Bjorn Borg is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
He garnered millions of fans due to his exciting baseline play, cool and calm persona and stylish outfits as he glided around the court.
The Swede ended his career with 11 Grand Slam titles, five at Wimbledon and six at the French Open.
But opportunities to add to his tally of majors came to an end far earlier than anyone was anticipating, and it is still one of tennis’ most shocking moments.
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty ImagesDoes Bjorn Borg regret retiring at the age of 26?
Bjorn Borg set the tennis world alight in the 1970s into the early 1980s and his rivalry with John McEnroe took the sport to new heights.
Following their final match against one another at the 1981 US Open final, which McEnroe won, Borg disappeared from tennis.
He then played just two tournaments in 1982 before officially retiring from the sport in January 1983, despite the best efforts of McEnroe to persuade him to keep playing.
During an interview with Spanish outlet RTVE on Tuesday, over 40 years after his retirement, Borg has expressed whether he regrets choosing to walk away from the game at such a young age.
“I think with my tennis I did exactly what you were supposed to do. I was perfect doing the things I thought were important for a tennis player for me,” the former World number one said.
“I was motivated at practicing, eating, sleeping and playing. I wanted to be the best player in the world. Motivation? I wasn’t even 26 when I stepped away from tennis.
“But would I change anything? I would, a lot! I would change many things but what I did in tennis over those years I was very happy. I was very successful.
“I achieved my goals in the future and I won a lot of things. That was one part of my life and then came another life after tennis, maybe not that successful, but in tennis life, I was very successful.”
Photo by Shi Tang/Getty ImagesWho are the oldest players currently on the ATP Tour?
While Borg left tennis in his mid-twenties, there are several players currently on the ATP Tour who are playing into their late thirties.
The likes of Kei Nishikori, 35, and Roberto Bautista Agut, 38, are both still going strong and are comfortably ranked inside the top 70.
In the case of Stan Wawrinka, he is still playing at the age of 40, and the three-time Grand Slam winner won a match as recently as April 1, when he defeated Timofey Skatov at the Bucharest Open.
Grigor Dimitrov is still one of the world’s top players at the age of 33, and he recently reached the Miami Open semi-finals and quarter-finals in Monte Carlo.
At the age of 38, Gael Monfils, who is the oldest player in the ATP’s top 100, won the Auckland Open in January and he is still a threat to any player on the tour.
But arguably the most successful player in his late thirties is Novak Djokovic, who won the Olympic gold medal aged 37 at the 2024 Paris Games, and reached last season’s Wimbledon final.