Six-time Grand Slam champion and the youngest man to ever win Wimbledon, Boris Becker opened up on threats by a prison inmate in England to kill and sexually assault him in an interview that was broadcasted by Sat 1.
The German star spoke of how this prisoner, whom he refers to as John (a convict since 16 years for killing two people while 18), threatened him with sexual assault due to his proximity with black prisoners. “He was dangerous. He couldn’t understand why I was so connected with Black prisoners,” said Becker.
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However, he highlighted the differences between prison life and real life when he said, “Prison world is a bit different,” describing how John later “asked him for forgiveness” and tried to make up with him. “I hugged him and told him I had great respect for him,” the tennis star was reported to have told by CNN.
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“In prison, you are a nobody. You are just a number. Mine was A2923EV,” Becker told Sat 1’s Steven Gätjen as reported by CNN.
Becker had been sentenced to two and a half years of imprisonment after having been found guilty in a 2017 bankruptcy case in April 2022 under Britain’s insolvency act. The 55-year-old tennis icon had earlier in April been accused of “playing the system with bad faith” for transferring his assets to ex wife Barbera and estranged wife Sharley after being declared bankrupt in 2017.
Becker is one of the most celebrated tennis icons in the world, having won Wimbledon at a record age of 17 and won the title another two times. He was a part of legacy rivalries with Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl and the legendary Pete Sampras. Post retirement, he has been most noted in the tennis world for having coached Novak Djokovic from 2013-16.
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However, the German star has also had a suspicious legal record, having also been convicted in 2002 for tax evasion in Germany.
