The Big Lead

Tennis star who suddenly retired at 26 breaks silence on cancer, drugs, suicide rumor

The 11-time major title winner is telling all in a new autobiography.

By J.P. Hoornstra

Team Europe players Alexander Zverev (far left) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (middle) and Team Europe Captain Bjorn Borg (right) with the Laver Cup at TD Garden on Sept. 26, 2021.
Team Europe players Alexander Zverev (far left) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (middle) and Team Europe Captain Bjorn Borg (right) with the Laver Cup at TD Garden on Sept. 26, 2021. / Richard Cashin-Imagn Images
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When Björn Borg retired from tennis at age 26 in January 1982, he was on the top of his game. The Swedish star was barely two years removed from being the No. 1-ranked singles player in the world when he disappeared not merely from the top men's tennis circuit, but the broader public spotlight as well.

The next decade was a whirlwind. Borg divorced, remarried, and divorced again. He returned to play tennis, albeit briefly, from 1991-93. Ever the stoic, Borg shared little about his life away from the court, even after he competed on the Champions Tour and returned to sitting courtside at Wimbledon matches in 2000.

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A new tell-all autobiography lifts the lid on the hidden chapters of Borg's life.

In Heartbeats: A Memoir (the 69-year-old has a resting heart rate of 32-34 beats per minute; the title also refers to a time he nearly died after overdosing on cocaine), Borg writes: “I got the same kind of rush [from cocaine] I got from tennis. The feeling itself was new, and it made me feel incredibly energised. I was hooked immediately.”

In an interview with The Guardian, Borg dispelled the rumor that he attempted to take his own life. However, he revealed in the book that he nearly died as a result of an accidental overdose in February 1989.

The book ends on a bit of a downer. Borg, who had surgery to remove prostate cancer in 2014, writes that he was told there are “sleeping cancer cells” in his body.

Overall, the book is an illuminating look at a man who enjoyed inescapable celebrity in the 1970s before virtually vanishing from public life — a rare glimpse at one of tennis' forgotten figures to generations of younger fans.

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