Model Wins Boris Becker Paternity Suit

ByABC News
July 11, 2001, 3:06 PM

July 11 -- It's amazing how much a brief fling can cost even if it only lasts five seconds.

That's reportedly how long tennis star Boris Becker said he spent having sex with Russian model Angela Ermakova in a linen cupboard in London's posh Nobu restaurant on June 30, 1999.

But it was apparently long enough for Ermakova to become pregnant and later give birth to a daughter, Anna. It was also enough for a London court to grant a "generous" financial offer from Becker to support the child.

Judge Robert Johnson made the announcement of the offer today, to satisfy what he called the "popular and natural interest" in the proceedings.

Details of such arrangements are not normally made public in Britain, but earlier this year some British media reported Becker was giving Ermakova 2 millionpounds ($2.8 million).

Allegations of a Blackmail Scheme

In a statement read to the court, Johnson said: "I think it is appropriate in the circumstances to say that the court has approved the financial provision made by Mr. Becker, which is entirely reasonable and indeed generous."

Ermakova, 34, launched a paternity suit against the three-time Wimbledon champion Jan. 12 seeking support for 16-month-old Anna.

Becker, 33, at first denied the child was his. But after a DNA test, he admitted he was the baby's father, and in March, a London judge issued an official order naming him so.

Becker had reportedly been drinking heavily after being defeated at Wimbledon by Australian Pat Rafter.

Not the First Loss

Ermakova attended today's High Court hearing, but Becker was represented by his lawyers.

Becker and his 34-year-old wife, Barbara, were divorced in January after a bitter international court battle.

Barbara Becker won an undisclosed settlement believed to run into the millions of dollars, and custody of their two sons, Noah, 6, and Elias, 1.