Fateful day for Boris Becker: It's about freedom
Boris Becker is expecting the verdict in his London trial on Friday. The former tennis star could face imprisonment.
by SID
last edit:
Apr 28, 2022, 08:21 pm
When things got tight on the world's center courts, when it came to titles or tears, Boris Becker always took his heart into his hands. The former tennis star won six Grand Slam trophies, the first at the age of 17 in Wimbledon, Becker became a world star with his legendary fighting spirit.
At Southwark Crown Court in London, however, the 54-year-old can no longer go on the offensive, he has to accept the decision about his fate without doing anything. Judge Deborah Taylor is scheduled to announce her sentence this morning after three long weeks of waiting for Becker, who is said to have acted unlawfully as part of his bankruptcy proceedings.
"I hope he gets through somehow. That he doesn't have to go to jail," said his former coach Günther Bosch at tennisnet.com . The laws in Great Britain provide for a maximum of seven years in prison - the jury had declared Becker guilty on April 8 of 24 charges. It is hard to predict how the German sports icon will turn out.
The bankruptcy authority saw the conviction as "a clear warning to those who believe they can hide assets and get away with it". After Becker was declared bankrupt by a British court in 2017, the Londoner by choice is said to have continued to transfer large sums of money, concealed property ownership in his hometown and shares.
Celebrity status shouldn't matter
How severe the cut in Becker's life is now lies in the hands of the judge, who had made it clear from the beginning of the process that his celebrity status should not play a role. The public prosecutor's office attacked the accused sharply and accused today's TV expert of having "led the authorities by the nose" when determining his assets, which Becker has always denied.
Convicted of tax evasion 20 years ago in Munich, he got off with a black eye and received a two-year suspended sentence and a fine. His lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw is now fighting for Becker to do well again. In the functional building, 15 kilometers from Wimbledon's Center Court, he described how his client had led a special life on the "sacred lawn" since his triumph as a teenager. Becker was a "hopeless case" when dealing with money, he had no overview of his possessions and relied on his advisors.
Since the jury's guilty verdict, he has been waiting and can no longer counter the impending disaster, as he always did on the pitch. In 1985, for example, in the hard-fought Wimbledon final against Kevin Curren. The German figurehead also survived difficult situations in the Davis Cup in the "Battle of Hartford" in 1987 against John McEnroe over 6:21 hours or in the final of the US Open in 1989. But all his exploits on the tennis courts will not play a role at the end of the trial on Friday. For Becker, it's about freedom.