The 69-year-old gives details of his cancer diagnosis in his autobiography ‘Heartbeats’, published today. He vowed to “fight every day like it’s a Wimbledon final”
Tennis legend Bjorn Borg has spoken for the first time of his “extremely aggressive” prostate cancer.
The 69-year-old announced the news in the final chapter of his autobiography ‘Heartbeats’, published today. He told how the disease was “at its most advanced stage” but he would “fight every day like it’s a Wimbledon final”.
Former world number one Bjorg won 11 Grand Slam titles, including five successive Wimbledons, before unexpectedly retiring aged 26. He was dubbed the ‘George Best of Tennis’ as he was besieged by female fans at his peak.
Yet he spent so much of his time alone in hotel rooms and restaurants as he avoided the adulation and attention. And he admits that he turned to cocaine to replace the ‘buzz’ of competition when he retired from the game in 1981, at the age of 26.
The Swede is in remission, having had an operation in 2024, but described the cancer diagnosis as “difficult psychologically”.
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“I spoke to the doctor and he said this is really, really bad,” Borg said to promote his autobiography. “He said you have these sleeping cancer cells and it’s going to be a fight in the future. 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.”
Borg had been checking himself for prostate cancer “for many years” before his doctors found a problem in 2023. They wanted to do follow-up tests. He tells how he flew to Vancouver to serve as captain in the Laver Cup tennis tournament before returning for more tests.
“The thing is that you don’t feel anything – you feel good, and then it’s just happened,” he told the BBC. “I hope that I’m going to be OK. I take it day by day, year by year, hopefully.”
Borg won his six French Open titles between 1974 and 1981. He claimed his five Wimbledon titles from 1976 to 1980.
The epic 1980 Wimbledon final against John McEnroe is widely regarded as one of the best tennis matches of all time. Borg described it as the most satisfying match of his career as it ‘had everything’.
Once fierce rivals, he and BBC commentator McEnroe are now very good friends and have regular get togethers at tournaments around the world. But he joked: “We never talk about the old matches.”
