Bjorn Borg has recalled his post-tennis career struggles and reflected on his ‘extremely aggressive’ cancer diagnosis.
The Swede is an 11-time Grand Slam champion and former world no. 1 who is widely considered as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
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Borg won six French Open and five Wimbledon titlesCredit: Getty
Borg made the shock decision to retire in 1983 at the age of 26, just two years after delivering more French Open success.
He made a brief return from 1991 to 1993, but has now revealed his reasoning for initially calling it quits despite being at his peak.
Speaking via the BBC, he admitted: “I had enough. I lost the interest and the motivation.
“If I knew what was going to happen in the years after, I would continue to play tennis.”
In his new autobiography Heartbeats: A Memoir, Borg opened up on the difficulties he faced off the court after his retirement.
“I had no plan. People today, they have guidance. I was lost in the world,” he revealed. “There was more drugs, there was pills, alcohol, to escape myself from reality.
“I didn’t have to think about it. Of course it’s not good, it destroys you as a person.”
Borg did not win a single match on his tour return, and suffered a heart attack in front of his father Rune midway through the 1990s.
“I wake up and I see my father in front of me,” he said via The Athletic. “I was very close to dying. I feel so ashamed. So embarrassed. Those kinds of things, I don’t know why I do it.
“I’m just happy that I could think in a good way to change my life and enjoy my life again. That was very important.
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Borg has recalled his off-court struggles and cancer diagnosisCredit: Getty
“To be involved with drugs or pills or too much alcohol, that destroys, that’s the worst thing you can do.
“And that’s what I realised in the end. I had to change my life. I could not continue doing this. That’s why I came back to tennis.
“But if I regret something, it’s just to try to be involved with these things I regret that so much because that’s so bad and that destroys you as a human being.”
Borg has revealed that he has ‘extremely aggressive’ prostate cancer and is currently in remission following an operation last year.
“I spoke to the doctor and he said this is really, really bad,” he said on BBC Breakfast.
“He said you have these sleeping cancer cells [and] it’s going to be a fight in the future.
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Borg was a consistent throughout the 1970’sCredit: Getty
“Every six months I go and test myself. I did my last test two weeks ago. It’s a thing I have to live with.”
How Borg became an all-time tennis great
An appearance at the 1972 Davis Cup with Sweden aged just 15 would signal the start of a hugely successful career on the court.
Borg won his first French Open title two years later to become the then youngest champion at Roland Garros at 18-years-old.
He defended his crown a year later and later won the 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 editions.
Wimbledon was also a favourite of his as he sensationally won five titles in a row from 1976 to 1980.
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Borg and McEnroe were long-term rivals on the tourCredit: Getty
Elsewhere, Charlton Athletic fan Borg reached four US Open finals and made just one appearance at the Australian Open in 1974.
American legend John McEnroe shared an iconic rivalry with him, with the pair being named ‘Fire and Ice’ respectively.
They won seven matches each against each other on the tour which included four Grand Slam final clashes.