"Privately much more unpleasant": Becker opens up on negatives of social media in relation to prison stint

Interest in Boris Becker is greater than it has been for a long time. Since his release from prison in December 2022, for example, two new documentaries about the life of the 55-year-old native of Leimen already exist on streaming platforms.

Also in the new OMR podcast with Philipp Westermeyer, Becker talks about the negatives of his fame, past mistakes, and that he earned far less as an active player than most think. Becker, who in his career won 49 tournaments in singles - including 6 Grand Slam tournaments, such as 3x Wimbledon - as well as 15 titles in doubles, is looking for the limelight again.

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Social media as a double-edged sword

In the podcast, Becker portrays social media as a double-edged sword: "Privately much more unpleasant, professionally much more interesting," he sums up, explaining "Privately it's a disadvantage because you can't go anywhere anymore." Since everyone has a cell phone these days, they take a photo right away and post it on Instagram, for example. Thus, he laments the "loss of privacy" as a public figure, one has practically "no rights anymore" and so he had to learn to protect himself. On the other hand, Becker also lives his brand, and the public is indispensable for this. This, in turn, is the great advantage of social media.

Was too gullible

Meanwhile, he has trust issues with new acquaintances, Becker reveals to Westermeyer in the podcast. "I have made one or two mistakes over the past 40 years" and have often been too trusting. He had "often had people in my circle who were close friends for 10 years and then sold the story in the 11th year. "That's why I don't trust anyone for now," he concludes of the episode.

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Actual income from tennis

Later in the podcast, Westermayer also addresses Becker's presumed income from sporting success and interjects a figure of "25 million US dollars", to which Becker directly interrupts him with "before tax and costs". Becker himself states shortly thereafter the 'value' of "well below 50 million" after appropriate deductions and concludes it succinctly with the fact that the information on the Internet is wrong.