ATP Tour

Borg reveals cancer battle: 'I take day by day, year by year'

Bjorn Borg, the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, reveals in his upcoming book, Heartbeats: A Memoir, that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The Swede has reflected on the diagnosis ahead of the book’s release next week, telling the BBC that he has “always been checking” himself.

“[In] 2023, checked myself again, and the doctor said, ’It doesn't look too good. We have to make an operation’,” Borg told the BBC. “‘Okay. Is that necessary?’ I told them. ‘Yes’. It was difficult psychologically, for me. [Did] it spread all over? I don't know.”

The doctor told Borg that the situation was “really, really bad”. Last year, he underwent an operation and is in remission.

“[The doctor] said, ‘But you have these sleeping cancer cells in your body’. It's going to be a fight in the future, and I hope I'm going to be okay,” Borg said. “I might be okay, I might not be okay. So every six months, I go and test myself. And right now, I did my last test two weeks ago, so I'm okay. I take day by day, year by year, hopefully. It's a thing you have to live with.”

Borg has returned to the tennis spotlight in recent years, serving as Team Europe’s Laver Cup captain from 2017-2024. This year he attended Wimbledon, where he won five consecutive titles from 1976-1980.

In his BBC interview, Borg left the audience with a message regarding his diagnosis.

“So many people die every year, prostate cancer,” Borg said. “Test yourself if you can.”