| | Reuters
MIAMI -- The estranged wife of tennis star Boris
Becker filed for financial support and custody of their two
sons in a Miami court after the couple announced the break-up
of their seven-year marriage last week, her attorney said on
Wednesday.
Barbara Feltus Becker, 33, an aspiring actress and singer,
also asked for exclusive use of their $3 million condo on
Miami's ritzy Fisher Island but did not request a divorce,
attorney Samuel Burstyn told Reuters.
"Barbara is a very reasoned person. She is taking measured
actions because there is so much at stake here," Burstyn said.
"Accordingly, we did not file for divorce, but with
children and such a significant estate involved and in light of
the problems they've been having, we have to take measured
steps to see to it that she and the children are secure."
Becker, also 33, a three-time Wimbledon champion, has
publicly blamed the breakup on the pressure of being rich and
famous. But media reports in Europe suggested that a family
friend, hip-hop artist Sabrina Setlur, 26, was a possible
reason for the split.
Becker told a German newspaper on Sunday that he still
loves his wife and had not ruled out a reconciliation.
Becker and his wife, who is black, married in 1993 and were
widely admired for choosing to live in Germany -- where
mixed-race marriages are rare -- despite receiving repeated
violent racist threats.
Citing "abandonment," Mrs. Becker's petition to a
Miami-Dade Circuit Court said she is "totally dependent" on
Becker for money and has been accustomed to "an extremely high
standard of living ... throughout their marriage."
During their marriage she "devoted herself to being a
partner, helpmate, confidant, advisor, friend and lover," and
now "survives on credit cards" that Becker could cancel at any
time, the petition said.
It asked Becker to produce bank statements, tax returns,
audits and business papers.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maynard Gross signed an interim
order forbidding either parent from taking the children, Noah,
6 and Elias, 1, out of the country.
The Miami Herald said Becker, who took up sports marketing
after he retired from tennis, has a net worth of upward of $120
million. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel cited a figure of $350
million.
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