Comment – Why Boris Becker’s fall from grace is one of the most tragic in tennis

Tennis takes those who reach the top of the game to breaking point, but few have fallen as far as Boris Becker.

In a sport built around one-on-one combat, so many who make the kind of breakthrough Becker manager when he won Wimbledon for the first time as a teenager in 1985 have struggled to deal with the scale of the fame that follows.

Back in his prime, Becker was more than a tennis star as his fame around the world took him to a level that he openly admitted was tough to deal with.

“I didn’t really understand what it all meant when I won Wimbledon back in 1985,” he told Tennis365 in an exclusive back in 2016.

“Sure, I knew I was good at this game but did I know I was ready to win Queens and Wimbledon? Of course not.

“When you win, everything changes. Everyone knows your name, you are on chat shows all over the world, you have your picture on the front of all the magazines and that is a new world. It is not easy to get used to.”

In so many ways, that instant success at the start of his career has led to his downfall now, after he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for hiding £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

The former world number one, 54, was declared bankrupt on June 21st 2017, owing creditors almost £50m, over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

It was a tale of financial trauma that pushed Becker to the brink, as he ultimately committed crimes that have led to his life being put on hold after he was told he would serve at least half of his jail term behind bars.

This is a sporting tragedy as well as a personal tragedy, with Becker’s presence in the tennis world still so prominent long after he hung up his rackets and struck his final shot on