Former six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker admitted that serving time in prison was a very humbling experience. In April, German tennis legend Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in UK prison for hiding assets after declaring bankrupt.
Becker, who was expected to serve half of that sentence, was released from prison last week and deported to Germany. Becker is now a free man but he will never forget the prison loneliness and feeling “like a nobody.”
“Prison is all about survival. This is the detention centre for criminals from London. Murderers, child molesters. There was no mirror. Later I wondered what I looked like. I’m also shocked by how I’ve changed. I made the mistake of only taking black stuff with me.
I wanted to look cool, to do a bit of a gangster. But the whole thing has something important and good for me learned. And some things happen for a good reason. You’re nobody in prison. You’re just a number. Mine was A2923EV.
I wasn’t called Boris. I was a number. And they don’t give a f— who you are,” Becker said during his appearance on German network Sat TV.
Becker: Jurgen Klopp tried to visit me
Klopp, a German football coach, has been the manager of Liverpool FC for the past couple of years.
While Becker was serving his jail time, Klopp tried to visit him. But the prison staff had safety concerns regarding Klopp’s visit so the Liverpool manager didn’t get a chance to visit Becker. “We are good friends and I gave his name to the authorities but then they came back and said that he couldn’t come as he was too famous and they were concerned for his safety.
I was allowed two visits a month and I had to give these names to the authorities so they could be checked out but it is a very slow process. The first time Lilian [Becker’s girlfriend] came she said she was shocked at how I looked, although she only told me that later,” Becker said.
