In July 1985 at Wimbledon , Boris Becker introduced himself to the world when he defeated Kevin Curren in four sets, becoming the youngest player to win a Grand Slam. At that time, Becker, the Little Prince of Wimbledon, was only 17 years old, had no beard to shave, still had to meet the coach to ask for pocket money and did not know how big the £130,000 bonus was.
37 years later, the owner of 6 Grand Slam titles and 49 other titles, entered Wandsworth, just a few kilometers from Wimbledon. It has the architecture of a medieval castle with arched windows, but Wandsworth is a prison and Becker will introduce himself as the new prisoner.
On April 29, the former world number one tennis player received a 2 and a half year prison sentence from Southwark Crown Court in London for hiding 2.5 million pounds to avoid debt. From his luxury apartment in Wimbledon, Becker went straight to Wandsworth prison on a truck, then was put into a cell of only 6 square meters. There was no king-sized bed covered with silk sheets, for Becker there was only a small, narrow single bed with a blue plastic mattress.
Romanian billionaire and Becker’s advisor, Ion Tiriac, revealed to L’Équipe newspaper that “Becker’s first days in prison were very miserable, and the security in the prison was so strict that everything became difficult.” So it’s more difficult.” This makes rumors about Becker frequently complaining about prison food and bothering other inmates well-founded. A person in Becker’s family said, “Becker struggled with the new environment, especially when surrounded by notorious criminals.”
It was not easy for Becker to adapt to a life of cramped conditions and deprivation. Famous from a very early age, Becker became accustomed to luxury. He once told British journalist Neil Harman “about the Porsche 959 he bought right after his first Wimbledon championship, then drove it around the streets of Monaco”, and “about the night of gambling at the Hotel de Paris that if he lost I had 500 francs in my pocket, a huge amount of money at that time, and I didn’t care at all.”
Expensive divorces, fans turning their backs, sponsors abandoning them, and a series of failed investments left Becker in heavy debt. Declared bankrupt since 2017, Becker always thinks he is still rich and maintains the flashy image of a legend. He still jets to luxury destinations, comments on Wimbledon on Eurosport or the BBC and enjoys holidays in Ibiza.
It all leads to an investigation by British Justice, asking why a bankrupt person still has as much money as a successful businessman. In 2020, Becker had a spectacular escape. Instead of being imprisoned behind bars, he was only given a 2-year suspended sentence and a fine of 300,000 euros for tax evasion by the Munich Court. Now my luck has run out. The fraud was exposed and Becker was sent to prison.
Also according to billionaire Tiriac, after more than a month, Becker’s life in prison is gradually improving for the better. In addition, at the end of May, Becker was also transferred to Huntercombe prison 70 km northwest of London. It is a lower security prison than Wandsworth and is reserved for foreigners.
“According to what Becker told me, the government offered him a job as a math and English teacher. This job keeps him busy all day. Back in the cell, Becker played sports, watched TV and read a lot,” a relative of the former world number one tennis player told L’Équipe.
According to the law, Becker will serve at least 10 months in prison before having his sentence reconsidered. Then will there be a new chapter in the legend of the felt ball village? No one knows, and Becker’s lawyer himself doesn’t dare to think too far ahead. “The first thing is to get out of prison,” he said.
