He was once the star of the tennis scene: Boris Becker (54), 49-time tournament winner, including six Grand Slam triumphs, three of them on the “sacred lawn” of Wimbledon (GB). In London in 1985, Becker succeeded in what no one else did after him: At just 17 years old, he won his first Grand Slam title against the American Kevin Curren (62 today) – as the first unseeded player, as the first German, as the youngest All-time Wimbledon winner. From one day to the next, the then unknown boy from Leimen (D) became world famous – and it was to be the start of a world tennis career.
But after countless highs as an athlete, Becker repeatedly had to accept private setbacks after his tennis career. The affair with Angela Ermakova (54) is known. Becker’s illegitimate daughter Anna (22) was born in March 2000 after a dalliance in a broom closet in London’s posh restaurant Nobu. Longer and shorter relationships with musicians and models followed, pompous marriages, bitter divorces, convictions for tax evasion, bankruptcy proceedings, court cases.
First day of trial in London: Becker has to wait in line in court(00:48)
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First Mercedes, then Porsche
What bon vivant Boris Becker has had from the beginning of his career was his penchant for beautiful and expensive cars. “Bobele”, as friends and fans used to say, treated himself to a car in 1985 that every petrolhead dreamed of at the time: a black, lowered Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16 with a coupé grille and a giant star in the radiator. The 2.3-liter four-cylinder produced an incredible 185 hp for the time and allowed the sedan to reach a top speed of 230 km/h. “The 190 was my first car. I chose it myself, paid for it myself, I loved it,” Becker once said to “Autobild”.
Only two years later, the tennis ace is said to have treated himself to the Porsche 959, which cost around 420,000 Deutschmarks and which, with 450 hp and a top speed of over 300 km/h, set standards among super sports cars at the time. Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates (66) is also the proud owner of a Porsche 959.
Becker even owned car dealerships
But around the same time, photos of the boyish-looking Boris in the Ford Escort XR3i Cabrio were also taken. The car later even came onto the market as a special model BB – Boris Becker himself presented it at the Frankfurt IAA in 1989. Despite this commitment as a Ford brand ambassador, his heart beat particularly fast for one brand: Mercedes. After winning Wimbledon in the summer of 1985, Becker cheered on the fans in his hometown of Leimen side by side with his then trainer Günther Bosch (85) from an open G-Class.
For years, Becker was a brand ambassador for the Stuttgart car manufacturer (like tennis icon Roger Federer, 40 today), shot commercials for the star brand together with Finnish Formula 1 world champion Mika Häkkinen (53) and was the owner of three for 23 years Mercedes car dealerships in the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Process in London: That’s why Boris Becker is on trial(01:06)
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Becker’s million crash
But not only new cars interested Becker early on, but also fast and expensive vintage cars. That didn’t always go well: at a promotional event on a Mercedes test track in 1996, the tennis player scraped a historic Mercedes SLR 300 from the 1950s. The occupants of both cars escaped with a fright – as did Becker’s then-wife Barbara (55) and the now resigned Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche (68), who immediately rushed to the scene of the accident. But the damage was immense: around one million Deutschmarks.
Despite this faux pas, Becker was impressed by the noble oldies: He repeatedly took part in classic car rallies with dream cars such as the Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, which cost millions. After his marriage to Lilly (45) in 2009 in St. Moritz GR, Becker drove his new wife out in a historic Mercedes convertible – the two had previously driven up to the wedding in a noble Maybach limousine.
Flew high, fell low
But even when it comes to new cars, only the best could be good enough for Becker: Time and time again he has been spotted in supercars like the SLR McLaren (626 hp, from around CHF 225,000) or the SLS AMG – at the Bambi Awards 2015 in Berlin even in a bright yellow, fully electric SLS AMG Electric Drive. The 750 hp Stromer car, which was limited to nine units, cost around CHF 420,000 new at the time. At that time, Becker could afford such expensive toys: At that time he was still employed as the head coach of tennis ace Novak Djokovic (34) (read here: Loud Djoker is very quiet on the street).
The reality is currently different: The criminal trial against the former world number 1 began in London this week. Specifically, Boris Becker is accused of not having given trophies from Wimbledon and the Australian Open and several properties and of having transferred money to his ex-wives Barbara and Lilly. He is said to have done all this after being declared bankrupt. Therefore threaten him now up to seven years imprisonment. For the time being, car lovers Becker don’t think much of luxury sleighs.
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