Björn Borg's most important match, against cancer: "I've been close to dying several times"

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While Björn Borg was captaining the European team in Vancouver during the Laver Cup 2023, a team of doctors was gathering at the other end of the world to review some tests with uncertain results. Unaware of this episode, the tennis world was celebrating a new public appearance of the Ice Man: in perfect physical condition, no one could have imagined that those days would turn into the greatest nightmare of the Swedish legend.

Borg's next meeting with his doctor was decisive. A crucial moment where he would experience emotions that, perhaps, he had never felt on a tennis court. "I have always been tested for prostate cancer. In 2023, I had another check-up and the doctor told me things didn't look too good. Surgery was necessary. I asked if it was needed, and they said yes". The news hit a man accustomed to playing under pressure like a bucket of cold water. Björn had cancer... and apparently, quite aggressive. There was no choice but to operate, with the goal of mitigating the impact and allowing the Swede to maintain a certain quality of life.

"It was psychologically difficult for me. Has it spread elsewhere, is it in other places? Because I didn't know. I spoke with the doctor, and he said the situation was pretty bad, but they had done what they had to do. He told me that I had those cancerous cells sleeping in my body. I was going to fight every day as if it were the Wimbledon final", he now reveals in a conversation with the BBC shortly after launching his autobiography, the book in which he opens up to the world and reveals this latest episode of his life. Currently, the Swede's cancer is in remission: he underwent surgery in 2024 and now focuses on raising awareness among citizens, especially those over 50, about the importance of regular check-ups with a doctor regarding our bodies.

"The thing is, you don't feel anything: you feel good, and suddenly it happens. I hope everything keeps going well in the future, but maybe it won't, or maybe it will, I don't know. I get tested every six months, my last test was two weeks ago, so I'm fine now. I take life day by day, month by month, that's how I have to live. Many people die each year from prostate cancer: get tested and checked whenever you can, if you can do it, do it". 

UNIQUE REVELATIONS ABOUT A PART OF HIS UNKNOWN LIFE

The shocking revelation about the cancer diagnosis is not the only passage in the narrative where the Swede decides to openly discuss aspects that were completely unknown. Many stages of Borg's life are remarkably attention-grabbing: his story is that of a child prodigy who, after making history and breaking all imaginable records of precocity, flew too close to the sun and decided, tired of the pace of life and the amount of attention focused on his figure, to retire at just 25 years old. What happened next? No one but Björn himself to remember and, in the process, make a powerful confession.

"I had had enough. I lost motivation and interest. If I had known what would happen in the following years, I would have kept playing tennis. I had no plan at all. Nowadays, players have all kinds of tools and guides at their disposal. I was lost in the world. Drugs, pills, alcohol appeared: everything was to escape from reality. I wasn't thinking about anything. It's clear that it's not positive, all that destroys you as a person. I have been close to death several times, but I fixed my life and now I am very happy with myself". A story that sends shivers down the spine, which can be read in greater depth in his autobiography, Heartbeats, co-written with his wife Patricia.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El partido más importante de Björn Borg, contra el cáncer: "He estado cerca de morir varias veces"