Legendary Men's Tennis Star Announces He Nearly Died From Drug Addiction
One of the best tennis players of all-time nearly died from a drug addiction in the 1990s.
Bjorn Borg, one of the greatest male tennis players of all-time, opened up about his scary health struggles. The 11-time Grand Slam champion, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for 109 weeks, won 66 singles titles during his career. He's considered one of the most dominant players of all-time.
The iconic Swedish tennis star, who announced his shocking retirement from the game in 1983, recently released his memoir, titled "Heartbeats: A Memoir." In the new book, Bjorg opens up about his drug addiction battles and near death.
Bjorg detailed his struggles after leaving the game of tennis in the early 1980s. He ultimately realized that it was a mistake.
“When I stopped playing tennis, I didn’t have a schedule,” Borg said in an interview with the Times, according to Tennis 365.
“I’d wake up in the morning and say to myself: I can do everything, anything. I’m so happy.
“But I left tennis. I left my tennis friends. That was a big mistake. I left the people in tennis that I was around and I liked all these people."
Borg struggled with drugs, alcohol
“The problem was that I didn’t realize this — I had no plan. It finally came to a point: OK, what am I supposed to do now? I had no idea," Borg added.
“I was lost. I was lost in this world. I had no plan and that’s a difficult life.
“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.
“I knew that I was not happy. I needed to do something but I had no idea what to do.
“It’s better to take all these things [drugs] because then you escape, you don’t think about it too much. And then they got worse and worse and worse. So stupid.”
Borg ultimately had an overdose on cocaine. He hit his low point when his father, Rune, visited him in the hospital. Borg admitted that he was "lost."
“I had no plan. People today, they have guidance. I was lost in the world,” Borg added in his book.
“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. I was close to dying many times. I fixed my life. I’m very happy with myself.
“The first time I tried cocaine, I got the same kind of rush I used to get from tennis."
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Sep 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Tennis section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
