Split was my worst defeat, says Becker

Boris Becker has described the much-publicised separation from his wife as the worst defeat he ever had to concede.

"I have no problem in saying that I have lost a game because there's always another one coming," the three-times Wimbledon champion, who sealed a multi-million divorce from German-Amerian actress Barbara Feltus last month, told German weekly Der Spiegel.

"I could never have imagined that I would go through a separation and that I could only see the two children and the wife whom I love every two or three weeks," the former world number one said in a long interview released ahead of publication on Monday.

"That's why I say that I have lost and it's the biggest of all defeats.

"Yes, I am afraid," he added. "I am afraid for my children because they have to go through a situation that neither their mother nor their father can control." The German, who has been on the front page of the local newspapers almost daily for the past few weeks, faces another wave of media attention after allegations from a London-based Russian-born model that he is the father of her baby.

"I don't want to say anything on that for legal reasons," said Becker, who underwent a paternity test in London to clear up the report.

"There is an ongoing investigation and I will only say more once we have the result of the test," he told Der Spiegel.

OPEN GAME

After the baby story broke, Becker said he had talked about it with Barbara.

"The weekend when the subject surfaced was not easy," he said. "I had to explain the whole problem to Barbara. She reacted well.

"She was informed from the start. We played an open game and the matter was not the reason for our separation."

More headlines followed after Becker confirmed last Monday that he had started a romance with rap singer Sabrina Setlur, who was once voted Germany's "most erotic woman."

Becker, whose seven-year marriage with Feltus attracted constant media attention, admitted he had make mistakes.

"My own attitude was not always 100 percent correct," he said.

The 33-year-old, whose romance with Barbara started two years before they were married, said the two had enjoyed a happy marriage.

"From the nine years that we spent together, we had seven of innocence. Those years were the happiest of my life.

"For years there were no stories or rumours about us. We were a perfect team, from A to Z."

Barbara's desire to focus on her own career and the pair's lifestyle were some of the reasons behind the separation, he said.