The champion tells the BBC as his life changed after the match with Curren. And how Novak “helped” him while he was in prison
Boris Becker confessed to the BBC Sport. The six -time Slam champion (2 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 1 US Open) stressed that he regretted having won Wimbledon at 17 years due to the pressure to which he was subjected. The German was only 17 years old, 7 months and 15 days when he managed to beat Kevin Curren in the final on the grass of 1985, becoming the youngest champion ever to win the male singular in Wimbledon. “That was the disaster recipe.”
too early talent
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However, Becker’s success was often obscured by a turbulent private life and repeated financial difficulties. In 2023 he was in fact released from the London prison after having served eight months of a sentence of two and a half years for tax evasion, for a total of 2.5 million pounds. “If you remember some other prodigy child, it usually does not arrive at 50 because of the processes that arrive later,” said Becker on the occasion of the release of his new autobiography in which he tells of the period spent in prison. “Whatever you do, wherever you go, with anyone who speaks, you become a world phenomenon. You become the title of some of the most important newspapers tomorrow. And in the meantime you try to mature, to find your place in the world. When you start a second career, everything is measured according to success, when Wimbledon to 17 years of age win. And this has radically changed the path that was waiting for me. a child. “
He looked at Djokovic in prison
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After retiring in 1999 and worked as a television commentator, Becker trained Novak Djokovic for three years, between 2013 and 2016, helping the Serbian to win six of his 24 Slam titles. The 57 -year -old claims to have found some comfort with Djokovic’s victory in Wimbledon in 2022: “I cheered for him when I saw him on TV. It was very stimulating and a moment full of emotion. My brother Novak is there and I am in one of the worst prisons of the world. This made me see life with different eyes”. Becker was expelled from the United Kingdom after being released.
The recipe for the disaster
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But the beginning of everything, of the difficult path that then took it in prison, according to “Bum Bum” began in that 1985: “At 17 years old I was suddenly too well as well. I had too much money. Nobody said ‘no’: everything was possible. In hindsight, this was the recipe for the disaster. So you make and take responsibility for your actions. It is very important because you can no longer look back. You can’t change the past. present”.
La Gazzetta dello Sport
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