Boris Becker: Prison turned me into a very cautious person

Boris Becker speaks candidly about his time in jail in his new memoir, “Inside,” published in Germany in August and due to come out in English later in the month.

In 2022, the former tennis star was imprisoned for 231 days in Britain for bankruptcy offences.

Becker spoke to dpa on the occasion of the book launch.

dpa: Is there anything you learned from your time in prison?

Becker: Yes, a great deal. I reflected a lot on the reasons why I ended up in prison, what mistakes I made, when things started to go wrong. It has now been two and a half years since my release and deportation to Germany, and my wife and I have been living in Italy since April 2023. We can be a little proud of how we have rebuilt our lives.

dpa: Is there anything that would make you say, ‘Those were two, three, four lessons that I remember daily’?

Becker: I have become extremely cautious with people. My trust has been dented. I used to be a people person and let everyone in. That is no longer the case. I am very cautious and only have a small circle of friends. And I don’t think that will change any time soon. I’ve been burned before. There’s a saying: ‘Show me your friends, your circle of friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.’ My circle of friends today is quite respectable, but I don’t show it off, I don’t talk about it.

dpa: How can you tell which people are good for you?

Becker: Everyone should take a look at their own circle of friends and find out who is actually out of place. Who has stayed, who supports you and who doesn’t? Many people turned their backs on me and then didn’t have the time or didn’t feel like it anymore or didn’t want to deal with me, and that’s okay. I now notice that most of them are knocking on my door again and would like to play some kind of role again. So I notice that this tugging at me and this attempt to appropriate me is being tried again.

dpa: Who is Boris Becker after prison?

Becker: I think I’ve reflected on myself: What distinguished me as a tennis player? What were my strengths? What were my qualities? What were my weaknesses? And I think I’ve mentally gone back to the time when I played tennis well, when my life was in order.

dpa: How narrow is the line between the danger of prison breaking you and the chance of returning to your old strengths?

Becker: There’s a saying: ‘If you’ve been in prison for 10 years or more, prison will never let you go.’ The prison mentality does something to your psyche. Prison is a punishment for mistakes you’ve made. It hurts enormously and is sometimes even dangerous. Anyone who claims otherwise has no idea. English prisons are perhaps even worse than German ones. Although the 231 days were incredibly long, it was of course only a short stay compared to long-term prisoners. You can get over it. With the help of your family and good friends, of course. I don’t think my time in prison has damaged me.

dpa: Before you went to prison, you had an idea of what it would be like from films. How do you view such prison films now?

Becker: With completely different eyes. What is never really shown in a film about prison, because it is also very boring, is this long time alone in your cell. And that is the worst thing about prison. It’s not when you’re at work or when you’re interacting with other prisoners, but simply spending all that time alone in your cell. That’s the brutal part. But that never comes up in films.

dpa: People who have committed very different crimes are in prison. How do you deal with that?

Becker: The amazing thing was that there were no differences. A white-collar criminal was next to a murderer, and a murderer next to a paedophile, and a paedophile was next to a drug dealer. No distinction is made between the crimes you have committed. That frightened me and I didn’t expect it.

dpa: Did that feeling go away at some point?

Becker: It’s like everything else: We get used to everything, even the worst times. You have to stop judging or condemning people. We all suffer the same, the loneliness of the cell. We all eat the same food, we all look the same. There are no differences in treatment. You have to quickly lose that ‘I’m worth more than you’ attitude in prison. You’re not the judge in prison.

dpa: You are in the public eye, you have always been in the public eye. That means people have judged you and been your judges. You write that Germany revelled in your problems. Did you only have this feeling during the course of your insolvency?

Becker: I have been a public figure since July 7, 1985 [ed.: Becker’s first Wimbledon victory], whether I like it or not! Strangers judge me, regardless of whether they really know me. I am popular with some and unpopular with others, partly for the same reason. I have learned that I cannot please everyone and I live my life. Abroad, I am perceived differently and do not have this misunderstanding.

dpa: Could you imagine living in Germany again?

Becker: Short answer: No. Of course, this also has to do with my desire for a private life, and with my desire not to have to read something about myself every week – whether good or bad, it doesn’t matter. And I think we made a very good choice with Italy.

dpa: What is the legal situation? Could you return to England and to Wimbledon?

Becker: I would love to return to Wimbledon. Winning Wimbledon changed my life dramatically and it’s simply part of my DNA. We are in close contact with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice and we are really working together to find a way for me to return soon. But I can’t tell you when that will be.

dpa: In your book, you write about your difficult financial situation even after your imprisonment – two and a half years on, how would you describe it at the moment? Are you where you want to be at this point in time?

Becker: I have not been insolvent since April 27, 2024. I am part of the working population and have to work hard for my income. I haven’t inherited or been given anything. But I shouldn’t complain, I’m doing a little better financially today and my wife and I are building up our assets together.

dpa: You now have another task ahead of you: you are going to be a father again. Have you bought any baby clothes yet?

Becker: Unlike in the past, I try to keep my private life private, so I don’t share everything with the public. But as a father of four, and soon to be five, I know a lot about babies.

dpa: Do you still pick up a tennis racket from time to time?

Becker: Yes, I do. My wife likes to play – it’s more difficult at the moment, but she enjoys playing and wants to play with her husband, which I can understand. My children, my older boys, were in Milan recently and they wanted to play tennis with their dad. So I did. There are exceptions when I take my tennis racket out again.

dpa: And how good are you still?

Becker: “I think I could still beat you. I think I could even beat everyone in the room.”

ABOUT THE PERSON: Boris Becker is one of the most famous Germans worldwide. In 1985, at the age of only 17, he won the tennis tournament at Wimbledon. He went on to achieve numerous other successes, winning a total of six Grand Slam tournaments. After his time as a professional tennis player, Becker continued to make public appearances. In April 2022, he was convicted by a London court for failing to properly declare assets in bankruptcy proceedings. He spent 231 days in prison.