- Boris Becker’s prison life for eight months changed a lot of perspectives in his life
- He is glad that his family, his ex-wives included received him well after deportation
- He learnt a lot from prison which he is using to rebuild his life
Legendary tennis player Boris Becker prison life for eight months changed a lot of perspectives in his life.
A court in London indicted him of four charges under the Insolvency Act in 2022 and sent him to prison for 30 months.
Becker received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for evading creditors by concealing loans and assets totalling £2.5 million as he fought a bankruptcy trial. The case focused on Becker’s bankruptcy in June 2017 as a result of a more than £3 million loan that was outstanding on his opulent Mallorca estate.
He was lucky that the UK deported him to Germany to start a new life after serving eight months in jail. But, what was prison life like for a man who once enjoyed the fortunes of life?
WAS PRISON LIFE HARD FOR BORIS BECKER?
In separate interviews with 5 Live Breakfast show and a new documentary ‘Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker’ he says that he has a fear factor for going back behind bars. He says that life behind bars is extremely hard and only the fittest people survive.
After sentencing, Becker started serving his prison term at Wandsworth Prison in southwest London. He was then transferred to Huntercombe Prison in Oxfordshire until his deportation by the UK government in December 2022.
Boris Becker bankrupt. Photo/Sky News
The 55-year-old recalls with a chilled voice that his life back in prison didn’t matter much because he was hurdled together with gangsters, rapists and murderers.
“Whoever says that prison life isn’t hard and isn’t difficult I think is lying,” the three-time Wimbledon champion said. I was surrounded by murderers, by drug dealers, by rapists, by people smugglers, by dangerous criminals,” he says.
At Wandsworth, a convicted murderer threatened to kill him if he failed to give him his coat and money. His transfer to Huntercombe wasn’t any better, another convicted murderer threatened to end his life if Becker denied him an opportunity to do laundry for him.
As weeks went by, Becker wouldn’t understand why another prisoner would be so bitter that he doesn’t want him to do laundry for him. Eventually, they had a good rapport and continued serving their sentences.
He realized that his celebrity status as a tennis player counted for nothing while behind bars. Becker surrounded himself with ‘tough boys’ who protected him and this is everyday survival for prisoners in the UK.
WHAT DID PRISON LIFE TEACH BORIS BECKER?
While there, the German said the German realized that he was no better than the other prisoners due to his tennis prestige. This mentality handed him a guidebook in surviving prison life for eight months of his life.
He cites that the only value he had while locked up was his character and individuality. The fact that he was a multiple grand slam winner didn’t count for anything. Also, the hardest part of his sentence as he started serving is he was all alone without any friends and it calls for a self-evaluation moment so that you can survive in the system.
In yet another past interview with German presenter Steven Gatjen on Sat1, Becker said he forgot his name because prisoners are identified with numbers.
Boris Becker. Photo/James Richardson
“You are nobody in prison. You are a number Mine was A2923EV I was a number. And they don’t give a f*** who you are. I think I rediscovered the person I used to be. I’ve learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one. But the whole thing taught me something important and good. And some things happen for a good reason,” he says.
WHAT NEXT FOR BORIS BECKER?
He is slowly recollecting his life with the help of his family, his ex-wives Lily and Barbara Becker included. Becker acknowledges that he is not perfect and has made lots of mistakes in life. Fans and fellow Germans in the street are also supportive which is helping him gain his footing in society once more.
In addition, he is hopeful that come October 2024, he will be back in London because he misses it. He was banned from getting into London and will miss this year’s Wimbledon showdown.
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