Boris Becker recounts his prison nightmare: “Another prisoner wants to kill me…”

Freed, the German, former world number one and winner of six Grand Slams, spoke to the press and gave details of his days behind bars.

Boris Beckerwinner of six Grand Slam titles -three Wimbledon, two Australian Open and one US Open-, is since the end of April serving his sentence in a London prison for financial crimes made in 2017. On December 15 it was release and, less than a week later, he gave an interview where revealed the nightmare it means to be behind bars.

Boris Becker recounts his prison nightmare: “Another prisoner wants to kill me…”

After eight months in prison, Becker gave an interview to a German television channel Sat1 where he begins by affirming his guilt: “This sentence was a very hard lesson. A lesson that hurt me a lot. In retrospect, it also had positive repercussions. I thought a lot, I recognized my mistakes”said the former number one in the world.

“Behind bars, you’re nobody. I quickly realized this. You’re just a number. Mine was A2923EV. Nobody called me Boris. Besides, they didn’t care who I was.”, went on to win six Grand Slam titles. Then, he added that he feared for his life: “I established relationships of trust with the three prisoners who saved my life. In October, another prisoner tried to kill me. He explained to me exactly what he planned to do, but I had the support of the other prisoners and the next day this dangerous man who had been in prison for 12 years came to apologise.”told.

Why is Boris Becker in jail?

In 2017, Becker filed for bankruptcy. Southwark Crown Court, south London, ruled that the 55-year-old German tennis player hid assets and loans worth about three million euros to avoid paying debts of about 60 million euros. At the judgment it was shown that Becker kept some of the trophies which he achieved throughout his career, some assets such as real estate and approximately two million euros. Therefore, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The six-time Grand Slam champion qualifies for automatic deportation because he is considered an alien in a country where he does not hold British citizenship. This is the reason why he was exiled from his country of origin. Becker “has served his sentence and is not subject to any criminal restrictions in Germany,” his lawyer Christian-Oliver Moser said in a statement.

The achievements of Boris Becker

The German tennis player won six Grand Slam titles: three Wimbledon, two Australian Open and one US Open. In addition, he is the youngest tennis player to win the British tournament at the age of 17 even as an unseeded player. Becker was world number one for 12 weeks in 1991. In total, he won 49 singles and 15 doubles titles. He won two Davis Cups in 1988 and 1989 and won a Gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. A legend of the yellow ball who, by his own decision, spent time in prison.