Boris Becker will get emotional about his jail sentence and shedding ‘every little thing’ in his life
Boris Becker opened up about his time in jail in the UK, getting emotional as he mirrored on the expertise. He spoke about how he needed to adapt and study many issues simply to outlive, and the way these challenges taught him deeper classes about life
Becker was imprisoned within the UK in April 2022 for concealing £2.5 million value of property in an try to keep away from repaying his money owed after being declared bankrupt. He was initially handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence. Nevertheless, he was launched after serving simply eight months, because of a British “fast-track” scheme that permits sure international nationals to be deported early.
Throughout a current interview with Sports activities Illustrated, the German mentioned:
“Each disaster I’ve survived in my life has been constructive; I’ve at all times realized extra from my defeats than from my victories. However this was actually a really existential disaster, wherein it was necessary to search out myself once more. Identical to earlier than Wimbledon 1986. I used to be in a sporting disaster and determined to do what I consider is correct. It labored.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion shared that in jail, none of his titles, fame, or wealth held any worth; he was simply one other particular person. What really mattered, he mentioned, was his “persona,” and that’s what he finally leaned on to get by means of the expertise.
“Even throughout that point in jail, I discovered myself once more,” Boris Becker. “I had no different alternative. Whenever you lose every little thing—your freedom, your loved ones, your cash, your home—the one factor that is still is your persona, your character. And that is what I retreated to. My internal self has at all times been my refuge in tough instances.”
Becker is presently barred from coming into the UK for the subsequent 10 years.
Boris Becker says jail was “very brutal”


Throughout a 2023 interview with BBC Radio 5 Dwell, Boris Becker bought candid about his time in jail, describing the expertise as extraordinarily harsh. He mentioned jail was “very brutal” to him and made it clear that anybody who claimed in any other case had no concept what it was actually like.
Becker mentioned:
“Whoever says that jail life isn’t arduous and isn’t tough, I feel is mendacity. It was a really brutal, a really, very completely different expertise to what you see within the motion pictures, what you’ve heard from tales.”
The German added that his time in jail was a interval the place he needed to battle for survival each single day, even forming connections with murderers and different hardened criminals to guard himself. Nevertheless, he didn’t communicate of the expertise with bitterness, fairly, he mentioned it finally made him a greater man.
“You battle on daily basis for survival. Rapidly, you must encompass your self with the robust boys, as I might name it, since you want safety,” Becker mentioned
“I’m a survivor; I’m a tricky cookie. I’ve taken the incarceration, however I’ve additionally taken the glory, and if something, this made me a stronger, higher man,” he added.
At current, Boris Becker appears to be having fun with life to the fullest. He tied the knot for the third time in September final yr along with his spouse Lillian and is now main a cheerful and settled life. He has additionally stayed concerned within the tennis world, usually providing insights on gamers he helps.
Edited by Pritha Ghosh
