Tennis icon Bjorn Borg has given a stark and shocking account of the drug addiction that consumed him in the decades following his premature retirement from the sport.
The Descent from Champion to Addiction
The Swedish superstar, who sensationally quit tennis at just 26, has described in a new interview how he first tried cocaine in the summer of 1982. Borg, then in New York to sell his Long Island house, was at a party in Manhattan when he was offered the drug.
"I thought, 'I'm not playing tennis any more, so I can try (cocaine),'" Borg told The Times. "It would be better not to try it. Going into drugs or pills or alcohol - it's terrible." He chillingly compared the intense rush from the drug to the euphoria he felt at the peak of his legendary career, where he won 11 Grand Slam titles.
Overdoses and Near-Death Experiences
What began as an experiment spiralled into a dangerous dependency. In his memoir, Heartbeats, Borg recounts two horrifying near-fatal overdoses from mixing drugs and alcohol.
The first occurred in Milan in 1989, seven years after his first cocaine use. His then-wife, Loredana, found him and rushed him to hospital to have his stomach pumped. The incident made global headlines, with speculation he had attempted suicide, a claim Borg covered up by blaming a bad reaction to sleeping pills.
An even more terrifying episode happened on a bridge in the Netherlands. Borg describes collapsing, going into cardiac arrest, and needing resuscitation. "Everything goes black, and the unimaginable happens. I'm dying," he writes. "My heart no longer goes boom boom boom, because now it's standing still." This happened after a night of heavy partying during an exhibition tournament.
Finding Redemption and a Lifeline
Borg reflects that the "worst shame" was waking in a hospital bed to see his father by his side. His life of hedonistic partying, which filled the void left by tennis, had brought him to the brink of destruction.
Ultimately, the 69-year-old credits his third wife, Patricia Östfeld—who co-wrote his memoir and has been his partner for 25 years—with helping him conquer his addictions to drugs and alcohol. His candid revelations offer a sobering look at the profound struggles faced by sporting legends after the final point is played.
