The Swedish Champion Takes Life ‘Day by Day’ After ‘Intense’ Prostate Cancer Discovery
The five-time Wimbledon winner, an iconic tennis champion, has revealed that he is taking life “day by day, year by year” following an “highly severe” cancer identification.
Remission and Recovery
The retired tennis star, who left professional tennis as a young champion, detailed the medical update in the last part of his memoir, scheduled for publication shortly. The athlete has entered remission after undergoing a procedure in the past, but admitted that the news was “hard to process mentally”.
“I spoke to the doctor and he said the situation is very serious,” he stated. “He said you have these sleeping cancer cells and it’s going to be a fight ahead. Regularly I go and test myself. Recently, I completed another screening. It’s a thing I have to live with.”
Life Challenges
In his autobiography he opens up regarding anxiety episodes and his drug use, beginning decades ago. “My initial experience with cocaine,” he mentions, “I experienced a high reminiscent of my time on the court.”
He narrates being rushed to a Dutch hospital during that decade due to substance misuse on “alcohol, drugs, pills — my method of dealing with stress”. He further shares “a moment of humiliation”, which he says came when he looked up from a hospital bed and noticed his dad after another overdose.
Retirement Reflections
Throughout the memoir he details leaving professional tennis as a young man post losses the 1981 Wimbledon and US Open finals to his rival John McEnroe. “All I could think was how miserable my life had become,” he writes.
