In the middle of last week, former tennis player Boris Becker (55) was released from prison in England after more than seven months in prison. In an exclusive interview with TV station Sat.1, he answered questions from moderator Steven Gätjen (50) for around two hours. How was his life in prison? What did he learn during his stay in prison? And how does his future look now?
“Of course I was guilty,” Becker clarifies right at the beginning of the interview. Of more than 20 charges, he was “only” found guilty in four. But that was enough for the 30 months (two and a half years) in prison he was originally sentenced to. Becker doesn’t believe that he could have reduced his prison sentence with more insight, but he admits: “Maybe I didn’t show enough remorse.”
Before the sentence was announced, he told his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro: “You’re a young woman, you don’t have to wait for me.” When he remembers her reaction, Becker’s eyes welled up in tears for the first time in the interview. “Boris, we are a team,” she said. “Don’t talk shit here.”
He felt two major worries when the sentence was read out and he was then transported to prison: “One was a double cell […] and the second I was very afraid of taking a shower.” He had already imagined horror scenarios in his head from notorious shower scenes from prison films – but fortunately the reality was completely different: There were individual shower stalls, “no one saw themselves naked there.”
He was also spared the dreaded double cell. Becker received a solitary cell because he was classified as being at “high risk”. Cellmates could have used threats of violence to blackmail him into collecting money from famous friends, Becker explains. However, being in solitary confinement did not guarantee that he would feel safe in the two prisons he has been in since his sentencing.
“A prisoner wanted to kill me,” says Becker with a penetrating look. Becker wrestles with tears more than ever on this topic, asking Gätjen again and again for “two minutes” to collect himself. He does not give the exact reason for the threat, but it seemed to have been meant absolutely seriously – “he told me verbally what he was going to do with me.”
But the other inmates in his wing immediately took him under his protection and arranged a reconciliation the following day. “I came into the laundry and he threw himself on the floor, kissed my hand.” With a trembling voice, Becker describes his reaction: “I hugged him and told him that I had great respect for him.” He is eternally grateful to the fellow prisoners who have stood up for him in other situations and he “believes that I will remain in touch with some of the prisoners forever.”
One of the biggest surprises in prison was a former companion and long-time competitor: “Michael Stich wrote me a three-page letter and found great words.” Becker wrestles with tears again when he talks about it. A good friend who is very famous in England wanted to visit him, but was not allowed to: Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp (55). That would have been too dangerous for everyone involved and would have caused too much uproar in prison – that’s how Becker was explained the ban on visiting.
At the beginning of the interview, Becker mentioned a very pragmatic advantage of detention. For him, there was no alcohol or cigarettes in prison – “I’m sure my health was good from being in prison.” Due to the meager diet, he also lost a few kilos and became “more humble”.
The most important lesson he learned in prison was his family. “I think our love for each other, our understanding of family […] has become closer.” This was mainly the case with his daughter Anna Ermakova (22): “I’ve never spoken to my daughter as often and regularly as I did in prison,” says Becker, almost in disbelief. “It really took a prison for us to get as close as we’ve ever been in freedom.” Like his twelve-year-old son Amadeus, she also wanted to visit him, but he didn’t want to, for the protection of both children and with a heavy heart.
Despite the worries described, the adverse circumstances and threats behind bars, Boris Becker’s conclusion is positive in view of this family development: “I think this prison stay brought me back […] prison was good for me.” He will go through life differently in the future and since his imprisonment he now knows exactly which people really stand by him.
For the new life that was given to him again at an advanced age, he has already made big plans: “I’m 55, I want to have 25 good years ahead of me – hopefully with my great love Lilian.” Becker does not want to reveal in front of the television cameras whether she will one day become his wife. But he is certain that their future together will probably not lie in Germany. At the end of the interview, he describes the end of his life as follows: “Surrounded by my children, I hope there will be a few more. I am a family man and my children are the love of my life.”
