Once the toast of the great and the good on Centre Court, Boris Becker has revealed how his life was threatened by fellow inmates as he served time in two British jails.
The three-time Wimbledon champion said that a prisoner in Wandsworth Prison called John had said that “if I didn’t do this or that he would kill me. He had tried it with others”.
Weeping in an emotion-wracked first interview after being released, he added that after being transferred to another prison, there was a second “prisoner who wanted to kill me”.
The former multi-millionaire, 55, admits he “went crazy” while serving eight harrowing months as he feared for his life, The Sun reports.
Becker – stripped and searched after being jailed in April – added: “I had two big worries, a shared cell – I was f***ing scared – and also showering.
“The films didn’t help me when you see the soap falling on the ground.”
However, he said each prisoner had their own shower cubicle, adding: “You didn’t see anyone naked.”
In an exclusive interview with German TV channel Sat.1, Becker added of prison life: “It’s extremely full, extremely dirty, extremely dangerous, murderers, sex offers, drug deals, you meet all types.
“You go out of your cell and you have to look after your own skin because the guards don’t do it for you.”
But he says he found camaraderie with fellow prisoners and will keep in touch with the friends he made inside.
“Prison is a different world,” he added. “You are all the same. It sounds strange, you are so dependent on each other.
“I will keep contact with some of the prisoners. We needed each other. We really supported each other.”
A priest arranged for him to call his mother Elvira, 87, at home in Germany.
“First I told her that I was alive and that I was doing well. She wanted to hear my voice. I said there was no danger, I lied of course,” he said.
He celebrated his 55th birthday in prison, saying “it was difficult”. He was given three chocolate cakes and shared them with other prisoners.
The star admits letters from fans and former colleagues from the world of tennis kept his morale up.
“I got so many letters from fans, from friends,” he said.
“I read every single letter. I collected them all and I will answer each one of them over Christmas.
“These letters helped me very much to keep my morale and my lust for life.”
But he says a visit by his friend Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was turned down by prison authorities.
“I am quite good friends with Jürgen Klopp and he wanted to come and visit me. I gave the names to the government, then came the answer that Jürgen cannot visit you as he is too famous,” he said.
The sportsman was released from Category C Huntercombe prison near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, last week and flown to his homeland by private jet.
The bankrupt – initially held in tough Category B Wandsworth Prison – had served eight months of a two and a half years sentence for concealing assets from his creditors.
The Wimbledon prodigy gloried in being the world’s No1. Now a humbled and weeping Becker admitted that behind bars “nobody gives a f*** who you are” as he was allocated the more humdrum number A2923EV.
The fallen star admitted: “In prison, you are a nobody.
“You are only a number. Mine was A2923EV. I wasn’t called Boris, I was a number. And nobody gives a f*** who you are.”
Looking gaunt after losing weight and with a copper blond rinse in his hair, Becker added: “I went to bed hungry for the first time in my life.
“I was scared at the food distribution. What did the prisoner do in front of or behind me? For weeks I did not eat very much until I organised myself better.
“There was no alcohol, there was moonshine but it was much too strong and dangerous. I also didn’t smoke but in prison you smoke vapes. Prison certainly helped my health”.
Becker says tried to dress in black to “look cool and dangerous” to protect himself and appear inconspicuous.
“What you don’t want in prison is standing out,” he said.
However, prison authorities told him “nice try” and he was given standard-issue clothes until he received a packed bag from his girlfriend Lilian three weeks later.
Becker said he had used his 231 days behind bars in Britain to reflect on his life.
The apparently contrite Becker was in contrast to the puffy-faced and defiant figure who refused to recognise his guilt in a London court In April.
“I think I rediscovered the person I used to be.
“I’ve learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one.
“But the whole thing taught me something important and good. And some things happen for a good reason.”
Speaking of the morning he was deported, Becker revealed: “I sat on the edge of my bed from six in the morning and hoped that the cell door would open.
“They came at half past seven, unlocked themselves and asked: ‘Are you ready?’ I said, ‘Let’s go!’ I had already packed everything.”
Before he left Huntercombe he gave away his clothes to fellow lags including a pair of size ten Puma trainers, a grey bathrobe, sweatpants and slippers.
The controversial interview – which reportedly comes with a hefty £450,000 ($AUD789,600) fee – is Becker’s first attempt at salvaging a reputation left in tatters by his conviction.
Before being sent to prison he admits he would stand in front of a mirror telling himself he should start saying goodbye to friends and family.
He recalled talking to his girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro about a possible jail term: “She said, ‘Boris we are a team, you are my partner.
Becker – who has also signed a book deal – is reported to be channelling the cash from his TV interviews into a UK company called BFB Enterprises – short for Boris Franz Becker – set up girlfriend Lilian.
Becker’s still liked and respected by his tennis peers. John McEnroe said at Wimbledon this year: “Boris, we love you. We miss you, man.”
Only time will tell whether this soul-baring interview will convince lucrative advertising brands and the public of Becker’s remorse.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
