Boris Becker said he was forced to befriend the “tough boys” in prison in order to survive, as he vowed to win the “fifth block” of his life.
In an interview with 5 Live Breakfast, the three-time Wimbledon champion said prison was “real punishment” but he found out he was “a survivor”.
The tennis great has served eight months of his two-and-a-half-year sentence for hiding assets worth millions of pounds to avoid paying off debts. He served time at HMP Wandsworth and Category C Huntercombe Prison near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
The six-time Grand Slam singles champion was released from prison in December and deported home to Germany.
Asked if he would return to analytics roles on the BBC in the near future, he said he was speaking to “the people in charge”.
The six-time Grand Slam singles champion spoke candidly about his time in prison on 5 Live Breakfast
He filmed Baker attending court in London, with partner Lilian Di Carvalho, shortly before he was sentenced to 30 months in prison last April – he served eight years before being released.
The German, who has lived in the UK since 2012, was expected to serve half of his sentence behind bars but was released in December and deported from the UK.
He is believed to have been transferred to a lower security prison, Category C Huntercombe prison near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, for foreign offenders awaiting deportation in May 2022.
Reports said he was previously held at Wandsworth Prison Category B in southwest London.
The six-time Grand Slam champion qualifies for automatic deportation because he is a non-British foreign national who has been sentenced to more than 12 months in prison.
He will not be allowed back into the UK until October 2024.
Speaking ahead of the release of a new documentary about his life and career, Baker said the time in prison was “real punishment” and that anyone who said it wasn’t too hard is being dishonest.
It’s a real punishment. It’s supposed to be a prison sentence and anyone who says life in prison isn’t hard and isn’t hard is lying.
I think it’s a really hard life and where I’m from, I’ve never been incarcerated before, so it was a very tough and new experience and very different from what you see in the movies or what you’ve heard from the stories.
Baker said he was forced to befriend the prison’s “tough boys” to make sure he was safe, saying that prison was “very dangerous”.
“Prison is very dangerous. Like I said, it is a dangerous place, you fight every day to survive.
Baker has been released from prison and deported to Germany after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for failing to declare £2.5m in assets to avoid debt payments.
Germany’s Boris Becker celebrates winning the 1985 Wimbledon Championships. He stunned the world when he broke the tennis scene at just 17 years old
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You are surrounded by murderers, drug dealers, rapists, smugglers and dangerous criminals.
“Quickly you have to surround yourself with ‘tough boys’ as I call them, because you need protection. If you think you’re better than everyone else, you lose. That was the harsh reality of every day, facing different people.
The former tennis player said he learned a lot about himself while in prison, including that he is a “man” – a German word for someone of integrity.
‘I am a survivor. You can throw me at HMP Wandsworth or HMP Huntercombe and find a way to survive.
“I certainly call myself a man.” I am a man with qualities and weaknesses and I have lived through that and continue to do so. I call these life lessons.
“I never thought, at 17, that I would be imprisoned at 54. I never expected the good, and I certainly didn’t expect the bad.
“But I am a survivor, I am a hard biscuit.” I’ve taken the punishments, I’ve taken the jail but I’ve also taken the glory and I think if anything makes me a stronger, better man and with my decisions in the future you can see if I learned from it or I didn’t.
He said he has been in contact with people at the BBC, although he cannot return in the near future, and said he would “would like” to be a monetary analyst again.
Baker also claimed that his time in prison humiliated him, despite maintaining his extravagant lifestyle after his release and deportation.
“If anything, it certainly humiliated me and certainly made me realize that whether Boris Becker or Paul Smith is called if you break the law you will be found guilty and you will be imprisoned and that goes for everyone.”
He was released under a fast-track scheme that sends offenders home before their release date to relieve pressure on Britain’s overcrowded prisons.
A tearful Boris Becker reflects on going to prison as part of a new documentary about his life
Famous as a 17-year-old, Becker broke onto the tennis scene by winning Wimbledon
Becker did not wait long before resuming the “good life” after his release, allegedly flying home to Germany on a private jet.
It made me appreciate my past, my good life and the opportunities I had and it started since I was born in West Germany. You have a lot of people in this life who, early on, never had this opportunity.
I have an amazing set of parents, a sister, you know, the first 54 years of my life were very good, and I’m blessed with good memories, and I think, especially the first couple of weeks when you’re on your own if a very small prison cell, you live on that.
Baker added that he has been fortunate to have the support of his friends and family and that he has found out who is really behind him over the past five years.
I am fortunate that I can stand on my own two feet, and none of my partners have fallen on me. They welcomed me home. Whether it was TV, or some of my sponsors, my family definitely stood strong behind me.
I have a great group of people who have supported me no matter what.
I’m not taking this lightly, but I’m building my third chapter solidly. There are two chapters in the documentary and I’m building my third chapter now.
“In the tennis world, I am usually good in the fifth set. I won the first two sets and lost the next two but I play the fifth set and plan to win it.
