Probably the most famous photo from Boris Becker’s life, which is not short of famous photos, was taken in the summer of 1985. At that time, Boris Becker was a largely unknown 17-year-old tennis player from the largely unknown Leimen, he surprisingly won the largest of all tennis tournaments, the Grand Slam Tournament in London’s Wimbledon district. When he was presented with the 45 centimeter high, gold-plated trophy, he put it on his head and held it by the handles, the photographers pulled the trigger, the trophy looked good on him. Like all Wimbledon winners, he was then given an approximately 34 centimeter high replica of the cup, and in the years that followed a few more were added, including other cups, medals and other trophies.
This moment, this summer of 1985, rewrote the script of Boris Becker’s life. This now means that the whereabouts of the 37-year-old trophy will be an issue a few miles further inland, in central London, at Southwark Crown Court from Monday.
24 charges, three-week trial
He was “glad that the process is finally starting and the court will make a judgment,” said Becker recently image-Newspaper. “The past five years have been damn long, the hardest of my life.” 24 charges will be heard from Monday, the trial is scheduled for three weeks.
The core question is whether Becker concealed assets after bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against him in 2017. Specifically, it is said to be about an apartment in Chelsea and two properties in Germany, a little over two million euros, company shares, bank accounts in Belgium and Guernsey – and also some of the trophies and medals that he won. The list reads like browsing through German tennis history: the 1992 Olympic gold medal in doubles with Michael Stich, the 1989 Davis Cup, the trophies for the Australian Open winner in 1991 and 1996, among others.
In the summer of 2019, Becker’s insolvency administrator had various trophies and personal belongings of the former top athlete auctioned off, including worn tennis socks. But some trophies could not be found for the auction.
(Photo: AFP)
As he said, Becker would “personally try to refute the allegations for each of the 24 charges”. His lawyer is 64-year-old Brit Jonathan Laidlaw, a lawyer with recent experience in public interest cases. Laidlaw holds the title of ‘Queen’s Counsel’, an elite rank for solicitors in the UK, which is not only intended to indicate his experience and outstanding ability, but also means he can charge a significantly higher fee. He believes “in English jurisdiction,” said Becker, so he was tense, but “don’t panic.”
Boris Becker has been a Wimbledon commentator for the BBC for 20 years. Here is a photo from last year’s tournament.
(Photo: Ashley Western/imago images/Colorsport)
Becker has lived in London for many years and has worked as an expert and commentator for the BBC since 2002. Becker has made himself at home in Wimbledon, his villa with pool and planetarium in the London district with the postal code SW19 is not far from the tennis court. A few years ago, in an interview with the Times said he was very fortunate to have England as his home, even though “people in Germany have a hard time accepting that”. At home he speaks English with his family, Becker said at the time.
In court, however, he will have an interpreter to help “for a word or two,” as attorney Laidlaw said at a hearing a week ago. After all, there is a lot at stake: In the worst case, Becker faces up to seven years in prison.