Björn Borg Discusses Life After Tennis and New Autobiography

Published:

Björn Borg Discusses Life After Tennis and New Autobiography
Photo: Joanna Chan

Book-actual Björn Borg has put tennis on the shelf, he says in the talk show Skavlan & Sweden. Instead, he walks in his living room and cycles to keep in shape. I only have one body, says Borg.

Björn Borg's autobiography "Hjärtslag" is released on Thursday. In it, he tells about life after tennis, cancer, and his previous drug problems. In Fredrik Skavlan's talk show on SVT, he says that he has not played tennis for six years. One hour of play would affect him for several weeks.

It's not worth it, I only have one body.

He explains that instead, he walks around the living room for several hours a day and keeps a close eye on his weight. Every morning, he weighs himself and panics when he weighs more than usual. If he has eaten more than usual, he says he tries to compensate with walks or cycling.

Fell apart

In the autobiography, he opens up about his drug abuse, which he is now free from, but thinks it sounds "too terrible" to describe himself as a junkie.

It was a problem, of course, but I had to solve the problem and I did, he says in Skavlan & Sverige.

About the years in Milan, he says that he does not understand today why he spent so much time there and that he did not have any friends of his own then. He also tells about an existence marked by drugs. Several times, he ended up in the hospital.

If I had continued as I did in the last years in Milan, then maybe we wouldn't be sitting here today.

In the 1990s, he fell apart in front of his father Rune Borg on his way to a competition and was so bad that he could have died. It became a kind of turning point.

Just that dad was standing in front of me, it was so embarrassing. What can you say? Dad said nothing, he says in the program.

Twin

During the interview, Björn Borg describes himself as two people and explains that he was born in the sign of the twins. Further, he says that he has followed the zodiac signs since the 80s.

If you say when you were born, which zodiac sign, then I know quite a lot about you, he says to Fredrik Skavlan.

Sophie Gräsberg/TT

Fact: Björn Borg

TT

Born: June 6, 1956, in Stockholm.

Tennis career: 1973–1983.

Titles: 64.

Grand Slam titles: 11. French Open 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981. Wimbledon 1976–80.

World number one: A total of 109 weeks.

Other (selection): Recipient of the Bragdmedaljen 1974 and 1978, named the best Swedish athlete of the entire 20th century at the Idrottsgalan 2000. The feature film Borg from 2017 is about his tennis career and rivalry with John McEnroe. Borg is played by Sverrir Gudnason.

Current: Releases his autobiography "Hjärtslag" today.

Loading related articles...

Tags

Author

TTT
By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

More news

Loading related posts...