Boris Becker has taken "full accountability" for the actions which led to him going to prison.

The 57-year-old tennis legend - who was freed from jail and deported back to Germany from Britain in December 2022 under an early release scheme after serving only eight months of his two-and-a-half year sentence for breaching bankruptcy rules - thinks life behind bars was "good" for him in some ways in order to take the time to understand his misdeeds because he believes rehabilitation has to come from within.

He told The Guardian newspaper: "In hindsight, it was probably very good for me to stand still for a long time, and 231 days is quite a long time. To truly understand what happened to me before, to put the dance together of what happened, was a relief. But it doesn't happen overnight.

"You have to take real accountability and a cell life gives you that opportunity. I like to think I'm a pretty bright guy and eventually, you start thinking about the whys, ifs and whens of all that happened. Three years later, the reason I'm doing well is because I took full accountability for the good and bad I did.

"But whoever says a prison life is easy is lying. It's a real punishment...

"You have so many re-offenders, committing crime after crime after crime, so they're inside for the second, third or fourth stint. So you have to really take a good look at yourself, be disciplined in your thoughts and find a [positive] conclusion.

"Then rehabilitation is possible - but it all starts with you."

Boris' own rehabilitation was helped when warder Andy Small persuaded him to take a course in stoicism, and he was keen to share what he had learned with his fellow inmates.

He said: "It helped me and eventually, I became a stoic teacher myself where I could talk to inmates and try to rehabilitate some of them in the hope that, once they're out, they stay on the straight and narrow.

"Andy was a very tough guy who ran the gym but he showed me how I could tell young prisoners my life story, about having everything and losing everything, and not be too down about it.

'You have to take real accountability and a cell life gives you that opportunity. Eventually, you start thinking about the whys, ifs and whens of all that happened."That was huge for me. Andy put his faith into me and I think I delivered. It's the same now. I read lots of books and I recommend the philosophy of stoicism to people who have issues in the free world. It's more important than ever with the trying times we live in."