{"id":152188,"date":"2025-09-18T07:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T07:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/152188\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T07:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T07:24:09","slug":"bjorn-borg-talks-cocaine-overdoses-cancer-and-why-he-quit-tennis-in-tell-all-memoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/152188\/","title":{"rendered":"Bj\u00f6rn Borg talks cocaine, overdoses, cancer and why he quit tennis in tell-all memoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

Bj\u00f6rn Borg’s memoir, ‘Heartbeats’, opens with his 1990s hospitalisation after overdosing on ‘alcohol, drugs, pills \u2014 my preferred ways of self-medication’, and concludes with a prostate cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s good,” Borg, 69, said in a recent video interview with The Associated Press from his home in Stockholm, “to have a good beginning and a good ending.”<\/p>\n

This 292-page book, set for US release on 23 September by Diversion Books, details his love life, adventures, regrets, and the 11-time Grand Slam champion’s match recollections.<\/p>\n

Famously private, Borg kept a lot to himself during his days on tour \u2014 as well as since he surprisingly retired in his 20s.<\/p>\n

\"Bj\u00f6rn<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Bj\u00f6rn Borg AP Interview Tennis (AP)<\/p>\n

He brings readers back to when, having lost the 1981 Wimbledon<\/a> and U.S. Open finals to rival John McEnroe<\/a>, Borg realized he was done. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll I could think was how miserable my life had become,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

He was 25 and, while he would briefly return to tennis, he never competed at another Grand Slam event.<\/p>\n

After the 1981 final at the U.S. Open, a tournament he never won, Borg grabbed some beers and sat in the pool at a house on Long Island<\/a>, where friends planned a party to celebrate a victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not upset or sad when I lost the final. And that\u2019s not me as a person. I hate to lose,\u201d he told the AP. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy head was spinning,” he said, “and I knew I\u2019m going to step away from tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bj\u00f6rn<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Bj\u00f6rn Borg AP Interview Tennis (AP)<\/p>\n

Borg writes about his childhood and his relationships with his parents (and, later, his children). <\/p>\n

He writes about earning the nickname \u201cIce-Borg\u201d for calmness on court \u2014 often contrasted by fans to the more fiery McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. And Borg writes that did not come about \u201corganically,\u201d but rather via \u201cthe bitter experiences\u201d of a 12-year-old kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI behaved so badly on the tennis court. I was swearing, cheating, behaving the worst you can imagine,\u201d he recalled in the video interview.<\/p>\n

He said his hometown tennis club banned him for six months and, when he returned, \u201cI did not open my mouth on the tennis court, because I was scared to get suspended again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoiling inside? Yes,\u201d Borg told the AP. \u201cI had to control my feelings. … You cannot do that in one week. It took years to figure out how I should behave on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Borg discusses cocaine and two overdoses that landed him in the hospital<\/p>\n

Borg writes about panic attacks and his drug use, which he says started in 1982.<\/p>\n

“The first time I tried cocaine,” he says in the book, \u201cI got the same kind of rush I used to get from tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

John McEnroe, right, shakes hands after defeating Bj\u00f6rn Borg, left, in the final at the National Tennis Center in New York, Sept. 13, 1981 (AP)<\/p>\n

He also writes about \u201cthe worst shame of all,\u201d which he says came when he looked up from a hospital bed in Holland<\/a> to see his father. Borg also clarifies that an earlier overdose, in 1989 in Italy, was accidental, not a suicide attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cStupid decision to be involved with this kind of thing. It really destroys you,\u201d he told the AP about drugs. \u201cI was happy to get away from tennis, to get away from that life. But I had no plan what to do. … I had no people behind me to guide me in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, Borg paints the picture of quite a life. <\/p>\n

There was a water-skiing shoulder injury before 1977 U.S. Open. Death threats during the 1981 U.S. Open. Getting paid in cash … and getting robbed at gunpoint. A woman claiming he was the father of her son. Coin-throwing by spectators in Rome that led him to never return. <\/p>\n

This is not the typical sports autobiography: There is a reference to getting a message to Yasser Arafat and, five pages later, the phrase \u201dAndy Warhol<\/a> was someone easy to like\u201d appears. There are name-drops of Donald Trump, Nelson Mandela<\/a>, Tina Turner and \u201cmy old friend Hugh Hefner<\/a>,\u201d among many, many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will be very surprised what really happened,\u201d Borg told the AP. \u201cFor me to come out (after) all these years, all I went through \u2014 I went through some difficult times \u2014 (it\u2019s) a relief for me to do this book. I feel so much better. … No secrets anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-152188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}