Bjorn Borg sheds light on reasons behind shock retirement at 26

Bjorn Borg says he will soon be revealing all the details about his shock retirement but for now can only share that he lost the motivation to play and didn’t feel like his focus was where it needed to be.

After becoming a Grand Slam champion at the 1974 French Open shortly after turning 18, it didn’t take long before the Swede established himself as one of the best and dominant players in the game. But after getting to 11 Major wins between 1974 and 1981, the former world No. 1 appeared in just two tournaments during the 1982 season. At that point, it seemed that something was off.

But no one was prepared for what happened in 1983 January, when Borg shocked the entire tennis world by announcing that he was walking away from pro tennis at the age of 26. At the time, the former five-time Wimbledon champion was one of the top athletes in all sports and it was unprecedented at the time to see such a major sporting name end his career so early without a major reason.

Even John McEnroe, whose rivalry with the Swede is one of the best in tennis history, tried to talk with him and see if he could change his mind – but it didn’t work out.

“I was very happy as a player, but the motivation was not there. If you don’t have the motivation to practice and compete every day, you can’t focus on what you do and what you need to do. I was happy, but I had no motivation and no focus. When I came back briefly, that was a different story. I’m writing a book. I’m going to tell everyone all about it next year,” the former six-time French Open winner told The Athletic.

Later, Borg did play one tournament in 1983 and another in 1984 – but he wasn’t really back. In 1991, the former world No. 1 returned to tennis and played for three more years but he never again won a title.