Borg Is Treated for Use of Pills : Former Tennis Star Did Not Attempt Suicide, Adviser Says

Former tennis star Bjorn Borg was treated in a hospital Tuesday after he took sleeping pills, but his adviser denied speculation in the Italian media that he had tried to commit suicide.

Borg, a Swede who has been living in Milan recently, left the hospital after having his stomach pumped. He told reporters with a smile: “I’m all right. It’s all over.”

In Stockholm, his personal adviser, Ingmar Alverdal, told Swedish radio that Borg was stricken with stomach pains after a meal in a Milan restaurant Monday night.

“Borg took a couple of sleeping pills but didn’t feel any better, so he decided to go to the hospital,” Alverdal said.

“Borg is such a big name that even a perfectly normal hospital visit would spark this kind of rumor.”

Accompanied by his Italian fiancee, singer Loredana Berte, Borg, a former No. 1 player who retired in 1983, returned by taxi to their Milan apartment, where he spoke briefly to reporters.

Police and hospital doctors said that Borg took an overdose of a sleeping pill, Reuter reported.

The sleeping pill, an Italian-made drug named Roipnol, is a hypnotic substance often used in the treatment of insomnia, according to the 1982 Martindale Pharmacopeia.

A spokeswoman for the hospital, asked about the cause of Borg’s illness, said: “We don’t know anything. We were told by Borg’s manager not to say anything. As a hospital, we have to respect that.”

Two friends of Berte and Borg, Mara Savastano and Alessandro Raci, separately denied that there was a suicide attempt.

Savastano said that Borg had food poisoning. Raci told reporters that Borg, 32, merely took a couple of sleeping pills after being unable to sleep.

Borg and Berte were said to be unhappy last month when the Roman Catholic Church turned down their request for a church wedding in Milan because Borg is divorced.

Borg was married for four years to Romanian tennis player Mariana Simonescu. Berte is getting divorced from an Italian businessman.

Eight hours before Borg was taken to the hospital, a New York television station showed an interview with Jannike Bjorling, his former girlfriend, in which she said she would sue for custody of their son, Robin, if Borg marries Berte.

In the interview taped last week, Bjorling said: “If they get married, they can have children by themselves. So why should I let them have Robin if I can have Robin?”

Borg and Bjorling, a former Swedish model, split last year. They had been together since 1985. Each parent has Robin, 3, for two-week periods.

Borg was ranked No. 1 in the world in tennis from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. He won Wimbledon five consecutive times from 1976-80, the French Open six times between 1974 and 1981, the Italian Open twice and the Masters at New York twice. He never won the U.S. or Australian opens. He is estimated to have earned $75 million from tennis.

Since retiring, Borg has developed a line of men’s clothing and promotes tourism in Sweden.