‘It’s about greed, arrogance and infidelity’: ITV series about Boris Becker to hit screens

A candid series about Boris Becker’s journey from world champion to prisoner will be streamed by ITV (PA Wire)

A documentary series about incarcerated tennis star Boris Becker will be aired on ITV’s new streamer ITVX.

The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker (the working title) will chart his journey from sporting fame to imprisonment. It promises to feature exclusive interviews with other tennis heroes and people close to the Wimbledon champion. There will also be old family footage.

According to ITVX, The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker “is a story of greed, egotism, arrogance and chronic sexual infidelity. Above all, it’s the story of the destructive power of fame…

Becker arrives alongside girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro at Southwark crown court earlier this year for his tax evasion case (PA Wire)

“The story will be set against the background of a golden era for tennis – a time of hedonism, big bucks and even bigger characters…

“Boris Becker’s story covers a truly astonishing path – coming from nowhere to reach the peak of Wimbledon at a breathtakingly young age, to finding himself in middle age in a place he must never have imagined he could end up: prison,” said ITV factual controller Jo Clinton-Davis.

Becker, who became a tennis star at age 17 and subsequently Wimbledon’s youngest ever champion, was sentenced to prison for two and a half years in April for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

The 54-year-old was declared bankrupt on June 21, 2017 – owing creditors almost £50m – over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

Becker was accused of trying to evade paying back his debts by transferring his money to various other accounts, including one belonging to his now estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker (pictured in 2016) (PA)

The sports star transferred almost £390,000 from his business account to other accounts, including his ex-wife Barbara’s and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker’s.

The disgraced star, who faces deportation from the UK as early as next year after being transferred to a prison used to lock up foreign criminals, was sentenced under the Insolvency Act and found guilty of four charges by a jury at Southwark crown court.

He was acquitted of a further 20 counts relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.

He also didn’t declare his share in a £1m property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hiding an almost £700,000 bank loan – worth £1.1m with interest – and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm, valued at £66,000.

Story continues

The three-time Wimbledon champion was jailed for two and a half years in April for hiding £2.5 million of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts (PA Wire)

This wasn’t the first time the father of four, who faced a maximum prison sentence of seven years, had landed in hot water over his financial impropriety.

In 2002 he was handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth £1.4m in Germany.

Referring to that conviction, the judge in his recent case said: “You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor.”

The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker will premiere on ITVX next year.