Boris Becker opens up about how his sporting history helped him to survive prison and gives Wimbledon update
Boris Becker believes his personality and the fact that he was a famous tennis player worked in his favor while he was in prison, while also saying “I have to take my time” before returning to Wimbledon.
The tennis great was convicted of hiding £2.5million in assets and loans last year to avoid paying his debts, resulting in a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence from April. After spending eight months behind bars in two different prisons in the UK, he was released in December and deported to Germany.
While in prison, it was reported that the former was world No. 1 “popular with his fellow inmates” and he taught fitness, nutrition, and psychology, among other inmates, and his likeable character certainly played a large part in his survival.
He signed shortly after his release a £435,000 collective agreement with German television and gave a lengthy discussion of his time behind bars, saying, “You’re nobody in prison. you are just a number Mine was A2923EV.
“My name wasn’t Boris. I was a number And they don’t care who you are.”
But in his first interview on British television, Becker explained to ITV show This Morning how he managed to survive the ordeal.
“You’re famous, everyone knows who you are,” said the six-time Grand Slam winner when discussing his time in prison. “It can play against you. Luckily they liked my personality.
“The only thing you have is your character and your personality. This is your currency. If they think you have money, you have a problem anyway, so that wasn’t a problem with me!
“They liked tennis, they liked what I did. tennis fans. My sporting past helped me survive prison.”
Before going to jail, Becker was a regular commentator for the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage and also worked at Eurosport Germany, but lost both of those roles after his conviction.
He has since rejoined Eurosport after returning to Germany but won’t be appearing on the BBC any time soon.
“I miss London, it’s my favorite city in the world,” said the 55-year-old, who had lived in the UK since 2012 before his deportation, during the interview from Dubai.
“I’ve been at it for a long time. I will miss Wimbledon this year. I need to take my time before coming back.”
READ MORE: Boris Becker could be banned from attending Wimbledon for up to ten years
Boris Becker’s article, which opens up on how his sporting past helped him survive prison and gives a Wimbledon update, first appeared on Tennis365.com.