Jailed Becker slims down, quits drinking and teaches meditation to fellow inmates

Boris Becker is reported to have lost weight and won friends in the UK prison where he is serving a sentence for tax evasion, according to a German newspaper.

- Kate Connolly

The former Wimbledon champion, 54, is an inmate at Huntercombe prison near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for tax evasion, which began on 29 April this year.

The tabloid Bild, quoting a source close to Becker, said he had been training regularly in the prison fitness studio and had given up alcohol, which is banned. The source said he had lost about 8kg 1 stone 3lb).

Becker is also working as an assistant alongside the prison coach for fitness and psychology, drawing on his experience as a former world number one tennis champion, Bild reported.

According to the source, Becker is teaching about 45 fellow inmates in fitness, nutrition and crisis management at the prison, which has a sports complex with a climbing wall, an astroturf pitch and a cardiovascular fitness room.

Becker is also said to be instructing other prisoners in a special type of yoga and meditation”, the source told the paper. As a sportsman, he knows only too well the highs and lows of victories and defeats. He is sharing his life experience with his fellow prisoners.”