Background and career
Boris Franz Becker (German: [ˈboːʁɪs ˈbɛkɐ] ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player, tennis coach and a commentator. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, winning 49 career singles and 15 doubles titles, including six singles majors: three Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens and one US Open. He also won 13 Masters titles, five year-end championships, an Olympic gold medal in men's doubles in 1992, and led Germany to two Davis Cup titles in 1988 and 1989. Becker is the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles Wimbledon title, a feat he accomplished aged 17 years, 7 months and 15 days in 1985.
Becker is often credited as the pioneer of power tennis with his fast serve and all-court game. He is among the top ten players with the best win percentages in the Open Era. In 1989, he was voted the Player of the Year by both the ATP and the ITF. He holds a win percentage of 92.70% in Davis Cup singles rubbers, a win loss record of 38–3 and two championships for Germany. In his autobiography, Andre Agassi described Becker as the world's most popular tennis star in the late 1980s. Becker was featured at number 18 in the list of Tennis magazine's 40 greatest players of all time in 2006.
After his playing career ended, Becker became a tennis commentator and media personality, and his personal relationships were discussed in news outlets. He has engaged in numerous ventures, including coaching Novak Djokovic for three years, playing poker professionally, and working for an online poker company. In October 2002, the Munich District Court gave Becker a suspended two-year prison sentence for tax evasion. He declared bankruptcy in the UK in 2017. In April 2022, he was sentenced by UK courts to two and a half years in prison for hiding assets and loans that the court required him to disclose to creditors and the bankruptcy trustee. On 15 December 2022, he was released from prison early, having served eight months, and was deported to Germany by UK authorities.
Boris Becker was born in 1967 in Leimen, a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, the son of Elvira and Karl-Heinz Becker. Named after the Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak, young Becker was raised Catholic. His father Karl-Heinz, an architect, founded a tennis centre in Leimen, where Becker learned to play tennis. He received his secondary education at Helmholtz-Gymnasium in Heidelberg. His Sudeten German mother Elvira Becker, née Pisch was from the Moravian village of Kunewald (Kunín).
In 1974, Becker joined TC Blau-Weiß Leimen tennis club and began training under Boris Breskvar. By 1977, he was a member of the junior team of the Baden Tennis Association. He went on to win the South German championship and the first German Youth Tennis Tournament. In 1977, he was chosen for the German Tennis Federation's top junior team by Richard Schönborn. According to Schönborn, the funding for Becker's training was put up by the German Tennis Federation at an expense of over 1.3 million DM. In 1981, he was included in the Federation's first men's team. In 1982, he won the doubles at the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships.
How Boris Becker makes money
The retired tennis player, who had earned over US$25 million in prize money plus millions in endorsements, was originally charged with withholding taxes of DM10.4 million (US$5 million), however, the trial ended up being for the considerably lower sum of DM3.3 million (€1.6 million) for which prosecutors believed they had evidence. In mid-April, he entered the Main Event of the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio and finished the tournament in 40th place, winning more than $40,000 in prize money.
