Becker returns to tennis to forget personal woes

He was a national icon, but is in danger of turning himself into a national clown.

For more than a decade Boris Becker tennis champion gave Germans everywhere a reason to be proud.

But his post-career antics have sullied his reputation and provided late-night comedians with a rich harvest of material.

A failed business, a broken marriage, a messy divorce, a love child conceived in a trendy London restaurant and a fling with a sultry rap singer have made Becker a regular feature for tabloid front pages and the butt of countless jokes.

Now Becker, who retired from the ATP tour two years ago, is embarking on a new career on the court.

Missing the adulation of the crowds and growing tired of the media's insatiable appetite for details of his private life, Becker has dusted off his rackets, shed a few kilos and worked himself back into shape with a seven-week crash course on the courts.

The 33-year-old hopes to win a berth in the U.S. Open - the tournament he won in 1989 - with a wild card doubles entry.

"I'm definitely going to try to find a doubles partner for the U.S. Open next week. I don't know who it will be yet, but I want to have a strong chance to win."

MONEY NOT REASON

Becker's communications director Robert Luebenoff brushed off speculation Becker is returning to tennis to distract from his off-court troubles. He also said it was absurd to suggest Becker needs the money.

"Money is not the reason -- really," said Luebenoff, who nevertheless declined to confirm a Bild newspaper report that Becker had a net worth of 500 million marks ($235.6 million).

"He sees tennis as his calling, the thing he does best."

Earlier this month Becker warmed up for the U.S. Open with his first ATP tournament since retiring in 1999. But he and doubles partner Goran Ivanisevic were wiped off the court in the first round of an ATP tournament in Cincinnati.

"I was happy to feel the atmosphere again of a big tournament," said Becker, who won six Grand Slams in his 15-year career. "I need this kick to get up for the senior tour. I held on and certainly didn't embarrass myself on the court."

Yet off the tennis court, his life has been one embarrassment after another.

Ostensibly he was leading the life of a respectable retired tennis star and doting father, living in a comfortable mansion in Munich and shuttling to vacation homes in Florida and Spain.

But behind the scenes his marriage was collapsing.

PROMINENT COUPLE

Finally last December Becker announced he and his wife Barbara were splitting. Because they had been such a prominent couple, appearing together at almost every celebrity party and on glitzy magazine covers, the break-up of the seven-year marriage dominated the country's front pages for months.

It emerged that Becker was having a fling with singer Sabrina Setlur, billed Germany's most erotic woman, at about the same time his estranged wife was filing for divorce in Florida.

Things got worse when Becker was grilled in the Florida court by his wife's lawyer -- a dramatic showdown that several German networks broadcast live.

The dispute was later resolved after Becker agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement.

It also emerged Becker had fathered a child in London with a Russian model after a sexual encounter in the laundry cupboard of a Japanese restaurant in 1999 following his last Wimbledon match.

He later drew widespread derision for description of the encounter with the woman, Angela Ermakova: "It wasn't even an affair. It was an act that lasted five seconds. I never saw her before and never saw her again afterwards."

Becker agreed to pay child support, reportedly $2.8 million, after a paternity test confirmed he was the father. But he complained bitterly that the media that had so long touted him as a national hero was now tearing him apart.

INCREDIBLE HYSTERIA

"There is an incredible hysteria surrounding me," he said, noting newspapers run more articles about him than anyone else in Germany except Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "That's insane."

His relationship with the German Tennis Federation has also deteriorated. After a long-time battle for control with the federation, he broke off his association.

Becker also was fined 900,000 marks ($424,100) by authorities in Majorca and forced to tear down half his luxurious villa on the Mediterranean island after violating building codes.

To add to his woes, Munich tax authorities in July demanded Becker pay some 25 million marks ($11.78 million) in back taxes.

The authorities suspect Becker spent much of his time in Germany in the years 1990 to 1993 even though his official home was listed as Monaco.

A former Becker fan, Hans Gerd, who had charted Becker's movements with a newspaper scrapbook for seven years, aided the tax collectors.

Gerd had only asked for an autograph. But Becker ignored his request and Gerd then turned over the copious documents showing where Becker spent his time to the tax office.

Despite the mishaps, Becker doesn't lack self-confidence.

"I'm not just a national great, but one of the most famous people in the world," he told the Handelsblatt newspaper.

Whether his return to tennis will help Becker repair his reputation remains to be seen.