BORIS HITS ROCK BOTTOM

The former tennis ace's fall from grace lands him in an overcrowded, dirty London prison - minutes away from Wimbledon

- NICI DE WET

HIS playground was once the famous grass courts of Wimbledon, his home's villas and mansions dotted around Europe, his rides fancy sports cars, and his meals the finest fare in top restaurants.

But just look at Boris Becker now. His home is one of London’s most notorious prisons, where boredom and violence reign supreme, meals are served on filthy trolleys and there’s no privacy at all – not even when you go to the loo.

Wandsworth Prison is less than 4km from Wimbledon, where Boom-Boom Boris once played to adoring crowds as he became the best player in the world.

The irony is unlikely to be lost on the 54-year-old German and will only serve to highlight how far he’s fallen since his heady heyday in the 1980s.

But prison isn’t the only thing Boris is facing: he could also be deported from the UK, where he’s been living since 2012. He never applied for citizenship and could be kicked out like any other foreign national who’s been given a prison sentence of more than 12 months.

Boris made headlines last month when a London court convicted him of four charges under the Insolvency Act, finding him guilty of hiding £2,5 million (about R50m) of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

He was then sentenced to two and a half years behind bars and a downcast and puffy-eyed Boris was led to a prison van for the 45-minute drive to the infamous prison in southwest London.

Wandsworth, a 171-year-old Victorian brick structure, rises gloomily from its concrete surroundings like something from a Charles Dickens novel – and the tales previous inmates tell make it sound like hell on Earth.