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Boris Becker’s estranged wife distraught by jail sentence, impact on their son

Boris Becker’s estranged wife has revealed her devastation at explaining to their son why the tennis champion was sent to prison.

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker jailed over $4m fraud

The estranged wife of tennis legend Boris Becker has shared her agony at telling their son his dad had been jailed — and revealed she refuses to divorce him.

The Sunreports Lilly Becker told 12-year-old Amadeus his “papa didn’t listen to the law and he’s on the naughty step”.

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The Dutch model, 45, said she had not spoken to the youngster about the court proceedings surrounding Becker’s bankruptcy charges, which saw him sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for hiding $4.4m worth of assets from debt collectors.

She told Piers Morgan Uncensored: “I had no chance but to break my heart or his (Amadeus’) heart last Sunday and I don’t wish this upon anybody. It was the hardest thing I had to do with a 12-year-old.

“He just couldn’t grasp it. He still can’t. It breaks my heart but it just made me into ‘tiger mumma’.”

“I have just told a 12-year-old that his father is in jail and the saddest part was I couldn’t break it down because these kids are now going on YouTube and the internet. The internet is cruel.

“But he also has a loving support system around him.

“He’s curious and I’ve told him we all make mistakes.”

Boris Becker was sentenced to jail on the weekend. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Boris Becker was sentenced to jail on the weekend. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Lilly is the tennis champion’s estranged wife. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Lilly is the tennis champion’s estranged wife. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Lilly said Boris is doing “OK” and “as good as he can be” in prison, but added: “It’s not a five-star hotel is it?”

She and Amadeus are “dying” to visit Boris in HMP Wandsworth, South West London.

On her reaction to Saturday’s jail sentence, Lilly said: “I completely broke down.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because I was convinced until the judge made her verdict that he was going to get a little bit lighter.

“I had to keep it together and I don’t know how I did it.”

Lilly also made a surprise claim, sensationally revealing she is still married to Boris despite previous reports of divorce in May 2018.

She said: “I’m very much still his wife. Estranged wife as that may be but we’re still very much married and have been since we went our separate ways.

“It was from the beginning intense and a complete, true love story. Everyone who knows us knows this.

“It’s not that I don’t want to get a divorce. We should handle our business at the right time.”

Asked whether she still loves the tennis champion, Lilly said: “Of course I do.”

They are still married despite splitting up in 2018.
They are still married despite splitting up in 2018.
Lilly and Becker got married in 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone/Arno Balzarini)
Lilly and Becker got married in 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone/Arno Balzarini)

Lilly said she was shocked by Becker’s sentence as she was convinced it would be lighter.

Boris is also father to Noah, 28, and Elias, 22, from his first marriage to Barbara Becker, and only daughter Anna Ermakova, 22 — born after a 1999 tryst with a waitress at a London restaurant.

Becker is expected to serve 15 months before being released   

This story first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/boris-beckers-estranged-wife-distraught-by-jail-sentence-impact-on-their-son/news-story/769d06d6537fe30ae584f25ac838018b