Tennis
Former Wimbledon winner Becker ’embarrassed’ by bankruptcy
Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker told a London court he felt “shocked” and “embarrassed” after being declared bankrupt just days before the 2017 tournament at the All England Club.
The six-time Grand Slam winner said the negative publicity had damaged “brand Becker” and left him struggling to make enough money to pay off his debts.
Becker was declared bankrupt in June 2017 and is currently on trial accused of failing to hand over assets, including nine trophies and medals from his glittering tennis career.
The 54-year-old German said he had been seeking to pay off a more than £3 million (S$5.3 million) loan from private bank Arbuthnot Latham, including through the sale of his estate in Spain.
The court heard the bankruptcy decision came days before Wimbledon, where Becker was working for the BBC as well as Australian and Japanese television stations.
“As you can imagine, I was very shocked at the fact. Because it was all over world news, and I walked through the gate of Wimbledon and everyone knew. I was embarrassed because I was bankrupt,” Becker said.
He told jurors the bankruptcy was also in the midst of a “stressful time” with his then-wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker, while they were living in “separate quarters” at his rented house in Wimbledon.
Describing an incident while he was commentating on the men’s quarter-final involving Roger Federer, he said: “My son called me saying my wife was breaking down the house – the furniture, the windows. The police came… while I was on site.”
Becker, who arrived at court with his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, sat at the witness box on Monday to give evidence.
He said he faced damaging publicity “all around the world” but especially in Germany and the UK, which has affected his ability to earn.
“It is very difficult when you are bankrupt and in the headlines every week for it. It is very difficult to make a lot of money with my name,” he said.
The former world No. 1, who was occasionally helped to give evidence by a German translator, denies 24 charges under the Insolvency Act.
They include nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and other awards, seven of concealing property, five of failing to disclose estate, two of removal of property and one of concealing debt.
He is accused of failing to hand over nine trophies, including two of his three Wimbledon men’s singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, his 1991 and 1996 Australian Open trophies and his Davis Cup trophy and gold coin.
-AFP
Argentina’s 36-year-old Marco Trungelliti proved tennis dreams do not come with an expiration date when he became the oldest first-time tour-level finalist in the Open Era after beating the top seed at the Grand Prix Hassan II semi-finals in Marrakech on Saturday.
Trungelliti, who came through the tournament’s qualifiers, upset Italy’s defending champion Luciano Darderi 6-4 7-6(2) to break the previous record held by Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic, who reached his first final aged 34 years in 2015.
Darderi, ranked 19 in the world, was only six-years-old when Trungelliti turned pro in 2008. With the victory, Trungelliti secured just his second career top-20 win.
“Of course, I believed it, that’s one of the reasons that I’m here. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible,” Trungelliti said in the on-court interview.
“I’ve worked a lot, me and my team and also my wife, my kid. We all believed in breaking the record basically and that’s exactly what we have done now.”
The milestone caps a remarkable journey for Trungelliti, who made his first ATP Tour semi-final in 2018 in Umag, Croatia – 402 weeks ago.
Having entered the tournament ranked 117 in the world, Trungelliti’s breakthrough week has already guaranteed he will crack the top 100 for the first time. He is currently ranked number 75 in the live rankings.
“It’s been happening the whole week, leaving the court with a victory,” added Trungelliti, who has dropped only one set at the tournament. “So hopefully (there) is one more to go.”
He will face Rafael Jodar on Sunday after the Spaniard prevented an all-Argentine final with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has been listed as eligible to return to tennis by the sport’s drug-testing body (ITIA) as of February 22, though it remains unclear whether the 23-time Grand Slam champion will make a stunning comeback to the women’s tour.
The 44-year-old raised eyebrows late last year after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool, though she denied at the time the move signalled she was preparing to return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
She reignited speculation last month when she deflected questions about a possible return during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.
The Women’s Tennis Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool but the 23-times Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move had anything to do with her making a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open, was among the list of players in its testing pool, which requires individuals to provide their whereabouts at any given time, every day, and participate in random testing
But as the story of 44-year-old Williams’ inclusion on the list, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Athletic, gained traction and sparked talk about her potential return, the tennis great took to social media to deny a comeback was in her plans.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams wrote on X.
Her agent did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters asking why the player had re-entered the testing pool.
Williams’ name appears on the ITIA website’s list of retired players and would be able to return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.
Last week former world number one Williams posted a series of photos on Instagram showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, whom she gave birth to in August 2023.
In August 2022, ahead of her final U.S. Open, Williams announced in a Vogue article that she was “evolving away from tennis.”
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown that would have drawn her level with Australian Margaret Court, who holds the record.
The American came tantalisingly close to achieving that feat, featuring in four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
-Reuters
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