‘I’ve hit rock bottom, but I will face my sentence’: Tearful Boris Becker talks about turmoil he felt before being jailed 2½ years for bankruptcy fraud in clip for new documentary… as shamed Wimbledon star will be released after just EIGHT MONTHS
- Boris Becker, 55, is starring in a two-part Apple TV+ show about his life
- The tennis star hid £2.5million-worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts
- He was convicted in April but is expected to be released imminently
Boris Becker has opened up about the emotional turmoil he felt prior to being sentenced over bankruptcy offences in a clip for a new documentary.
The 55-year-old tennis star, who won Wimbledon at the age of 17 along with six grand slams, said that he had hit his ‘bottom’ while awaiting to be sentenced earlier this year.
He was convicted in April of hiding £2.5 million-worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts, but is expected to be released imminently after nearly eight months in prison.
The clip of Becker being interviewed before the sentencing was released by filmmakers of an untitled upcoming documentary.
Looking tearful, he said: ‘I’ve hit my (rock) bottom, I don’t know what to make of it.
‘I (will) face (my sentence), I’m not going to hide or run away. (I will) accept whatever sentence I’m going to get.
‘It’s Wednesday afternoon and (on) Friday I know the rest of my life.’
Director Alex Gibney and producer John Battsek, known for the Oscar-winning documentaries such as Searching For Sugar Man, have been documenting the tennis star’s life for three years in a series of ‘deeply intimate interviews’
Becker, who has lived in London since 2012, is expected to serve half of his 30-month sentence behind bars and then reportedly be deported to Germany.
The Daily Mail quoted a UK Government source in May saying Becker met the criteria to be considered for deportation and his case would be considered in the usual way.
Becker would qualify for automatic deportation because he is a foreign national who is not thought to have British citizenship and has received a prison sentence of more than 12 months.
However, Becker could appeal against this decision.
The upcoming Apple TV+ two-part show will explore Boris Becker’s life and tennis career
The tennis star was convicted in April of hiding £2.5 million-worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts
Apple TV+ said the two-part show explores the three-time Wimbledon champion and former world number one’s tennis career from the beginning as well as his ‘tumultuous’ personal life.
Among others interviewed for the show are his immediate family and tennis rivals like American John McEnroe, Swedish Mats Wilander and fellow German Michael Stich.
Novak Djokovic, who Becker coached from 2013 to 2016 when the former tennis world number one won six grand slams, also appears.
Along with Bjorn Borg, former number tennis one who had been the youngest male Wimbledon champion at 20 years before Becker broke his record.
Becker won Wimbledon at the age of 17 along with six grand slams during his tennis career
Looking tearful, he said: ‘I’ve hit my (rock) bottom, I don’t know what to make of it. ‘I (will) face (my sentence), I’m not going to hide or run away. (I will) accept whatever sentence I’m going to get’
Becker was declared bankrupt on June 21 2017, owing creditors almost £50 million, over an unpaid loan of more than £3 million on his estate in Majorca, Spain.
The former BBC commentator transferred almost 427,000 euros (around £390,000) from his business account to others, including to Sharlely ‘Lilly’ Becker and to his other ex-wife Barbara Feltus.
Becker, who was handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth 1.7 million euro (around £1.4 million) in Germany in 2002, was found guilty earlier this year of four offences under the Insolvency Act between June 21 and October 3 2017.
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