Bjorn Borg has opened up about why his early retirement from tennis was a “stupid decision” as he revealed what he regretted about stepping away from the game.
Tennis icon Borg is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time and was the leading male player of his era, winning a staggering 11 Grand Slam singles titles during his career.
The Swede famously won five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976-80, and was also the winner of six French Open titles — a tally that only Rafael Nadal can beat among men in the Open Era.
Borg was also a four-time US Open runner-up and spent 109 weeks atop the ATP Rankings, winning 66 ATP Tour titles in total.
However, after losing in the final of the US Open for the fourth time in 1981, Borg played just twice in 1982, and ultimately announced his retirement from the sport in January 1983.
The Swede was just 26 at the time, and had not properly competed on the tour since he was 25.
Speaking in a new interview with Marca, the 68-year-old revealed that despite losing his motivation, there was still some “regret” about the way he left the game.
He said: “I wasn’t even 26, but I’d lost my motivation.
“It’s not that I regret it because I needed to be mentally perfect to continue, and I wasn’t. What I regret is quitting tennis.
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“It was a stupid decision because I had so many friends. I often asked myself why I did it. I chose another life instead of keeping the one I had, and that’s what I regret.”
Borg’s interview came following the release of his new autobiography Heartbeats: A Memoir, which was released earlier this year.
The tennis icon revealed in the book that he had privately been battling prostate cancer, though had now recovered.
However, Borg also laid bare the extent of his battle with alcohol and drug addiction following his retirement, struggling throughout most of the 1980s.
After overcoming his addictions in the late eighties, the Swede made a brief return to action in the 1990s, when in his mid-thirties.
While this was largely unsuccessful in terms of results, Borg revealed to Marca that he “wouldn’t have survived” had he not made his brief return to tennis.
“The problem is that I put tennis aside,” added Borg.
“I had to rediscover myself after getting involved with drugs. And I can say that I had enough mental strength, the same strength I had as a player. Nobody helped me except my parents.
“I briefly returned to the courts in Monte Carlo, not because I wanted to come back, but because I wanted to live and have a life. If I hadn’t gone back to playing, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now because I wouldn’t have survived.
“I needed to have a plan again, a schedule to follow. I spent many years struggling alone, and it was very hard.”
The post Bjorn Borg reveals his big ‘regret’ about his early retirement from tennis appeared first on Tennis365.
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