In 1983, at just 26 years old, Bjorn Borg stunned the tennis world by announcing his retirement. Despite still being one of the strongest players on the men’s circuit, the Swede walked away from the sport that had made him a global icon. His defeats to John McEnroe at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1981 had accelerated his decision, but few could have predicted the struggles that would follow.
Opening up after decades of silence
For more than 40 years, Borg remained largely silent about the reasons behind his early exit and the personal battles that came after. Now, with the release of his autobiography Heartbeats: A Memoir, he has chosen to reveal the darker side of his post-tennis life. “It’s been bothering me for many years,” Borg told the Guardian. “People know me as a tennis player, but not what I went through. The decisions I took in my life were stupid, so I wanted to tell that story.”
A life without direction
Borg admitted that leaving tennis left him adrift. Without the structure of training, competition, and the camaraderie of fellow players, he struggled to find purpose. “When I stopped playing tennis, I didn’t have a schedule,” he explained in an interview with the Times. “I was lost. I was lost in this world. I had no plan and that’s a difficult life.”
This lack of direction led him down a destructive path. Borg confessed that he turned to drugs, alcohol, and pills as a way to escape reality. “Then I started with the drugs or pills or alcohol; all these things. I think that was an escape from life — the reality just to escape. I didn’t have to think about it.”
The spiral into addiction
Among the substances Borg experimented with was cocaine, which he first tried in 1982. He recalled how the party culture of Manhattan drew him in at a vulnerable time. “I thought, I’m not playing tennis any more so I can try [cocaine]. That’s why I was thinking in that kind of way. I can try — what’s the problem.”
But the consequences were severe. “If I knew what the problem could become in the years to come, it would be better not to try it. Going into drugs or pills or alcohol — it’s terrible. But then in the end I took more drugs and pills and it’s just to find happiness. Where is happiness?”
Moving forward with honesty
Now 11-time Grand Slam champion Borg is reflecting on those lost years with a mix of regret and candor. By sharing his story, he hopes to shed light on the challenges athletes face when their careers end abruptly and the dangers of not having a plan for life beyond sport.
Borg will not be present at this year’s Laver Cup, having stepped down from his role as captain of Team Europe, with Yannick Noah taking over. Instead, his focus is on telling his story fully for the first time, confronting the mistakes of his past, and showing that even the greatest champions can struggle when the spotlight fades.