Jurgen Klopp was blocked twice from visiting Wimbledon icon during prison stint for harsh reason

Former Liverpool head coach Jürgen Klopp had a request to visit a then-imprisoned tennis icon rejected for a harsh reason.

Klopp is best known for his successful spells managing Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and Premier League side Liverpool, with whom he won multiple honours – including the Premier League and Champions League – during a nine-year spell at Anfield.

While Klopp has been widely praised for his infectious personality and unique approach to management, many fans, former players and friends have also spoken highly of his commitment to the people closest to him.

This was apparent during former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker's prison sentence.

Despite winning six Grand Slam men's singles titles during an illustrious career – including becoming the youngest Wimbledon men's singles champion at just 17 in 1985 – the German lost control of his finances after retiring, resulting in him being handed a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for hiding £2.5 million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts following his bankruptcy in 2022. He was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.

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Becker served only eight months of the sentence, initially being held at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London, just a few miles from where he made history at the All England Club, before later being transferred to HMP Huntercombe.

In his 2025 autobiography, Inside, Becker described how very few friends on the outside contacted him during his prison sentence, although Klopp was not one of them.

Becker revealed that his compatriot twice tried to visit him but was ultimately blocked by authorities because the then-Liverpool boss was deemed likely to bring "too much publicity".

The tennis icon explained that Klopp messaged him but saw two visit requests denied a month apart.

Instead, the pair settled for a number of phone calls and have remained friends ever since.

Speaking to Sat.1 TV after his release in 2022, Becker explained: "We are good friends and I gave his name to the authorities, but then they came back and said that he couldn't come because he was too famous and they were concerned for his safety.

"I was allowed two visits a month and I had to give these names to the authorities so they could be checked out, but it is a very slow process.

"The first time Lilian [Becker's girlfriend] came, she said she was shocked at how I looked, although she only told me that later."

As well as being a tennis icon, Becker worked as a pundit on the BBC's coverage of Wimbledon prior to his conviction.

Jürgen Klopp opens up on attempted prison visit

Speaking to German outlet BILD in 2022, Klopp admitted that he did, in fact, attempt to visit Becker during his time in prison.

He said: "Johannes B. Kerner established contact with him in prison. We then spoke on the phone, and I told him, among other things, that he absolutely had to write a book. He replied, 'Yes, but I think... that no one will believe me about what it's really like here.' It was simply very important to me to support Boris and tell him that we wouldn't abandon him. Unfortunately, I couldn't visit him because, according to the authorities, I would have been a security risk. That's why it didn't work out. But that's not important anymore – the only important thing is that Boris is free again."

Explaining how the friendship came about, Klopp added: “Boris is the great idol of my childhood and youth. We first met seven years ago at Wimbledon. My wife Ulla organized it. She knew I really wanted to meet him. I followed his entire career and was a huge fan. We then spent a sensational evening together at Wimbledon – we clicked immediately and had a lot of fun. Due to our different schedules, we've stayed loosely in touch since then.”