Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker jailed for hiding assets to avoid paying debts

Boris Becker, a former Wimbledon champion, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for concealing £2.5 million in assets and loans in order to avoid paying debts.

The six-time Grand Slam champion had denied breaking UK insolvency laws after he was declared bankrupt in 2017, owing creditors almost £50 million.

Becker, 54, was found guilty of four charges by a jury under the Insolvency Act.

He was cleared on 20 counts.

Becker, with a shock of strawberry-blond hair, shook up the tennis world in 1985 when he became Wimbledon’s youngest men’s singles champion at 17 – repeating the feat the following year.

Nicknamed “Boom Boom” Becker for his ferocious serve, he won Wimbledon for a third time in 1989.

Boris Becker is a former world No 1 player. He also won the Australian Open twice and the US Open during his glittering career, becoming the top-ranked player in the world in 1991.

Becker turned to commentary after his retirement, landing a high-profile role on the BBC, but he returned to the court in 2013 as the coach of Djokovic, helping the Serb win six more Grand Slam trophies before the pair parted ways in 2016.