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Boris Franz Becker was born on November 22, 1967, in Leimen, West Germany, as the only son of an architect. His father constructed the Blau-Weiss Tennisklub tennis center, where young Becker often played training matches against Steffi Graf. He turned professional in 1984.
In 1985, the then 17-year-old unseeded Becker gained fame at Wimbledon by becoming the youngest player ever to win the men's singles title. He was also the first unseeded player and the first German to claim the Wimbledon men's singles championship. Nicknamed "Boom Boom" for his powerful serve, Becker reached the Wimbledon final seven times over a decade, winning three singles titles. Throughout his career, he secured 49 singles and 15 doubles titles. In 2003, he became the second youngest inductee into the Tennis Hall of Fame, following Björn Borg. Becker earned $25,080,956 during his career, ranking third in career earnings, though the pressures of fame brought significant stress.
Becker retired from professional tennis at 31. In 1993, he married Barbara Becker, the daughter of an African-American serviceman and a white German woman. Before their wedding, the couple appeared nude on the cover of Stern magazine, in a photo taken by her father. They wed on December 17, 1993, and had two sons: Noah, born January 18, 1994, and Elias, born September 4, 1999. Becker was respected for his anti-racism stance. However, in 2000, Barbara took their sons to Florida and filed a petition in Miami court, disregarding their prenuptial agreement which entitled her to a one-time payment of $2,500,000. Instead, she received $14,400,000 and custody of both children, with Becker covering her legal fees.
During their high-profile marriage and divorce, Becker fathered an illegitimate child with Russian-African model Angela Ermakova, conceived at a London restaurant in summer 1999. Their daughter Anna was born on March 22, 2000. After a positive DNA test, Becker acknowledged paternity and paid a $5,000,000 settlement in 2001. This was in addition to a $500,000 fine for tax issues. Becker also struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, complicating his turbulent life.
Becker managed to overcome past difficulties and relocated from Monaco to Mallorca, and later to Zug, Switzerland. His candid autobiography, Boris Becker – The Player: The Autobiography, was published in 2004. He works with a British sports TV show and serves as a regular BBC commentator at Wimbledon. Becker also participates in exhibitions on the Senior ATP Tour and Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis tour. Beyond tennis, he has been a successful businessman, owning half of the tennis racquet company Völkl, collaborating with watchmakers, owning several Mercedes dealerships, and promoting Mercedes-Benz.
