Boris Becker eager to end Wimbledon commentary exile with talks underway

Boris Becker has been denied the chance to visit the All England Club at Wimbledon since his release from a British jail, but he has confirmed talks are underway to end that exile.

The three-time Wimbledon men’s singles champion was deported from the UK in December 2022 after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case.

Becker cannot return to the UK until October 2024 at the earliest following his deportation, but the 56-year-old German plans to return to the tournament he says is “in my DNA” as soon as possible.

“Wimbledon has been my favourite tournament as a player, coach and commentator,” Becker said at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid.

“It’s unique, you can’t compare it.

“I lived in Wimbledon a long time so I’m working hard with the authorities to have all the applications ready to be back for next year. We’re working on 2025.

“It’s a part of my life. It’s in my DNA, you can’t deny that.”

Asked if he would be back in the Wimbledon commentary box, Becker replied: “I hope so.”

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Becker has been a regular contributor to the Eurosport commentary team since early 2023 and he has conducted several media interviews where he spoke about his time in prison.

Shortly after his release he signed a £435,000 tell-all deal with German TV and gave a detailed discussion about his time behind bars, saying “You’re nobody in prison. You’re just a number. Mine was A2923EV.

“I wasn’t called Boris. I was a number. And they don’t give a f*** who you are.

“You’re famous, everyone knows who you are,” the six-time Grand Slam winner said as he opened up about his time in jail. “It can play against you. Thankfully they liked my personality.

“The only thing you have is your character and your personality. That’s your currency. If they think you have money, you have a problem anyway, so that wasn’t a problem with me!

“They liked tennis, they liked what I did. Tennis fans. My sporting history has helped me survive prison.”

He went on to suggest he is looking forward to making a return to London, a city that was his home for many years before his time in prison: “I miss London, it is my favourite city in the world.”

It is unclear whether Becker would be welcomed back into his former role as part of the BBC commentary team or whether his work at Wimbledon would be with Eurosport.

Becker has not been involved in tennis since stepping down as Holger Rune’s head coach at the start of February.

The pair spent less than four months together, but in that time the 20-year-old qualified for the ATP Finals in Italy.

“I would like to inform you that I will step down as the head coach of Holger Rune with immediate effect,” Becker said, as he confirmed the split.

“We started this partnership with the initial goal to reach the ATP Finals end of last year but moving forward I realised that in order for this to be successful, I would need to be available for Holger much more than I can.

“Due to professional and private responsibilities, I can’t give Holger what he needs now. I wish him only the very best and I’m always going to be his No 1 fan. I truly appreciated this journey together.”