BERLIN, (Reuters) – Former tennis champion Boris Becker says he sympathises with Tiger Woods, whose life is in turmoil after he admitted cheating on his wife.

Becker, 42, who fathered a child with a Russian model after  a brief sexual encounter in a cupboard at a London restaurant  while his wife was pregnant, said he could identify with the  golf star.

“I experienced exactly the same and I can sympathise with  him,” the German newspaper Bild quoted Becker, winner of six  grand slam titles, as telling a TV show which was scheduled to be aired late yesterday.

Becker, who had a messy divorce and became the butt of jokes for his flings, said he believed it would be “damned hard” for   Woods, the father-of-two to save his marriage to Swede Elin  Nordegren.

Woods, 33, has announced he is taking an indefinite break  from golf to try to save his marriage.