• Former tennis sensation faces threat of imprisonment 

 WHO IS BORIS FRANZ BECKER? * Success as a player # Born on 22 November 1967, Boris Becker is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. He was successful from the start of his career, winning the first of his six Grand Slam singles titles at age 17. # His Grand Slam singles titles comprise three Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens, and one US Open. He also won three year-end championships, 13 Masters Series titles, and an Olympic gold medal in doubles. # In 1989, he was voted the Player of the Year by both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). # He is the first male player to appear in seven Wimbledon finals, tied with Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic, behind Roger Federer (12). * Retirement and bankruptcy # At times Becker struggled with his early success and fame, and his personal life has been turbulent. # Since his playing career ended, he has engaged in numerous ventures, including coaching Djokovic for three years, and playing poker professionally, and working for an online poker company. # On 21 June 2017, Becker was declared bankrupt by the Bankruptcy and Companies Court in London. # The order arose when a 2015 debt owed to private bank Arbuthnot Latham for nearly $ 14 million (Rs. 3.9 billion on current value) was not paid in full before an assigned deadline, and there was no realistic expectation that it would be paid. * Denials # Becker denied to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that he is “broke” or that he owes former business adviser Hans-Dieter Cleven any money; Cleven filed suit in a Switzerland court claiming he is owed $ 41 million (Rs 11.4 billion). # In 1993, Becker married model Barbara Feltus, then eight months pregnant. # Becker was granted a divorce from her in 2001 and Barbara received a $ 14.4 million settlement, their condominium on exclusive Fisher Island, Florida, and custody of their two sons. # In February 2001, Becker acknowledged paternity of a daughter, Anna, with Russian waitress Angela Ermakova. * At least five partners # Becker was briefly engaged to Alessandra Meyer-Wölden in 2008. Her father, Axel Meyer-Wölden, was Becker’s former adviser and manager. The couple broke up in November 2008. # In February 2009, Becker announced that he and Dutch model Sharlely “Lilly” Kerssenberg were to be married in June 2009 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. # In August 2009, they announced that they were expecting a child, a son, Amadeus Benedict Edley Luis Becker, who was born in London in February 2010. # In May 2018, Lilly and Becker announced that they had separated after nine years of marriage. # Since July 2019, reports appeared that Becker is dating British model Layla Powell. # Then emerged reports on his relationship with his current partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro * Addiction to drugs # In 2012, Becker revealed to the media that he battled addiction to alcohol and sleeping tablets at the height of his playing career. # He also revealed that he consumed a mixture of whisky, beer, and prescription drugs before the 1990 Wimbledon final which he lost. # “For the sleeplessness there was Planum (a drug often which is said to be taken for insomnia and stress), for the pain a couple of other pills, against the loneliness I felt with women, whisky, or both. I had to occasionally reduce my tournament appearances to recover in the meantime from the effects of the pills,” he said in his autobiography Stay a Moment Longer, serialised in German newspaper Bild. (Main source: Wikipedia)  The former world No. 1 tennis player Boris Becker is on trial accused of concealing funds and failing to hand over his trophies to settle debts after he was declared bankrupt five years ago. The global tennis pin-up of the 1980s now faces many years in jail in the ongoing court case. The charges include nine counts of failing to deliver trophies and other awards and seven counts of concealing property totalling more than € 1.5 million (Rs. 463 million). Becker’s story is the latest, after global sporting icons such as O.J. Simpson and Tiger Woods, where mismanaged success and wealth leading to life’s disarray. Now at Southwark Crown Court The six-time Grand Slam champion, 54, is said to have failed to hand over trophies including for the 1985 and 1989 Wimbledon men’s singles title, two Australian Open trophies, and his 1992 Olympic gold medal, reported Sky News in England on Monday (21). Becker arrived at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday (21) with his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro. He denies 24 charges under the Insolvency Act relating to events between May and October 2017. Accused of concealing property Becker is also accused of removing hundreds of thousands of pounds by transferring it to other accounts, including his former wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely Becker. The commentator is alleged to have concealed more than € 1.5 million and failed to disclose two properties in Germany as well as a flat in Chelsea, West London. Sixteen years as a pro  He is also charged with five counts of failing to disclose estate, including properties in Germany and London, shares and a bank account, two of removal of property amounting to more than £ 400,000 (Rs. 147.4 million) and one of concealing almost £ 700,000 (Rs. 258 million) of debt. Becker, who commentated for the BBC at Wimbledon last year, collected 49 singles titles out of 77 finals during his 16 years as a professional tennis player. Jurors told ‘start with a blank page’ Judge Deborah Taylor told members of the jury to ignore Becker’s celebrity and to focus on the case. She said: “You must leave aside anything you have heard or any preconceptions about this case, including anything about this defendant, and start with a blank page. “You must ignore this defendant’s celebrity and treat him in exactly the same way you would treat someone you have not heard of and is not in the public eye.” The trial is expected to last three weeks.