Bjorn Borg Was On Crack? Tennis Legend Opens Up On Addiction, Shame And More In New Memoir

Last Updated:September 18, 2025, 20:27 IST

Bjorn Borg reveals struggles with cocaine addiction and prostate cancer in Heartbeats A Memoir, detailing life after tennis, his collapse in 1996, and ongoing health battles.

Tennis legend Bjorn Borg (X)

Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg has laid bare some of the most difficult chapters of his life in a new autobiography, Heartbeats: A Memoir, published on Thursday.

In it, the 69-year-old icon reveals his battle with prostate cancer and a years-long struggle with cocaine addiction that left him feeling “terribly ashamed."

Battling Demons Beyond the Court

Borg, one of the sport’s greatest champions, admits that life after tennis was far from the glamour and control he once displayed on court.

He describes turning to drugs in the early 1980s, during the height of New York’s Studio 54 nightclub era.

“The first time I tried cocaine, I felt a rush as strong as what tennis had given me in the past," Borg wrote.

His lowest point came in the early 1990s while living in Milan with his then-wife, Italian singer Loredana Bertè.

“We had bad influences, and… drugs and pills within reach. There, I was plunged into the deepest darkness," he recalls.

In 1996, Borg collapsed on a bridge in the Netherlands just before an exhibition tournament. He woke up in hospital to see his father by his bedside.

“He said nothing, it was so embarrassing," Borg told Swedish broadcaster SVT’s Skavlan. “I was terribly ashamed."

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

The memoir also reveals that Borg was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2023. While treatment has been successful so far, he admits the uncertainty weighs heavily.

“The risk of it coming back still exists, and it’s something I will have to live with for a while, with the anxiety of not knowing… if the cancer was caught in time," Borg writes.

He now undergoes medical check-ups every six months. On Skavlan, Borg stressed that he remains active — exercising daily — though he confessed, “I haven’t played tennis in six years."

A Storied but Short Career

Borg, a legend of the sport in his own right, dominated tennis in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning five Wimbledon titles and six French Opens, before shocking the sport by retiring at just 26 in 1983.

His rivalry with John McEnroe is still remembered as one of tennis’s greatest.

(with AFP inputs)

Siddarth Sriram

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...Read More

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...

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News sports Bjorn Borg Was On Crack? Tennis Legend Opens Up On Addiction, Shame And More In New Memoir

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