An Ill-Fated Night in London Cost the Now-Jailed Tennis Star Boris Becker $23 Million

Former German tennis star Boris Becker has been a controversial tennis star for many years. In his autobiography, ‘Stay A Moment Longer’, the tennis star revealed his extra-marital affair, which cost him his marriage and almost $20 million.

Notably, in 1999, Becker retired from professional tennis after losing in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships. Instead of taking care of his pregnant wife, Barbara Becker, he went for a few drinks with his friends, and this decision changed his life completely.

Boris Becker opened up about his illegitimate daughter

During that night, the 6-time Grand Slam champion, Becker, went to the Nobu bar in England, where he met a Russian model named Angela Ermakova. According to Becker, they became intimate, as he said, “Five minutes small talk and then straight away into the nearest possible place and down to business.”

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That night, Becker’s wife visited the hospital, as she felt the baby was coming out, which turned out to be a false alarm. Eight months later, Becker received shocking news from miss Ermakova, as she claimed she was carrying his child. They met again in London to discuss this. After a lot of discussions, he decided to accept the child if it was his child.

In Chelsea, Ermakova gave birth to a baby girl called Anna, as Becker found out that it was his child. Despite feeling shame about it, he told everything to his wife Barbara. At first, she felt shocked by the news, and after a couple of days, she said to Becker, “I don’t know how, but we will get over this.”

However, the marriage did not last, as they fought each other regularly. During that period, he spent nearly $23 million on his divorce settlement and taking care of his illegitimate child.

Becker’s other controversies

In 2002, he faced suspension for a tax evasion case; also, he received a massive fine for it. In 2017, he filed for bankruptcy in England, as he received 2 years and 6 months prison sentence for this. Currently, the former great tennis star is serving his jail time in England.

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Despite the bad reputation, Becker had a phenomenal career as a tennis player. In 1985, at the age of 17, he became one of the youngest champions at Wimbledon ever. In his career, he won 6 Grand Slam titles. Moreover, he won 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles.

He also had a coaching stint with 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. During their time from 2013 to 2016, they won 6 Grand Slam titles together. Apart from that, he has also been working as a commentator, particularly at Wimbledon.