Boris Becker has admitted he was “surprised” that his wife stayed with him when he had “nothing”. The six-time Grand Slam champion was declared bankrupt in 2017 and was then sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at the end of April 2022 after being found guilty of hiding £2.5million worth of assets.

Becker shot to fame as a 17-year-old after lifting the Wimbledon trophy in 1985. He excelled on the grass at the All England Club and went on to win another two titles at SW19. The German also won the 1989 US Open title and two editions of the Australian Open before calling time on his career in 1999. He regularly featured as a pundit on the BBC at Wimbledon before he was jailed and also coached Novak Djokovic between 2013 and 2016.

Becker married his third wife Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro last September as the couple tied the knot in a ceremony in Portofino, Italy.

He then announced on the eve of this year’s Wimbledon that Lilian, who he first met in 2018, was pregnant with their baby.

And the tennis icon was joined by his wife during a chat with The Times in Milan as the German spoke about an array of topics, including his time in prison.

Becker, who is 22 years older than his wife, spoke candidly about Lilian during the interview.

And he revealed: “She is obviously a very attractive woman, but I felt that from the first day we had lunch together alone, we had this instant intellectual connection.

“Even though she’s 20 years younger I feel like she has an old soul and I like to think my soul is a bit younger, so we met in the middle. I was a little bit surprised that women still stay with you if you have nothing. I didn’t experience that much before.”

Discussing his time in prison, he explained: “I can even go as far as it maybe saved my life because I’m a better man now than I was before.

“It’s embarrassing but I’d never used the kettle. I had my wife, my kids, someone, if I wanted tea. I wasn’t making my own tea. Never happened.”

And offering up some life advice, he added: “Do whatever you have to do today. Yesterday is over and tomorrow nobody knows what’s going to happen. I was the best tennis player in the world for a while and I feel like I have that mindset again. And, if I go a little bit off, I have a wife who’s watching me like a hawk.”

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