"I thought I can try cocaine... Just to find happiness" - Bjorn Borg opens up about his descent into the world of alcohol, drugs & pills after tennis

Bjorn Borg shocked the tennis community when he announced his retirement at the age of just 25, when he was right on top of the world. That was in 1983, and now, 42 years later, the Swede has opened up about how his life spiraled in the aftermath of the decision, sending him into a descent filled with drugs, alcohol and pills.

Speaking in an interview with The Times ahead of the release of his new autobiography -- Heartbeats: A Memoir -- Borg pulled no punches, going into detail about the lowest point of his life.

Between the glorious years of 1974 and 1981, Borg won 11 Grand Slam titles -- more than any other man at that point in the Open Era history. His biggest rivals at the time were John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, and together the trio formed one of the biggest sporting legacies in the world.

However, Borg made the shocking announcement of his retirement in 1983, a decision that McEnroe could barely process at the time. After that, many rumors surfaced about the former World No. 1, including claims by his ex-wife.

Revealing more about his behavior in the aforementioned interview, Bjorn Borg admitted that he got a 'rush' from the drugs that he got only from tennis before, and that he went in just to find 'happiness.'

“I thought, I’m not playing tennis any more so I can try [cocaine]. That’s why I was thinking in that kind of way. I can try — what’s the problem?” The rush he got, he says, was like the rush he once got from tennis," Borg said.

“If I knew what the problem could become in the years to come. It would be better not to try it. Going into drugs or pills or alcohol — it’s terrible. But then in the end I took more drugs and pills and it’s just to find happiness. Where is happiness?” he added.

Borg was quick to add that all his decision to try alcohol and cocaine and other drugs was an escape from reality, an attempt to placate himself after the realization hit him that he was not really happy.

“Then I started with the drugs or pills or alcohol; all these things. I think that was an escape from life — the reality just to escape. I didn’t have to think about it. I knew that I was not happy," Bjorn Borg said.

Borg also admitted that it was a 'stupid' decision on his part in the add, stating that he only got worse and worse thanks to what he did to his body.

"I needed to do something but I had no idea what to do. It’s better to take all these things [drugs] because then you escape, you don’t think about it too much. And then they got worse and worse and worse. So stupid," he added.

Bjorn Borg remained a part of tennis through the Laver Cup until last year, when he served as the captain for Team Europe.

"I was lost in this world, I had no plan" - Bjorn Borg

The Championships - Wimbledon 2025. - Source: Getty

Bjorn Borg further admitted in the interview mentioned earlier that his whole escapade with drugs and alcohol came about with no plan in his mind, which made things even worse for the Swedish legend.

Borg admitted, painfully, that he was 'lost' in the world at that point in time, and his 'difficult' life only served to encourage his rash decision-making.

“The problem was that I didn’t realise this — I had no plan. It finally came to a point: OK, what am I supposed to do now? I had no idea. I was lost. I was lost in this world. I had no plan and that’s a difficult life," Bjorn Borg said.

Borg is now married to his wife Patricia for over two decades, and their son Leo is an active player trying to break through the ranks of the ATP world.