Boris Becker has been released from jail and will now be deported

Boris Becker is released after serving just eight months of two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for bankruptcy fraud and will now be deported from the UK – as delighted mother says ‘I cannot wait to hold my beloved son in my arms’

• Tennis star was convicted in April of hiding £2.5million-worth of assets and loans
• The 55-year-old German was expected to serve half of his sentence behind bars
• Becker was released on Thursday morning and is due on a flight to be deported
• The six-time champion qualified for deportation because he is a foreign national

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been freed from jail today after serving just eight months of his two-and-a-half-year sentence and will now be deported from the UK. 

The 55-year-old tennis star, who won the All England Club tournament at the age of just 17, was convicted in April of hiding £2.5million-worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

He is thought to be returning to his hometown of Leimen, where his 87-year-old mother Elvira lives, for an emotional reunion with his loved ones. 

Boris’ mother reportedly told a friend: ‘This is the best Christmas present I could hope for – I cannot wait to hold my beloved son in my arms.’ 

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker was freed from jail today and will be deported from the UK

Becker, 55, was believed to have been accompanied by Home Office officials as he was driven from HMP Huntercombe in Oxfordshire (pictured)

A close friend of Becker’s family also said: ‘Elvira is simply overjoyed he is coming home.

‘For her, having Boris out of prison and back home is the best thing imaginable – and for it to happen in time for Christmas will be great for her. 

‘She was worried about when she might see him again, so this is all a huge deal for her – especially given her age.’

The former world number one and BBC commentator was declared bankrupt on June 21, 2017, owing creditors almost £50million over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Majorca.

The German, who has lived in the UK since 2012, was expected to serve half of his sentence behind bars but was released on Thursday morning and is due on a flight to be deported from the UK.

He is thought to have been transferred to a lower security jail, Category C Huntercombe Prison near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, for foreign criminals awaiting deportation in May.

He was previously being held at Category B Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, according to reports.

The six-time Grand Slam champion qualified for automatic deportation because he is a foreign national who does not have British citizenship and received a custodial sentence of more than 12 months. 

The tennis star was convicted in April of hiding £2.5million-worth of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts

He walked free under a fast-track scheme that sends criminals back to their own country before their release date to ease pressure on Britain’s overcrowded prisons. 

As he tasted freedom, the German tennis ace slipped comfortably back into a lifestyle he is more used to with Becker allegedly heading home in a luxury paid-for private jet.

Sources in Germany have revealed he has been signed up by a Munich-based TV station for an interview about his dramatic fall from grace.

Boris is still one of Germany’s most famous sportsmen and his first interview is much prized.

The source added: ‘There will be a great amount of interest in his release and the private jet ensures that he is not seen by other media.

‘The TV company will be paying for the jet and is part of their agreement for the interview.’

Friends are said to have rallied around the star to offer support and help get his life back on track after his public humiliation and prison ordeal.

It is understood the BBC pundit will not be eligible to apply to return to the UK as a visitor until his full sentence has expired.

It comes as he opened up about the emotional turmoil he felt prior to being sentenced over bankruptcy offences in a clip for a new documentary.

The upcoming Apple TV+ two-part show will explore Boris Becker’s life and tennis career

He said that he had hit his ‘bottom’ while awaiting to be sentenced earlier this year.

The clip of Becker being interviewed before the sentencing was released by filmmakers of an untitled upcoming documentary.

Looking tearful, he said: ‘I’ve hit my (rock) bottom, I don’t know what to make of it. 

‘I (will) face (my sentence), I’m not going to hide or run away. (I will) accept whatever sentence I’m going to get. 

‘It’s Wednesday afternoon and (on) Friday I know the rest of my life.’

Director Alex Gibney and producer John Battsek, known for the Oscar-winning documentaries such as Searching For Sugar Man, have been documenting the tennis star’s life for three years in a series of ‘deeply intimate interviews’.

Apple TV+ said the two-part show explores Becker’s tennis career from the beginning as well as his ‘tumultuous’ personal life.  

Among others interviewed for the show are his immediate family and tennis rivals like American John McEnroe, Swedish Mats Wilander and fellow German Michael Stich. 

Novak Djokovic, who Becker coached from 2013 to 2016 when he won six grand slams, also appears. 

Along with Bjorn Borg, former number tennis one who had been the youngest male Wimbledon champion at 20 years before Becker broke his record.

Becker won Wimbledon at the age of 17 along with six grand slams during his tennis career

Looking tearful, he said: ‘I’ve hit my (rock) bottom, I don’t know what to make of it. ‘I (will) face (my sentence), I’m not going to hide or run away. (I will) accept whatever sentence I’m going to get’

Becker was declared bankrupt on June 21, 2017, owing creditors almost £50million, over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Majorca, Spain. 

The former BBC commentator transferred almost 427,000 euros (around £390,000) from his business account to others, including to Sharlely ‘Lilly’ Becker and to his other ex-wife Barbara Feltus. 

Becker, who was handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth €1.7million (around £1.4 million) in Germany in 2002, was found guilty earlier this year of four offences under the Insolvency Act between June 21 and October 3, 2017. 

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