Tennis star Boris Becker has spoken about being 'surrounded by murderers and rapists' during his eighth-month term in prison.
The 55-year-old was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act. The charges came after Becker failed to hand over assets and trophies to repay debt after declaring bankruptcy.
Becker spent time at Wandsworth Prison before spending the rest of his term in HMP Huntercombe near Nuffield, Oxfordshire. The former world No.1 qualified for automatic deportation due to being a foreign national who does not have British citizenship - resulting in his early release.
The six-time Grand Slam winner was deported to Germany eight months into his 30-month sentence. Becker spoke about his time in prison after the release of the documentary Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker on Apple TV.
"Whoever says that prison life isn't hard and isn't difficult I think is lying," Becker told BBC 5 Live Breakfast. "I was surrounded by murderers, by drug dealers, by rapists, by people smugglers, by dangerous criminals.
"You fight every day for survival. Quickly you have to surround yourself with the tough boys, as I would call it, because you need protection."
Becker shot to stardom after winning Wimbledon for the first time at the age of 17 in 1985. He retained his title a year later - his second of six Grand Slam crowns. Despite winning 48 career tennis titles Becker said his stardom meant nothing while serving his prison term.
"If you think you're better than everybody else then you lose," Becker added. "Inside it doesn't matter that I was a tennis player, the only currency we have inside is our character and our personality. That's it, you have nothing else.
"You don't have any friends at first, you're literally on your own and that's the hard part, you have to really dig inside yourself about your qualities and your strengths but also your weaknesses."
Since his prison release Becker has been back working on TV as part of German Eurosport’s commentary team for the Australian Open. The tennis star sees life after his release as the 'fifth set' in his life.
"I'm usually good in the fifth set - I've won the first two sets, I've lost the next two and I'm planning to win that," he added.
The German star could be absent from Wimbledon for the next two tournaments due to requiring Home Office approval to enter the UK soil until October 2024.
Despite being banned from travelling to the UK the BBC are in talks with the star about a commentary return.
"I miss London, I really miss Wimbledon and I won't be going there this year," Becker accepted. "I'm fortunate that I can stand on my feet, none of my partners have dropped me, they've welcomed me back home.
"When you're down, and the last five, six years were very difficult for me, you truly find out who's with you and who's not with you."
