The Delphi Filmpalast is a grand cinema located not far from Berlin’s fashionable shopping boulevard, the Kurfürstendamm.
Boris Becker arrived clad in a light linen suit and black shirt, accompanied by his pregnant wife Lilian, son Noah, and sister Sabine and her daughters. As he enters the cinema, Becker is mobbed by fans and photographers, and it takes a while for him to get to the stage.
During the presentation his tone wavers between that of an untouchable sporting god (“I have no limits”) and a poor wretch cramped in a prison alongside hardened criminals (“we are all equal”).
But one central message stands out; Becker doesn’t see himself as an intentional perpetrator, but above all as a victim – of a harsh British justice system, of a conspiracy he doesn’t explain in detail, and of his sporting success.
A frightening, alien world
The book’s title, “Inside,” is something of a double entendre. The German tennis legend provides insight into the harsh daily life of a British prison, while also revealing his innermost feelings during this difficult phase of his life.
Becker takes the reader into what, for him, was a previously unknown world of life behind bars. He has no way of protecting himself and his lack of experience in such an environment leaves him with no idea about how best to conduct himself.
That first Wimbledon title
Becker repeatedly references tennis. The distant screaming of prisoners is an “endless rally between opponents who cannot see each other yet still want to destroy each other.” The tennis court, he writes, is the same everywhere and offers “certainty in the form of straight lines and white-painted right angles.” In prison, however, such certainties do not exist.
Becker traces everything that went right and later went wrong in his life back to July 7, 1985. On that day,as a 17-year-old, he won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon – and his life changed overnight. According to Becker, that early success is part of the reason he wound up in prison.
“My 1985 Wimbledon victory is partly to blame for this,” he tells fans and journalists at the book launch.
Boris Becker blames in part his first Wimbledon title for all that went wrong in his lifeImage: Steve Powell/Getty Images
“When you’re suddenly so famous at 17, it feels like you suddenly belong to someone else. The German press told me how I should live and what I should do,” he writes in the book.
He also puts his later financial problems down to his early fame.
“If I hadn’t won Wimbledon at 17, none of this would have happened. Then I wouldn’t have had this trust in older men to handle my business, nor the habit of letting others manage my finances.”
‘Andre gets more love than I do’
With tennis as the central theme of his life, Becker describes in “Inside” how he spent his months in prison. Surrounded by convicted drug dealers and murderers, Becker says he forged temporary alliances and even made friends. He also explains while being behind bars he encountered the philosophy of stoicism.
He also shares the thoughts that went through his mind during the lonely hours of his imprisonment. These initially concern his rivalry with Andre Agassi, who challenged Becker’s status as the crowd favorite at Wimbledon in the early 1990s.
“I need the crowd. I need their support. But when I play against Andre, he gets more of their love than I do,” Becker laments.
Boris Becker spent the first few weeks of his incarceration in HM Prison Wandsworth in LondonImage: Anthony Devlin/PA/picture alliance
Later, he recalls how he met his partner Lilian and how the two became a couple. He also describes his long-standing business relationship with Hans-Dieter Cleven, who at one point demanded the repayment of loans totaling €36.5 million ($42.8 million) from Becker and in 2017, initiated insolvency proceedings against him in a London court. The proceedings ultimately led to Becker’s prison sentence.
Experienced ghostwriter
Some of Becker’s anecdotes from prison are new; others he already told on German television in December 2022, shortly after his early release. At that time, Becker’s voice repeatedly failed him.
In the book, many things sound more serene and detached. This is certainly due to the time gap of three years, but possibly also to the work of British sports journalist Tom Fordyce, a ghostwriter who had previously co-authored successful sports biographies.
Personal responsibility, but no moral guilt
Becker doesn’t admit to any moral guilt for his misconduct – neither in the book nor on stage in Berlin. He claims that he failed to declare assets to his insolvency administrator for two weeks and used money from the insolvency estate for maintenance, rent, and the costs of a knee operation.
“This can happen to anyone in my position,” says Becker.
Boris Becker was released in 2022 after serving eight months of a 30-month sentenceImage: James Manning/PA Wire/dpa/picture alliance
Becker’s son Noah uses his brief time on the microphone to sum up his father’s naive hubris.
“He’s simply a champion. For champions, there are no defeats. You couldn’t talk to him sensibly about it.”
Lasting change for the better?
When reading the book, those who saw 17-year-old Boris Becker win at Wimbledon on July 7, 1985, and who followed his tennis career and later life, will find themselves reminded of their own memories of that time. While reading, you can almost hear Becker recounting it in his inimitable voice.
The book also marks the conclusion of a troubling phase of the tennis legend’s life. He is now married to Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro. The couple live in Milan and are expecting a child in December. Following the conclusion of his insolvency proceedings in April 2024, Becker is considered debt-free. Whether he can permanently turn his life around – particularly when it comes to managing his finances – remains to be seen.
Felix Schwadorf in Berlin contributed to this article, which was originally published in German.
Edited by: Jonathan Harding
