1m and separately just under $1.05m in liabilities over a conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.

He said bad publicity had damaged "brand Becker", meaning he struggled to make enough money to pay off his debts.

His lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw said at the time of his bankruptcy that Becker was too "trusting and reliant" on his advisers.

Becker, with a shock of strawberry-blond hair, shook up the tennis world in 1985 when he became Wimbledon's youngest men's singles champion at 17 -- repeating the feat the following year.

Nicknamed "Boom Boom" Becker for his ferocious serve, he won Wimbledon for a third time in 1989.

He also won the Australian Open twice and the US Open during his glittering career, becoming the top-ranked player in the world in 1991.

Becker turned to commentary after his retirement, landing a high-profile role on the BBC, but he returned to the court in 2013 as the coach of Djokovic, helping the Serb win six more Grand Slam trophies before the pair parted ways in 2016.

(AFP)

More For You

Amanda Anisimova

The last American woman remaining in the draw

Getty Images

Amanda Anisimova stuns Aryna Sabalenka to reach maiden Wimbledon final

Highlights

  • Amanda Anisimova defeats world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets
  • The American advances to her first Grand Slam final
  • Sabalenka’s run of Grand Slam finals ends
  • Anisimova will face either Swiatek or Bencic on Saturday
  • With the win, Anisimova is projected to reach world No. 7

American tennis star Amanda Anisimova produced the biggest win of her career by defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the semi-finals of Wimbledon on Thursday. The result sends the 23-year-old into her first Grand Slam final, where she will face either Iga Swiatek or Belinda Bencic on Saturday.

The contest on Centre Court lasted two hours and 37 minutes and was interrupted twice during the first set due to spectators feeling unwell in the heat. Despite the stoppages, both players maintained their focus in a match marked by intense rallies and shifting momentum.

Keep ReadingShow less
HYBE Cine Fest 2025
HYBE Cine Fest 2025: How HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is India’s K-pop soft launch
Instagram/pvrpictures

HYBE Cine Fest 2025: BTS, TXT, and SEVENTEEN light up screens; here’s what it really means

You step into your local PVR today. The smell of popcorn hits you, but instead of previews for the latest Bollywood hit, the lobby is a sea of ARMY Bombs and CARAT Bong light sticks. Fans in TXT tees are swapping photocards. Someone’s already belting out a LE SSERAFIM chorus into a mic at the pop-up Noraebang station. Inside Screen 3? It isn’t a film, but a full-blown K-pop concert. Thousands of voices scream every word of BTS’s Dynamite, and tears well up during Jungkook’s solo. But this isn’t Seoul. It’s Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, all this weekend. And HYBE? They’re taking notes, big ones!

What is Hybe Cine fest?

HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is a three-day cinema event (from 10 to 12 July) that brings some of the biggest K-pop concert experiences to the big screen across India. Organised by South Korean entertainment giant HYBE in partnership with PVR INOX and Trafalgar Releasing, the fest features full-length concert films from BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, ENHYPEN, ILLIT, and Katseye. Expect stadium-level production with cinematic visuals, surround sound, and collective fan chants, everything fans love about a K-pop concert, recreated inside a cinema.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk

The launch of Grok 4 comes amid criticism of the previous version

Getty Images

Elon Musk claims new Grok 4 AI is ‘smarter than PhD graduates’

Highlights

  • Elon Musk unveils Grok 4, calling it “the smartest AI in the world”
  • Grok 4 reportedly trained 100 times more than Grok 2
  • Musk says it performs at PhD-level across nearly all subjects
  • The launch follows controversy around Grok 3’s offensive responses

Musk launches Grok 4 AI model with bold claims of intelligence

Elon Musk has launched Grok 4, the latest artificial intelligence model developed by his xAI company, claiming it surpasses PhD-level intelligence across all academic fields.

Speaking at the launch, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said Grok 4 had been trained using 100 times more data than Grok 2, which was replaced by Grok 3 in February this year. Musk described the new model as “the smartest AI in the world” and said it could achieve near-perfect results in graduate-level exams in almost every subject.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan rejects claim of China’s role in border clash

Asim Munir

Pakistan rejects claim of China’s role in border clash

PAKISTAN’S army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday (7) rejected Delhi’s allegation that his military received active support from longtime ally China in its conflict with India in May.

The Indian Army’s deputy chief, Lieutenant General Rahul Singh, said last week that China gave Islamabad “live inputs” on key Indian positions.

Keep ReadingShow less