Jimmy Connors Expresses Concerns About Former Rival Bjorn Borg After Cancer Battle Revelation

Bjorn Borg retired at the age of 26 after lifting 11 Grand Slam titles, but a decade later, he announced his comeback.

Jimmy Connors Expresses Concerns About Former Rival Bjorn Borg After Cancer Battle Revelation

Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors (Image via X/AllAboutHQ, Sports Infos)

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At present, Bjorn Borg “feels good“, but he is unsure what would happen in the future. A couple of years ago, he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which was “really, really bad” according to Borg’s surgeon.

The 69-year-old, during an interview with The Guardian, talked about his memoir Heartbeats: A Memoir by Bjorn Borg, and why he chose to finally open up, after remaining mum for a very, very long time. At the end of his memoir, Borg made that cancer revelation. His former rival, Jimmy Connors, against whom he played 23 matches and led 15-8 in the head-to-head matchups, expressed his concerns during his Advantage Connors podcast.

I speak with him once a month, every four or five weeks, and I haven’t talked to him since I found out. But I talk to him and Patricia [his wife], so I owe him a call to wish him the best because there are many things that can be done about it now, and I hope he caught it in time and feels well. Live life, no matter what happens.

Borg still has sleeping cancer cells in his body, and in the future, they can give him problems. This is why he has to go for check-ups every six months.

He never stays still. I talk to him; he’s in Stockholm. The next time I talk to him, he’s in Ibiza. The next time I talk to him, he’s in India. He’s everywhere. He doesn’t stop. But he’s my friend, I don’t want him to go through everything he’s experiencing now.

Jimmy Connors added

Borg and Connors last clashed in the 1981 US Open semifinal. The former won it by beating the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion in straight sets.

Bjorn Borg on why he retired from tennis at the age of 25

After moving past Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg faced his arch-rival, John McEnroe, in the championship clash of the 1981 US Open. But unfortunately for the tennis world, it was the last match of the Fire and Ice rivalry they witnessed. Shortly afterward, he announced his retirement. He was not even 26 at that time.

Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg (Image via X/Laver Cup)

In hotels, when I checked in, there were at least 100 people in reception wanting autographs. If I went to a restaurant, there would be 15 photographers outside waiting and following me. In the end, when I was playing, I just stayed in my room. I ate in my room. I didn’t go out. This is why I stepped away from tennis. I thought: ‘Is this going to be my life in the future?’ That was the reason I said, ‘Enough is enough.’

Born Borg said during his interview with The Guardian

Tennis gave him the most satisfaction. So post-retirement, he was lacking something that he was getting while holding the racket and competing. He became a party addict, and the following year after his retirement, he consumed cocaine, and in 1989, an accidental overdose almost killed him.

But still, he continued to take drugs, pills, and alcohol, though the realization soon hit him that the life he created after tennis would devour him eventually. After rehab and almost a decade after his retirement announcement, Borg declared that he would be playing the 1991 Monte Carlo event. Although he lost that match, it made him “so satisfied and happy“.

He was only losing matches then onward, but that did not dampen his spirits at all. Borg, in fact, was content with just playing, as his main focus was only “to stay alive“. In 1999, he finally got clean and never returned to that life again. Borg also led Team Europe in the Laver Cup, co-founded by Roger Federer, against Team World led by McEnroe from 2017 to 2024.

Also read: Roger Federer Names Two Players He Hated Training Against During his Tennis Career