Updated

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former tennis champion Boris Becker says he sympathizes with Tiger Woods, whose life is in turmoil after he admitted cheating on his wife.

Becker, 42, who fathered a child with a Russian model after a brief sexual encounter in a cupboard at a London restaurant while his wife was pregnant, said he could identify with the golf star.

Becker, who had a messy divorce and became the butt of jokes for his flings, said he believed it would be "damned hard" for father-of-two Woods to save his marriage to Swede Elin Nordegren.

Woods, 33, has announced he is taking an indefinite break from golf to try to save his marriage.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Andrew Dobbie)