The daughter of convicted ex-Wimbledon Tennis champion Boris Becker has thanked his fans for their support with a message on Saturday.
Anna Ermakova, 22, Becker’s daughter who was conceived on the stairwell of the Nobu restaurant in Park Lane, posted the message of thanks on Instagram over the weekend.
Becker hit the town in 1999 while his wife checked into hospital in the mistaken belief that she was giving birth prematurely, already seven months’ pregnant with their second son. Becker told her to call him if the baby was on the way, he revealed in his autobiography
Becker, 54, had crashed out of Wimbledon to Pat Rafter in the fourth round on the same night, deciding to retire from the sport. He said he had ‘cried his eyes out’ after the game before spotting Russian model Angela Ermakowa.
Eight months later, he received a fax informing him he was about to become a father again.
Boris Becker’s unplanned daughter, conceived with a Russian model on the stairwell of the Nobu restaurant in Park Lane while Becker was expecting another child with his wife, posted her thanks for support from Becker’s fans on Saturday on Instagram
Anna Ermakova, 22, is a model who has appeared on the cover of You and on red carpets around the world. She was famously conceived during a one-night stand between model Angela Ermakova and Becker at a London restaurant
Becker is expected to begin his two-and-a-half year prison sentence at HMP Wandsworth, just 2.4 miles away from where he won three grand slam titles.
The ex-pro sportsman was found to have hidden £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts, and on Friday begun his sentence in the Victorian, of which he has to serve a minimum of one year and three months.
He was declared bankrupt in June 2017, owing creditors almost £50million over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain. He transferred around £390,000 from his business account to others, including those of his ex-wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely ‘Lilly’ Becker.
Becker also failed to declare his share in a £1million property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 – worth £1.1million with interest – and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm, valued at £66,000.
The 54-year-old – who got a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth £1.4million in Germany in 2002 – was found guilty on April 8 of four Insolvency Act offences between June and October 2017.
Each count carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. On Friday afternoon, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced the six-time Grand Slam champion to 30 months’ imprisonment, of which he will serve at least half.
Wandsworth Prison is a Category B secure jail that can accommodate over 1,500 inmates. In a recent inspection, the institution was described as ‘crumbling, overcrowded and vermin infested’.
Friends and close contacts of former tennis star Boris Becker have reacted to him being jailed, with his biographer questioning whether he will ‘survive mentally’ and a German TV star saying he ‘must take responsibility’ for his actions.
After Becker was sentenced, Christian Schommers, who wrote a biography on the tennis legend, said he was worried about him. The 50-year-old told the German newspaper Bild last night: ‘Will he survive mentally, being in prison for a year and three months? It’s really, really bad!’
Meanwhile, Joachim Llambi, a star of German television series Just Dance, told the same newspaper: ‘I find that very sad. He is a legend in Germany. But the court found that something was not as it should have been. Then he has to take responsibility for it.’
Boris Becker was today jailed for two and a half years after he was found to have hidden £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts
Becker’s friend and fellow ex-tennis star Andrew Castle told LBC today: ‘Still reeling from the news this Friday afternoon that Boris Becker – who’s a great mate of mine, I’ve done many Wimbledon finals for him for the BBC, I’ve sat alongside him, I’ve played with him, I’ve practised with him, I’ve been out with him, I’ve been drunk with him, he’s a good man – he’s going to prison for two and a half years. And I’m, look, I’m shocked because it’s close to me. I’m sad that his life has come to this and I hope he’s able to rebuild on the other side.
‘If you don’t pay your creditors, you pay the price. It’s the second time this had happened after what happened in Germany back in 2002. I thought this was a possibility, but I’m surprised and deeply shocked that I won’t be working with him at Wimbledon this year and that he’s going to go to prison. And I feel sorry for Lilian as well.’
ITV broadcaster Matt Chapman questioned whether prison was the most appropriate sentence for Becker, tweeting: While I totally appreciate Boris Becker has broken the law in many ways, I can’t help but feel he would be much better used teaching tennis to under privileged kids each day rather than stuck in a cell. Make good from bad.’
Bild said there was ‘no mercy’ shown towards Becker by the judge, a sentiment further echoed by newspaper Bunte who also branded the judge ‘merciless’.
