behind bars
Why did Boris Becker go to prison and where is he now?
Plus, find out if he can return to the UK
BORIS Becker's journey from tennis sensation to financial ruin stands as one of the most dramatic sagas in sports history.
The German tennis wunderkind became a high-rolling playboy, who blew an estimated £100 million on a lavish lifestyle until his debts finally caught up with him.
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Who is Boris Becker?
Boris Franz Becker, 56, is a German former world No. 1 tennis player.
He is the youngest-ever winner of the gentlemen's singles Wimbledon Championships, which he won at the age of 17 in 1985.
It was the most difficult year of my life."
Boris Becker
He won six grand slams in total including two more Wimbledon titles in 1986 and 1989.
Boris is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time and was even featured in the list of Tennis Magazine's 40 greatest players on its 40th anniversary in 2006.
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Where is Boris Becker now?
Boris was released from jail in December 2022.
He spent eight months of his 30-month term in Huntercomb prison, Oxon.
He was accepted on the early release scheme which allows “any foreign national serving a fixed sentence who is liable for removal from the UK to be removed from prison and deported up to 12 months before the earliest release point of their sentence”.
Boris was then deported to his homeland, Germany.
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He will not be allowed to apply to enter the UK for 10 years.
As per The Guardian, a Home Office spokesperson said: “Any foreign national who has been convicted of a crime and deported is prohibited from returning for as long as the deportation order made against them remains in force.”
Taking to his social media following his release, Boris reflected on his time in prison and wished his followers a "healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2023!".
He said: "To all my loved ones and the people who respect me and stood by me in the most difficult year of my life: it's done, it's dusted.
"I came out alive; I think I came out stronger. I think my mental health is better than ever."
Why was Boris Becker in prison?
Boris was sentenced to two and a half years in April 2022 for hiding £2.5million in assets while bankrupt.
Speaking before his sentencing, Becker said he hit “bottom” while awaiting the court’s decision.
“I’ve hit my [rock] bottom, I don’t know what to make of it,” he was filmed saying in a documentary.
“I [will] face [my sentence], I’m not going to hide or run away. [I will] accept whatever sentence I’m going to get.”
Boris enjoyed a stellar tennis career in the late Eighties and early Nineties despite an addiction to sleeping tablets and a rumoured addiction to sex.
But after leaving the sport, two failed marriages and a lovechild from a rumoured fling in a restaurant broom cupboard — each of which impacted both his tennis fortune and personal happiness.
Despite this, Boris continued to spend at an exorbitant rate.
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It's a characteristic he attributes to his monumental first Wimbledon victory in 1985, earning him the moniker "Boom Boom."
The tennis star flashed the cash like he flashed his serves, forehands and backhands, which ultimately led to his downfall.