Boris Becker

Boris Franz Becker (b. November 22, 1967) is a German tennis player.

He was born in Leimen, near Heidelberg. His father, Karl-Heinz, an architect, designed the tennis center where Becker and Steffi Graf played against each other as children. On July 1, 1985 the then-17 year old made history by winning Wimbledon, the only unseeded player, the first German, and the youngest Men's champion ever. Becker won a total of 49 singles titles, including six Slams [Wimbledon (1985, 1986, 1989), the Australian Open (1991, 1996) and the US Open (1989)], plus 15 doubles titles. He also won the 1992 Olympic Men's tennis doubles title with Michael Stich. His career prize earnings was $21,966,402.

On December 17, 1993, he married Barbara Feltus, the daughter of an African-American serviceman and a white German woman. After the shock of their coupling faded, they became the model for a New Germany, and Becker gained the respect of his countrymen for his stance against racism and intolerance. However, all that changed when he asked for a separation. Becker claims he merely wanted some time out. But, Barbara flew to Miami, Florida with their sons, Noah and Elias, and filed a petition in Miami-Dade County Court, sidestepping their prenup, which entitled her to a single $2.5 million payoff. The January 2001 pretrial hearing was broadcast live to Germany. Germans sided with Barbara as her lawyers, whom Becker was paying, made him out to be a cad. He was granted a divorce on January 15, 2001; she got a $14.4 million settlement, their Florida condo, and custody of Noah and Elias.

His life since has been plagued by scandal. On February 8, 2001, he admitted paternity of a daughter, Anna (b. March 22, 2000), by Russian-African model Angela Ermakova. The child was conceived in a London restaurant minutes after a drunken Becker fought with Barbara, who went back to their hotel; Ermakova was a waitress there. His lawyers first suggested she was part of a blackmail plot devised by the Russian Mafia. In July 2001, he agreed to pay her $5 million.

He was convicted of tax evasion on October 24, 2002 when he admitted he had lived in Germany from 1991-93 while claiming to reside in the tax haven of Monte Carlo. He was given two years' probation, fined $500,000, and ordered to pay all court costs.

Currently he is an active Senior ATP player. His tell-all autobiography was published in November 2003. Becker is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island.