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Boris Becker released from UK jail for deportation: media
LONDON - Former tennis superstar Boris Becker has been released from prison after serving a sentence relating to his 2017 bankruptcy, British media said.
The domestic Press Association news agency said the 55-year-old six-time Grand Slam champion will now be deported from the UK, following earlier reports in the press in Germany.
German national Becker was jailed for two and a half years in April for flouting insolvency rules by hiding £2.5-million of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
READ: Jailed tennis star Becker annoyed by 'fictitious' coverage: lawyer
He had been declared bankrupt in June 2017, owing creditors £50-million over an unpaid loan of more than £3-million on his estate on the Spanish island of Majorca.
A judge at Southwark Crown Court in south London told Becker, who has lived in the UK since 2012, that he would serve half of his sentence in prison.
But he was released on Thursday morning and was now due to be deported, PA said, without quoting sources.
Becker was initially reported to have been held at Wandsworth Prison in southwest London, near the All England Club at Wimbledon where he won three titles.
He was then transferred to the lower-security Huntercombe prison near Oxford, southern England, for foreign criminals awaiting deportation.
Becker qualified for removal as he is not a British citizen and received a custodial sentence of more than 12 months.
READ: Becker found guilty of four charges after bankruptcy trial
The Sun newspaper on Tuesday said Becker's mother Elvira told a friend that her son's release from prison was "the best Christmas present I could hope for".
"I cannot wait to hold my beloved son in my arms," she was quoted as saying.
Reports suggested he would be sent back to Germany and would stay with friends in Frankfurt.