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. 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.
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…
“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.