Tennis Champion Boris Becker Went to Prison in 2022 — Here's What Happened
Boris said he was asset-rich but cash-poor.
Published April 23 2026, 1:30 p.m. ET
At 17, Boris Becker became the youngest tennis player to win the Wimbledon Championships. He went on to win two more Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens, and a gold medal in doubles at the Olympics, per the BBC. After he retired in 1999, the athlete commented at Wimbledon for the BBC and even coached Novak Djokovic for three years.
However, the public's view of Boris shifted when he was embroiled in a cheating scandal in 1999 and was later sent to prison in 2022 for declaring bankruptcy and hiding assets in 2017. Here's what we know about his conviction.
Why did Boris Becker go to prison?
Boris declared bankruptcy in 2017 because of an unpaid loan of more than £3 million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain. He was jailed for hiding more than £2.5 million to avoid paying his debts, according to the BBC. Boris was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.
During Boris's sentencing, the judge said that Boris didn't show that he'd grown since a previous conviction for tax evasion in 2002. The judge said that he didn't show remorse or "acceptance of guilt."
He was found guilty of removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate, and concealing debt. He was acquitted on 20 more charges, including nine counts of failing to give up tennis trophies and medals.
Prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley said, "Even now, Mr. Becker is still seeking to blame others when it was obviously his duty," per the BBC. The jury found that Boris acted "deliberately and dishonestly."
He received a 2.5-year prison sentence, but only served eight months, per The Guardian.
Boris Becker said that his prison experience was "brutal."
"Whoever says that prison life isn’t hard and isn’t difficult, I think is lying," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, per The Guardian. He continued, "It was a very brutal … a very, very different experience to what you see in the movies, what you’ve heard from stories."
He said that being famous didn't help him get special treatment. "You fight every day for survival. Quickly, you have to surround yourself with the tough boys, as I would call it, because you need protection," Boris said.
He said that his time behind bars "humbled" him, and said that he is a survivor and "tough cookie." "I’ve taken the incarceration, but I’ve also taken the glory and if anything this made me a stronger, better man," he said.
Boris defended his reasoning for his financial situation.
In a 2025 interview with High Profile, Boris explained his financial situation at the time of his conviction. He said that he was cash-poor but asset-rich. He wanted time to sell his properties in order to pay back his £3 million loan. Instead, he said that he had to give up his properties worth 50 million pounds because he couldn't pay his £3 million debt.