Björn Borg's Autobiography Heartbeat Reveals Why He Retired at 26

Björn Borg is releasing an autobiography this fall. There, one of Sweden's greatest athletes of all time tells about the reasons why he chose to quit tennis already at the age of 26. The autobiography is titled Heartbeat and is written together with his wife Patricia Borg.

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Björn Borg's Autobiography Heartbeat Reveals Why He Retired at 26
Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

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Borg won five consecutive Wimbledon titles and a multitude of other tournaments during the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s.

He was, together with alpine star Ingemar Stenmark, the greatest Swedish athlete of his time on the international scene.

At just 26 years old, Borg chose to retire, despite still being one of the world's best tennis players.

Reveals the reasons

The questions were many, but only now does Borg, who turns 69 on June 6, choose to reveal the reasons behind his decision to quit so early.

In his autobiography, which Björn Borg has written together with his wife Patricia, the reader gets to follow from his early childhood, through the people and events that shaped Björn up to his sensational successes on the tennis court, writes Norstedts publishing house in a press release.

The story also depicts the years after tennis, where Borg created headlines in various ways.

"It feels like a big and important task to finally get to publish Björn's story. This is a book that many have been waiting for a long time and I can't think of a better person to write his history than Patricia", says publisher Gunilla Bergmark at Norstedts.

Released in several languages

"Patricia Borg has managed Björn's own story well and brought out unknown parts of his life, and managed to get him to open up. We have had a very rewarding and enjoyable collaboration and for me personally, it has been an honorable task to get to work with Björn's book."

The book is released on September 18 by Norstedts publishing house.

Heartbeat will be published simultaneously in English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and Finnish.

It will also be released as an audiobook.

Facts: Björn Borg

TT

Born: June 6, 1956, in Stockholm.

Tennis career: 1973–1983.

Titles: 64.

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

World number one: A total of 109 weeks.

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

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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