There are few living German legends. Boris Becker is among them. And he’s the one who – for better or worse – is still of the greatest national interest.
“I lost Boris to the public when he was 17,” his mother, Elvira, once said. He became German property. His signature moves had nicknames – Becker-Rolle (roll), Becker-Faust (fist) and Becker-Hecht (pike, ie his horizontal dive for the ball). And the Becker clan was looking after him because his every step and stutter was watched, surgically dissected and judged. This was done sympathetically while he was winning on the court, and shortly afterwards: Der Spiegel (which claims to be the opposite of Hello) even dedicated a cover to him in 2001. Underneath Becker’s portrait it simply said: “Ich”.
Once Becker entered family and bankruptcy courts, the press turned less favourable. No sporting hero has been mocked as excessively in Germany as Becker. Of course, the downfall could only happen with the assistance of the hero himself: the broom-closet in London, the faulty building permit in Mallorca, the tax evasion in Munich, the fake diplomatic passport, debt, bankruptcy…
A former colleague, a sports reporter, once told me he blamed himself for not having prevented Becker from this fate. It was the evening of June 30, 1999. Becker had just lost his last Wimbledon match ever – and the reporter decided to give him a night off from tabloid media observation. Had he stayed, the night might never have ended on Nobu’s staircase (often mislabelled as a broom cupboard).
Seeing Boris Becker now, queueing in front of Southwark crown court, it looks as if the worst is yet to come. I have a feeling it isn’t, though.
Because, cringe-wise, the worst happened in 2013, when a German TV game show (with a so-called comedian whose claim to fame is that he and Becker have an ex-girlfriend in common) made the tennis idol wear a yellow hat with pink fly swats on both sides. Becker made a fool of himself. After his bankruptcy, the same “comedian” fooled Becker again, presenting him with a fake fashion award, then publicly celebrating the deception.
Needless to say it doesn’t help that Becker is regularly compared with fellow legend Steffi Graf and her impeccable private life far, far away.
Becker probably feels more respected in Britain than in Germany, and he probably is.
While young Germans know Becker mostly for his scandals, the British public can follow his expertise and dry sense of humour as a Wimbledon commentator for the BBC. Germans have not had that chance: our public broadcasters haven’t shown live tennis for more than a decade. In 2017, Becker finally started commenting for Eurosport, a pay-TV channel, and he has been praised by its German viewers. But the reach isn’t the same.
People close to him describe Becker as a family man. You can tell he’ll do anything for his children, his mother and his sister. And at least one ex-wife speaks very caringly about him in private.
Whether Becker took advantage of his business partners or whether his advisers took advantage of him, I don’t know. He is lucky to live in London, however: broadly speaking, clearing UK bankruptcy takes a year if you comply. In Germany, it takes seven.
So should Becker have “acted dishonestly”, as the prosecution claims, he wasn’t awfully clever. On the other hand, mocking Boris Becker for not being great at finance is like mocking Scrooge McDuck for not being good at tennis.
Seriously: Boris Becker! He left school at GCSE level, lived in a beach apartment in Monaco aged 17, had babies named after him, was given his first Mercedes before he even had a driver’s licence, had his racket blessed by the Pope – all things considered, it’s a miracle he’s not a regular at Betty Ford, or worse. Instead, he’s a regular for hip and ankle surgeries – pain being the price he paid for fame.
He excited the living rooms of a while nation. He has given Germany more than we could repay him (not to mention priceless Bild headlines such as: “War es Samenraub?” (“Was it semen robbery?”)
While typing this, I am watching YouTube on a second screen: the Wimbledon semi-finals 1995, Agassi v Becker, 6-2, 4-1, Agassi’s serve. No way Becker can turn this match around. There’s no way… there is.
But there’s no “advantage Becker” now, he isn’t above the law, no Extrawurst (special treatment). Becker obviously owes a lot of money to a lot of people. As a country, however, we owe him so much more.
