Sports icon Bjorn Borg has revealed he approaches life "one step at a time, one season at a time" following an "highly dangerous" health condition discovery.
Borg, now 69 made the announcement in the closing section of his autobiography, stating the illness was "at its most advanced stage" but he would "battle daily like it's a championship match".
The former top-ranked player secured eleven Grand Slam titles, among them five straight Wimbledon victories, before suddenly stepping away at age 25.
Borg has entered remission following an operation in 2024, but characterized the diagnosis as "difficult psychologically".
"I spoke to the physician and he said this is extremely serious," shared Borg.
"He explained you have these sleeping cancer cells and it's going to be a fight in the years to come."
"Twice a year I undergo check-ups. I completed my most recent screening a fortnight back. It's a thing I have to accept."
1980 Wimbledon final called "greatest contest I experienced"
Borg first picked up a racquet when his father received it in a ping pong competition.
It was too heavy for the youthful player, prompting him to create his unique two-handed backhand.
Borg won 6 French Open titles from 1974 and 1981 and secured his five Wimbledon wins from 1976 to 1980.
The Wimbledon showdown in 1980 against American rival John McEnroe – where McEnroe saved seven match points in a near four-hour epic – is regarded as among the finest tennis matches of all time.
"That final was the most satisfying game I ever played. It had everything," Borg stated.
The competition between them was nicknamed Fire and Ice, with McEnroe prone to fiery emotional explosions and cool Borg barely showing a flicker of emotion while playing.
McEnroe would finally break Borg's Wimbledon dominance in the 1981 final and defeat him in the American Open showpiece two months later. Borg left the sport shortly after the New York defeat.
"We respected each other greatly, the three of us," Borg said of his rivalries with McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.
"We were fighting to be the best in the world. To do that, you can't be best friends."
However, today, he added: "We are close companions, John and I. We see each other, we dine together, we talk about today's tennis."
"We never talk about the past games."
"I was lost in the world"
The Swede achieved sixty-six singles titles, held 109 weeks as the top-ranked player and claimed a unprecedented 41 successive wins at the Championships.
Leaving the sport at 25 – a time when athletes are starting to peak – was a shock.
"I had enough. I lost motivation and the motivation," he explained.
"If I knew what was going to happen in the following years, I would have kept playing tennis."
In his autobiography, titled Heartbeats, co-written with his wife Patricia, the notoriously private Borg discusses his life after tennis struggles.
"I lacked direction. People today, they have support. I was adrift," he stated.
"Substance use increased, there was pills, alcohol, to distance myself from reality."
"I didn't have to think about it. Of course it's not good, it destroys you as a person."
He was hospitalized after an overdose in Milan in 1989 – an incident which made him reassess retirement.
He came back to the professional circuit from 1991 to 1993 but did not secure a single victory.
"I was close to dying many times," Borg added.
"I turned things around. I'm content with myself."
