Former tennis champ Boris Becker on his fall from grace: ‘I hit rock bottom’

Having recently walked free after serving eight months behind bars for fraud, Boris Becker now faces the humiliation of being deported from Britain.

Meanwhile, a promo clip for a new Apple TV+ doccie has been released which shows the shamed 55-year-old tennis champion just before his incarceration, talking about his emotional turmoil.

“I’ve hit hit rock bottom, I don’t know what to make of it," he says tearfully. 

“I will face my sentence, I’m not going to hide or run away. I will accept whatever sentence I’m going to get." 

READ MORE | Boris Becker’s fall from grace: from tennis great to convicted fraudster who will spend more than two years in jail

He was convicted in April of hiding £2,5 million (about R52,6m) of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts and sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison.

However after serving just eight months, he was released from prison earlier this month and will now be deported to his native Germany.

Boris arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro earlier this year for sentencing. (PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images)

It’s believed the six-time Grand Slam champ was initially held at Wandsworth Prison in southwest London then transferred to the lower-security Huntercombe Prison near Oxford for foreign criminals awaiting deportation.

Boris, who was declared bankrupt in 2017 after owing creditors almost £50m, qualifies for deportation as he does not have British citizenship despite having lived in the country since 2012. 

According to reports, he will travel to Germany on a private plane paid for by a TV company that has offered him a six-figure sum for his story.

Boris won his first Wimbledon title at the tender age of 17 in 1985, and was the first unseeded player to do so. (PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images)

His mother, Elvira Becker, who lives in Germany, is delighted about her son's return.

"This is the sweetest Christmas present I could dream of," she told British tabloid The Sun.

READ MORE | Inside Boris Becker’s rough, over-crowded prison where violence and drugs rule

Director Alex Gibney and producer John Battsek, who are known for their Oscar-winning documentaries such as Searching for Sugar Man and Taxi to the Dark Side, are behind the Becker doccie, which features “deeply intimate interviews” with friends, family and tennis stars.

Novak Djokovic hugs Boris, then his coach, after beating Roger Federer during the men's singles final at Wimbledon in 2014. (PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The likes of American John McEnroe, Sweden's Mats Wilander and fellow German Michael Stich appear, as does current champion Novak Djokovic, who Boris coached from 2013 to 2016.

Apple TV+ has announced that the two-part show will explore the three-time Wimbledon champion and former world No 1's tennis career from the beginning as well as his "tumultuous" personal life.  

Sources: dailymail.co.uk, Twitter, economictimes.indiatimes.com