"We're very, very close to resolving this matter, Barbara and Boris are focused on getting this matter resolved properly and promptly with dignity and privacy."

MIAMI - German tennis star Boris Becker and his wife, Barbara, are attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement of their divorce and child custody dispute and expect to resolve it in a few days, their lawyers said on Monday.

A Florida judge agreed to postpone a hearing that had been scheduled for Monday to decide whether the Florida court had jurisdiction in the case. The matter was delayed until at least January 18 to give the Beckers time to work out an agreement on their own.

Their lawyers said the couple met during the weekend and were still meeting on Monday.

"We're very close to resolving this matter," Barbara Feltus Becker's attorney, Sam Burstyn, said outside the Miami-Dade County courthouse. "Barbara and Boris are focused on getting this matter resolved properly and promptly with dignity and privacy."

Neither of the Beckers attended the brief hearing.

Burstyn said both sides were "very optimistic" and expected to resolve the dispute "in the next few days."

"Barbara and Boris have been together and are working together very respectfully and responsibly," he said.

The Beckers were married in Germany, where their two sons, Noah, who turns 7 this week, and Elias, 16 months, were born.

Barbara Becker, 33, moved into the couple's $3 million vacation home on Miami's posh Fisher Island in December with the couple's sons. She filed a petition for support and custody of the children in the Miami court and has claimed that the 33-year-old Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, abandoned her.

Becker then filed for divorce in Germany. He has blamed the breakdown of their seven-year marriage on the pressure of being rich and famous.

The Florida judge, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maynard Gross, refused Becker's request last Thursday to close the trial to the public and seal all the court documents. Becker testified that he frequently received kidnapping threats against his children, and that the threats increased whenever he was the subject of widespread publicity.

He also said his promotional agreements with clients such as Mercedes automobiles, America Online and watchmaker TAG Heuer contained confidentiality provisions that would be breached if his financial records were made public.

Becker's testimony, given in German, was carried live on German television and a throng of journalists packed the courthouse for the proceedings.

Becker said previously that his sons were taken from Germany without his permission and that international agreements in The Hague require that child custody be determined in the jurisdiction where the children have resided, meaning in Germany.

The Beckers' lawyers said on Monday that issue would likely become moot as it appeared the couple would work out an agreement privately.

Barbara Becker, a former model and actress, is the daughter of a former US army medical corps officer.

(Agencies via Xinhua)