Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker says he regrets winning Wimbledon at the age of 17 because of the pressure it placed on him during and after his playing career.
The German was only 17 years, seven months and 15 days when he beat Kevin Curren in 1985, becoming the youngest Wimbledon men’s singles champion of all time.
Becker went on to win five more Grand Slam titles, including another two at Wimbledon, and became one of the greatest players of his generation.
However, Becker’s success was often overshadowed by a turbulent private life and repeated financial difficulties.
In 2023 he was released from prison in London after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
“If you remember any other wunderkind (wonderkid), they usually don’t make it to 50 because of the trials and tribulations that come after,” Becker told BBC Sport in an interview to mark the release of his new autobiography in which he wrote of his time in jail.
“Whatever you do, wherever you go, whoever you talk to, it becomes a world sensation.
“It becomes the headline of some of the most important papers of tomorrow. And you’re just trying to mature, just trying to find your feet in the world.
“When you start a second career everything is measured at this success of winning Wimbledon at 17. And that changed the road ahead tremendously.
“I’m happy to have won three, but maybe 17 was too young. I was still a child.”
‘I watched Djokovic win Wimbledon from jail’
Having retired in 1999 and then working as a TV pundit, Becker coached Novak Djokovic for three years between 2013 and 2016, helping the Serb win six of his 24 Grand Slam titles.
The 57-year-old, who has written a book about his time in prison, says he took comfort from Djokovic’s 2022 success at Wimbledon.
“I was supporting Djokovic at the time I saw him on the TV, when he was winning matches and ultimately winning the title against Nick Kyrgios,” he said.
“That was very inspirational for me and in the end very emotional for me. My brother Novak is there and I’m in one of the worst prisons in the world. So it puts life into perspective.”
Becker was deported from the UK following his release.
“I was too comfortable. I had too much money. Nobody told me ‘no’ – everything was possible. In hindsight, that’s the recipe for disaster,” he said.
“So you take accountability for your actions, which is very important because you cannot look back any more. You cannot change the past. You can only change the future because you live in today.”
