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Once the biggest tennis star in history, Boris Becker is now in a small cell in a London prison. A court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison. He is said to have concealed assets in his bankruptcy proceedings. The big star is currently at the bottom. While his family remains loyal to him, there is also a lot of encouragement from Hesse. Because in Hochheim there is an academy that bears the name of the great tennis star: the Boris Becker International Tennis Academy. And managing director Khaled Ezzedine makes it clear: We stand by Boris – free and in prison! More in the video.
Khaled Ezzedine: “Nobody will shake it!”
At the beginning of the week, Khaled Ezzedine confirmed in an interview with “Spiegel” that the academy in Hochheim will continue to bear the name Boris Becker. In the exclusive RTL interview, the managing director reiterated this statement: “We are and will remain the Boris Becker International Tennis Academy and nobody will shake it!”
Becker accompanied the founding and opening of the tennis academy. At the opening in November 2021, he addressed important words to future tennis talents: “You don’t become a champion by chance or because you’re lucky. There’s a secret and that’s work and discipline. Whether the Monday morning Training is at 9 a.m. or Friday evening training at 8 p.m. You become world champion on the training ground.”
In the video: Boris Becker at the opening of the Academy in Hochheim
Tennis Academy is a million-dollar project
The contact with Boris Becker was always close, Ezzedine told RTL. Of course it’s currently broken off. But this demolition is also okay: “At the moment we have nothing to do with his life. We are concentrating on ourselves, he is concentrating on himself that he will get through it well, but he will certainly do that.”
Managing Director Ezzedine has ambitious plans for his academy in Hochheim: 270 tennis talents from all over the world are to receive top training in Hochheim, both athletically and academically. The future tennis stars have 21 indoor and 18 outdoor courts, a gymnasium, a hotel and a restaurant at their disposal. Ezzedine has invested a total of 22 million euros in this. And the academy will not only continue to bear the name Boris Becker, there is also a museum about him. Despite his prison sentence, nobody can take his sporting successes away from him. (sth/mel/dgö)
