Boris Becker gives harrowing details of time spent behind bars – ‘No one gives a f***’ | Tennis | Sport

Boris Becker has broken his silence following his release from prison, as the retired tennis icon shared the harrowing details of his time spent behind bars. The six-time Grand Slam champion served eight months of his two-and-a-half year sentence before being deported to Germany last Thursday and claimed no one “gave a f***” who he was during his time in HM Wandsworth Prison and HM Huntercombe Prison in his exclusive first interview with German TV station SAT.1.

Becker’s first words since leaving prison have been revealed ahead of his tell-all TV interview in Germany. The former world No 1 is set to speak “openly and honestly” in conversation with German-American presenter Steven Gatjen, and parts of his interview have already been shared as the 55-year-old revealed he was just “a number” during his time in incarceration.

“You are nobody in prison. You are just a number,” the two-time Wimbledon champion said. “Mine was A2923EV. I wasn’t called Boris. I was a number. And they don’t give a fu*** who you are.”

The tennis icon was released on Thursday under a fast-track scheme that sees foreign criminals deported in an effort to relieve the pressures on British prisons. And according to the Daily Mail, the Munich-based TV station provided Becker with a private jet to fly from Biggin Hill airfield in Kent to their Munich HQ for the interview following his release, also paying him £435,000.

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Becker – who was jailed after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act during his trial in April – also shared the biggest realisation made during his time in prison. He added: “I think I rediscovered the person I used to be. I learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one. But the whole thing has something important and good for me learned. And some things happen for a good reason.”

The former BBC Wimbledon commentator also spoke about his final hours in Huntercombe Prison before his release, as he waited from the early hours in the morning in anticipation of his deportation back to Germany. “I sat on the edge of my bed from six in the morning and hoped that the cell door would open,” he detailed.

“They came at half past seven, unlocked the door and asked: Are you ready? I said: ‘ Here we go!’ I had already packed everything.”

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