True friends are found in adversity.
By Tanya May
Boris Becker (54) walked from his new Chelsea apartment to the supermarket on Saturday. He smoked a cigarillo, and seemed to be deep in thought.
The day before, the former tennis star was convicted on four out of 24 counts in the criminal trial at Southwark Crown Court. Contrary to legal requirements, he did not disclose all of his possessions. The allegations involved bank accounts and real estate, as well as numerous trophies, including the Wimbledon Cup from Becker’s first win in the all-important Grand Slam tournament in 1985.
The judge will announce the penalty amount on April 29, until then Baker should worry. After all, a prison sentence is still possible.
“The public is now intoxicated by its decadence.”
“Boris didn’t loot poor grandmothers,” Thomas Gottschalk, 71, tells BILD. “In the worst case, a few wealthy financiers who wanted to adorn themselves with the fame of the tennis player got even poorer, and that was clearly a poor investment. My sympathy with them is limited.”
The artist and Baker have known each other for many years. Now Gottschalk shows sympathy: “While we were taught at school that you can’t spend anything you don’t have, little Boris threw tennis balls over the net. In terms of money and women, he made more mistakes than on the tennis court.
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When Bild asked Becker if he was a champion, he said, “A champion is something completely different, it made him a ‘star.’ In my eyes, Boris was an athlete who achieved the best sporting achievements and paid for it dearly in his life. At first the public praised his successes and is now drunk. because of its decline.
Baker also gets support from his stoic wife Lily Baker (45 years old). On Instagram she quotes Psalm 23: “The Lord is your Shepherd…”
And he concludes: “In spite of everything that happens in secret, I will always pray for you!”