Prison, Glory, and Regrets: Becker Reflects on the Impact of His Wimbledon Win at 17
Becoming a tennis star at an early age, Boris Becker explained how early fame deprived him of freedom and led him to rely on bad influences.
Winner of seven Grand Slams during his career, Becker has had a turbulent personal life, recently marked by a prison sentence for fraud.
Facing the press this Friday, the German champion presented his biography 'Inside,' while taking the time to discuss the consequences of his first Wimbledon title in 1985:
"My victory at Wimbledon is partly responsible for this. When you suddenly become famous at 17, you feel like you belong to someone else. The German press told me how I should live and what I should do.
If I hadn’t won Wimbledon at 17, the rest wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to hand over my affairs to older men, nor the habit of letting others manage my finances."
