Tennis star Boris Becker’s journey from world champion to ending up in jail is to be told in a documentary series for ITV’s new streamer ITVX.
The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker [working title] will feature exclusive interviews with some of those who knew the Wimbledon champion best and other tennis greats, as well as showing old family archive.
Becker, who broke through as a 17-year-old and subsequently became Wimbledon’s youngest ever tennis champion, was jailed for two-and-a-half years earlier this year for concealing £2.5M ($2.8M) of assets to avoid paying money he owed after becoming bankrupt. When his sentence ends, he will likely be deported.
“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.
Scottish indie Finestripe Productions is producing, Abacus Media Rights is distributing and show will premiere on ITVX next year, a few months before being given a linear slot as per the ITVX model. It joins a wealth of big-budget ITVX shows including Jason Isaacs-starring Cary Grant biopic Archie.