Boris Becker’s daughter has told how she begged a judge not to jail her dad for the sake of his 12-year-old son.
Anna Ermakova fears for her half-brother Amadeus – who was pictured emotionally hugging his dad hours before he was caged for two and a half years on Friday.
She said: “I tried to help as best I could by writing a letter to the court expressing my concern for my younger brother Amadeus.
“He is only 12 and he’s not going to have a paternal figure to support him at such a crucial time in a young person’s life.
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“He’s going to start a new school soon making new friends and that’s hard enough as it is.”
But Judge Deborah Taylor rejected Anna’s plea for leniency, as well as a letter from his mother Elvira, 87, who had described her tennis legend son as a “decent boy overall”.
Becker will have to serve at least half his sentence behind bars for fraudulently hiding £2.5million of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
Anna, 22, a model, said: “Honestly I’m in shock about my father’s sentence. I wasn’t really expecting it at all.
“I was actually on the phone with my brothers after the verdict. We were in shock.”
Anna was conceived during an infamous encounter between Becker and Russian model Angela Ermakova in a broom cupboard in London’s Nobu restaurant in 1999.
Her dad only admitted paternity two years later after a court battle but the two are now close.
Anna added: “I have been trying to support [my father] on the phone as best I can.
“I hope he is strong in such a difficult time in his life. I will support him and visit him whenever I can.”
The Nobu scandal destroyed Becker’s first marriage to Barbara and reportedly cost £11million.
He has two sons Noah, 27, and Elias, 22, with Barbara. His youngest son Amadeus was with his second wife, Dutch model Lilly Kerssenberg. They split in 2018.
Becker, 54, spent Friday night on a 24-hour reception wing at HMP Wandsworth, south London, just three miles from his own home and the All England Tennis Club where he became Wimbledon’s youngest ever men’s singles winner in 1985 at 17.
He had told jurors at Southwark Crown Court he earned over £40million in a glittering career that included two more Wimbledon singles titles. But his earnings were swallowed up by his divorce from Barbara, as well as child maintenance, poor investments and “expensive lifestyle commitments”.
He was declared bankrupt in 2017, owing almost £50million.
