Popularity an accident
Riches take wings
Those who cheer today will curse tomorrow
Only one thing endures – character” – Horace Greeley, founder and publisher of the New York Tribune, on his deathbed (1872)
Last Friday afternoon at Southwark Crown Court in London, England, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced Boris Becker to two and a half years in jail for breaching UK insolvency laws. Becker, who was declared bankrupt in 2017 by a London court, which found that he was incapable of repaying his debts of almost £50 million, was found guilty on four counts: removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate (amounting to millions of pounds) and concealing debt. He was acquitted on 20 further charges.
How does a former number one ranked tennis player in the world, who earned millions of dollars during his career and further millions from endorsements, suffer this ignominious fall from grace? Here’s a man who conquered the tennis world, both on and off the court and turned casual followers of the game into ardent fans, whilst garnering the title of “Britain’s favourite German”. Now, after living high on the hog for 37 years, possessing luxurious residences in Monaco, Miami and London, Becker is a guest of the state. His once blazing star has plummeted to earth in a spectacular crash.
In July 1985, Becker announced his arrival to the tennis world on the grandest of all stages, Centre Court at Wimbledon, defeating Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the Men’s Final. At the relatively tender age of 17 he had become the youngest champion and the first unseeded player ever to hold aloft the golden trophy. Becker’s dashing good looks, and exuberant style of play instantly made him a crowd favourite, especially at Wimbledon, where he often delivered his best performances.
A year later, Becker successfully defended his title, proving he wasn’t a flash in the pan. The world was now his oyster, and under the watchful eye of his Machiavellian manager, the former Romanian tennis player turned agent, Ion Tiriac, Becker commenced a meteoric ascent of the tennis rankings climbing to the number one spot in January 1991. During his career, no one hit the ball harder than Becker or flung themselves after the ball like Becker. His powerful smashing of the ball and domineering serve earned him monikers such as ‘Boom Boom’, ‘Baron Von Slam’ and ‘Der Bomber’. Becker’s swashbuckling style, which included spectacular diving volleys, coupled with his charm, was an advertiser’s dream.
Becker’s career numbers speak for themselves: US$25,080,956 in prize money, 49 titles including six Grand Slams – Wimbledon (85, 86 & 91), US Open (89), Australian Open (91 ,96) and a 713-214, won-lost record. In addition to being the first man to reach seven Wimbledon finals, his 76.9 winning percentage places him in the tenth position on the ATP’s Top 10 list of win percentages of all time (Rafael Nadal with 83.3 is first). His 121-65 won–lost record against top ten opponents puts him third on the all-time list for career win percentage. On his way to the 1994 Stockholm Open title he became the first ever male player to defeat the world’s top three ranked players in a row.
Upon his retirement in 1999, Becker became a well-known tennis commentator, notably enjoying a lucrative career with the BBC during Wimbledon. Under Becker’s three-year tutelage as coach, beginning in 2013, Novak Djokovic won six Grand Slam titles. Although Becker remained in the limelight of the tennis world, his personal life was in disarray. Two messy divorces under intense tabloid scrutiny revealed details of expensive child support payments for four children, Becker’s taste for an extravagant lifestyle, which included renting a house in south west London for over ten years for the ridiculous sum of £22,000 per month. In 2002, in his native Germany, Becker was fined US$300,000 and given a suspended two-year sentence for income tax evasion. As Judge Taylor noted in her ruling, “[Becker] did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given.”
In mitigation, Becker’s barrister Jonathan Laidlaw QC told the court, “His fall is not simply a fall from grace but amounts to the most public humiliation for this man. Boris Becker has literally nothing and there is also nothing to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers, and that is correctly termed as nothing short of a tragedy.”
One hopes that our young cricketers who are currently earning huge salaries in the IPL, namely, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd and their financial advisors have been following these proceedings, and have absorbed the lessons to be learnt here. The most important being that all careers, regardless of the sport, come to a halt one day. There are mental, physical, and financial adjustments that have to be made once this event occurs, and the limelight is no longer shining on the waning superstar. At some stage during one’s career, one has to grasp reality, accept these stark, inevitable facts, commence to accept responsibility for one’s actions (read: dial back on the partying), pay close attention to one’s fiscal position and commit to serious retirement planning. One shouldn’t assume one will automatically make the transition to the commentary booth, where the competition for the few slots is very heavy. If this episode fails to attract the close attention of those whom it should, then nothing will.
The jail sentence will leave an indelible stain on Becker’s former illustrious career, and he is now forced to reflect on the poor decisions made. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, Becker will accept that he was solely responsible for his fall from grace and stop laying the blame on others.