The ormer Wimbledon Tennis champion Boris Becker is expected to begin his two-and-a-half year prison sentence at HMP Wandsworth, just 2.4 miles away from where he won three grand slam titles (pictured at 17 in 1985)
Boris, pictured in June 1993 at Wimbledon, just 2.4 miles from his cell in Wandsworth Prison, was declared bankrupt in June 2017, owing creditors almost £50million over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain
Referring to Becker’s previous conviction, the judge said this afternoon: ‘You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor.’
And she told father-of-four Becker: ‘I take into account what has been described as your ‘fall from grace’. You have lost your career and reputation and all of your property as a result of your bankruptcy.
‘You have not shown remorse, acceptance of your guilt and have sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy. While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.’
As he was led away, Becker was red-faced and appeared to struggle with his overnight bag. His girlfriend Lilian De Carvalho Monteiro blew him a kiss before he disappeared out of the court to the cells below.
After the sentencing, Insolvency Service chief executive Dean Beale added: ‘Boris Becker’s sentence clearly demonstrates that concealing assets in bankruptcy is a serious offence for which we will prosecute and bring offenders to justice.’
Becker’s lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw QC said the tennis legend would struggle to find work on release from prison and will have to ‘rely on the charity of others if he is to survive’. Describing Becker’s fall from grace as ‘public humiliation’, Mr Laidlaw added: ‘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.’
Christian Schommers, who wrote a biography of Boris Becker, questioned whether the tennis star will survive mentally in prison. Picture: Schommers with Becker as they launched their book in October 2013
Meanwhile, Joachim Llambi, a star of German television series Just Dance, told the same newspaper: ‘I find that very sad. He is a legend in Germany. But the court found that something was not as it should have been. Then he has to take responsibility for it’. Pictured: Llambi performing on stage during the television competition show Let’s Dance
Boris Becker arrives with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro for his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London today
A court artist’s sketch of Becker heading down to the cells after being sentenced today, watched by his girlfriend Lilian and his son Noah
A court artist’s sketch of Becker awaiting his sentencing (left) and being sentenced (right) at Southwark Crown Court today
Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, girlfriend of Boris Becker, leaves Southwark Crown Court after he was sentenced today
Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, girlfriend of Boris Becker, leaves Southwark Crown Court after he was sentenced today
Becker’s son Noah (left) and girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro (right) leave Southwark Crown Court this afternoon
Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, girlfriend of Boris Becker, leaves Southwark Crown Court after he was sentenced today
Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, girlfriend of Boris Becker, leaves Southwark Crown Court after he was sentenced today
Boris Becker arrives with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro for his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London today
Boris Becker arrives with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro for his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London today
A prison van leaves Southwark Crown Court in London after Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in jail
Former tennis player Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London for his sentencing hearing today
Boris Becker arrives with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro for his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London today
Boris Becker arrives with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro for his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London today
Becker’s son Noah and Becker’s partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro during the lunch break at Southwark Crown Court today
Becker’s girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro on the lunch break having a cigarette outside Southwark Crown Court today
Becker had earlier arrived at court with Miss de Carvalho Monteiroa this morning, dressed smartly in a suit and wearing a Wimbledon tie as he walked up the steps and into the building while holding hands with her.
He then entered the dock of the court, while his eldest son came into the courtroom carrying a large Puma-branded bag, which the tennis star had previously been seen carrying outside his home.
This morning, he was seen carrying a green Puma canvas holdall as he stepped out of his West London home and into a black taxi to head to the court. Earlier in the day, he also went out to buy a bouquet of flowers.
Yesterday, Becker spent the day browsing Harrods and visiting an unknown woman in her council flat. The father-of-four was photographed in Knightsbridge, Paddington and Notting Hill.
Wearing a grey jacket and a baseball cap, he was spotted taking a taxi to a council estate in Bayswater to visit a woman before emerging 90 minutes later to go shopping in Harrods – where a guard ushered him in through a side entrance. He later walked home clutching the Puma holdall.
The six-time Grand Slam winner now faces losing lucrative contracts with TV networks around the world, including his job as a BBC pundit at Wimbledon.
On Wednesday, Becker was embraced by his girlfriend as he took a cigarette break during a meeting with documentary maker George Chignell in London.
And last weekend, he was pictured with estranged wife Lilly and their 12-year-old boy in south London before the father and son met up with Miss de Carvalho Monteiro.
The tennis star, who lived in Monte Carlo and Switzerland…
