Becker rescues €8.5m villa by paying off debt

Boris Becker has saved his Spanish villa by paying off a €378,000 debt to a gardening firm which won a court case against him.

The €8.5m estate, valued at €17m at the height of the boom, was due to be auctioned off yesterday.

But the three-times Wimbledon winner spared himself a painful loss and worldwide embarrassment by coming up with the money at the eleventh hour.