He has already got used to the prison environment, has joined the team and has completed half a year of his sentence. Former German tennis player Boris Becker even has a job in the correctional facility where he was sent due to a conviction for obstructing insolvency proceedings.
The six-time Grand Slam champion is serving a sentence of two and a half years in the British prison Huntercombe. While at first he was embarrassed by his time behind bars and sulked about the lack of privacy and poor diet, he now seems to have got used to the conditions in the penitentiary.
“Our client Boris Becker is doing very well under the circumstances and has constructively engaged in prison life,” the British newspaper The Sun quoted the tennis player’s lawyer, Oliver Moser, as saying.
This was also helped by the fact that he was transferred from the original, infamous Wandsworth Prison to Huntercombe Prison after a month. It already falls into category C, i.e. among the facilities with the mildest surveillance, which allowed the German champion to quickly get involved in the work process.
He works as an assistant to the head of the prison fitness center and teaches a total of 45 fellow prisoners yoga and advises them on proper nutrition. He himself sets an example for his colleagues and practices a lot. He says he has already lost eight kilos and feels in good shape.
According to The Sun, several inmates initially complained that the Wimbledon king and TV commentator was enjoying substandard conditions, but now his popularity has grown.
“He is popular among the prisoners. He also has the opportunity to communicate with the outside world and call his loved ones,” added the lawyer.
The more active he is in prison, the more lenient the authorities will be in assessing the rest of his sentence. British media claim that Becker hopes to be released early by the end of November this year and will remain in Germany only on condition.
Becker rose to fame in 1985 when, at the age of 17, he became the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon. Later he also became world number one and won the Australian Open and US Open Grand Slam trophies.
