Becker declared bankrupt by British court
Published on: Thursday, June 22, 2017
LONDON: Boris Becker (was declared bankrupt by a British court on Wednesday after the former tennis player failed to pay a long-standing debt.A lawyer for the six-time Grand Slam champion pleaded with a Bankruptcy Court registrar in London for a last chance to pay a debt that Becker has owed to private bankers Arbuthnot Latham & Co. since 2015.The registrar, Christine Derrett, said there was a lack of credible evidence that his debt would be paid soon.
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She refused to adjourn the case for a further 28 days and announced a bankruptcy order."One has the impression of a man with his head in the sand," said the registrar, who said she watched Becker play on Centre Court at Wimbledon.The 49-year-old Becker, who was born in Germany and lives in London, recently coached Novak Djokovic and has been a TV commentator.His lawyer, John Briggs, had argued there was sufficient evidence to show that Becker would be able to pay the debt through a refinancing arrangement, involving remortgaging a property in Mallorca, which was expected to raise 6 million euros ($6.7 million). Briggs said it was expected the deal would be approved by a Spanish bank in about one month.
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Briggs also said Becker was "not a sophisticated individual when it comes to finances," and that bankruptcy was likely to have an adverse effect on Becker's image."He should have thought about that a long time ago," the registrar said.
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Meanwhile, three-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic is to play at the ATP tournament in Eastbourne, southern England, in preparation for the grass-court Grand Slam, it was announced Wednesday.It will be the first time the struggling Djokovic has played a grass-court event between the French Open and Wimbledon since 2010.The 30-year-old Serb saw his French Open title defence come to a surprise halt with a straight sets quarter-final loss to the up-and-coming Dominic Thiem on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris this month.Now, following what was his quickest exit from the French Open in seven years, 12-time Grand Slam champion is to play Eastbourne, which runs from June 23-July 1 after accepting a main draw wildcard. "This will be my first trip to Eastbourne, I have heard great things about the tournament," said 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in a statement. "I am looking forward to fine tuning my grass court game there ahead of Wimbledon."World number four Djokovic comes into the event will be the tournament's top seed ahead of number two Gael Monfils and number three John Isner.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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