Björn Borg


Björn Rune Borg[World number one male tennis player rankings|] is a former world No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles, although he was never able to win the US Open in four finals appearances. He is the first male player to win five Wimbledon titles in the Open Era. He won four consecutive French Open and is 6–0 in French Open finals.
He also won three year-end championships and 16 Grand Prix Super Series titles. Overall, he set numerous records that still stand. Borg was the first player to win six French Open singles titles. He is considered to have been the
No. 1 player in the world for 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
A teenage sensation at the start of his career, Borg's unprecedented stardom and consistent success helped propel the rising popularity of tennis during the 1970s. As a result, the professional tour became more lucrative, and in 1979 he was the first player to earn more than one million dollars in prize money in a single season. He also made millions in endorsements throughout his career. However, the constant attention and pressure eventually caused burnout and his retirement at the age of 26.

Early life

Björn Borg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 6 June 1956, as the only child of Rune and Margaretha Borg. He grew up in nearby Södertälje. As a child, Borg became fascinated with a golden tennis racket that his father won at a table-tennis tournament. His father gave him the racket, beginning his tennis career.
A player of great athleticism and endurance, he had a distinctive style and appearance—bowlegged and very fast. His muscularity allowed him to put heavy topspin on both his forehand and two-handed backhand. He followed Jimmy Connors in using the two-handed backhand. By the time he was 13 he was beating the best of Sweden's under-18 players, and Davis Cup captain Lennart Bergelin cautioned against anyone trying to change Borg's rough-looking, jerky strokes.

Career

1972/73 – Davis Cup debut and first year on the tour

At the age of 15 Borg represented Sweden in the 1972 Davis Cup and won his debut singles rubber in five sets against veteran Onny Parun of New Zealand. Later that year, he won the Wimbledon junior singles title, recovering from a 5–2 deficit in the final set to overcome Britain's Buster Mottram. Then in December he won the Orange Bowl Junior Championship for boys 18 and under after a straight-sets victory in the final over Vitas Gerulaitis. Borg joined the professional circuit in 1973, and reached his first singles final in April at the Monte Carlo Open which he lost to Ilie Năstase. He was unseeded at his first French Open and reached the fourth round where he lost in four sets to eight-seeded Adriano Panatta. Borg was seeded sixth at his first Wimbledon Championships, in large part due to a boycott by the ATP, and reached the quarterfinal where he was defeated in a five-set match by Roger Taylor. In the second half of 1973 he was runner-up in San Francisco, Stockholm and Buenos Aires and finished the year ranked No. 18.

1974 – First French Open title

Borg made his only appearance at the Australian Open, at the age of 17, and reached the third round where he lost in straight sets to eventual finalist Phil Dent. In January he won his first career singles title at the New Zealand Open, followed by titles in London and São Paulo in February and March respectively. Just before his 18th birthday in June 1974, Borg won his first top-level singles title at the Italian Open, defeating defending champion and top-seeded Ilie Năstase in the final and becoming its youngest winner. Two weeks later he won the singles title at the French Open, his first Grand Slam tournament title, defeating Manuel Orantes in the final in five sets. Barely 18, Borg was the youngest-ever male French Open champion up to that point.

1975 – Retained French Open title

In early 1975, Borg defeated Rod Laver, then 36 years old, in a semifinal of the World Championship Tennis finals in Dallas, Texas, in five sets. Borg subsequently lost to Arthur Ashe in the final.
Borg retained his French Open title in 1975, beating Guillermo Vilas in the final in straight sets. Borg then reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Ashe. Borg did not lose another match at Wimbledon until 1981. Borg won two singles and one doubles rubber in the 1975 Davis Cup final, as Sweden beat Czechoslovakia 3–2. With these singles wins, Borg had won 19 consecutive Davis Cup singles rubbers since 1973. That was already a record at the time. However, Borg never lost another Davis Cup singles rubber, and, by the end of his career, he had stretched that winning streak to 33.

1976 – First Wimbledon title

In early 1976, Borg won the World Championship Tennis year-end WCT Finals in Dallas, Texas, with a four-set victory over Guillermo Vilas in the final. At the 1976 French Open, Borg lost to the Italian Adriano Panatta, who remains the only player to defeat Borg at this tournament. Panatta did it twice: in the fourth round in 1973, and in the 1976 quarterfinals. Borg won Wimbledon in 1976 without losing a set, defeating the favored Ilie Năstase in the final. Borg became the youngest male Wimbledon champion of the modern era at 20 years and 1 month. It would be the last time Borg played Wimbledon as an underdog. Năstase later exclaimed, "We're playing tennis, he's playing something else." Borg also reached the final of the 1976 U.S. Open, which was then being played on clay courts. Borg lost in four sets to world no. 1 Jimmy Connors.

1977 – Second Wimbledon title and world No.1 ranking

In February 1977 World Championship Tennis sued Borg and his management company IMG claiming that Borg had committed a breach of contract by electing to participate in the competing 1977 Grand Prix circuit instead of the WCT circuit. Borg eventually played, and won, a single WCT event, the Monte Carlo WCT. An out-of-court settlement was reached whereby Borg committed to play six or eight WCT events in 1978 which were then part of the Grand Prix circuit.
Borg skipped the French Open in 1977 because he was under contract with WTT, but he repeated his Wimbledon triumph, although this time he was pushed much harder. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis in a semifinal in five sets. In the 1977 final Borg was pushed to five sets for the third time in the tournament, this time by Connors. The win propelled Borg to the No. 1 ranking in the ATP point system, albeit for just one week in August. Prior to the 1977 US Open, Borg aggravated a shoulder injury while waterskiing with Vitas Gerulaitis. This injury ultimately forced him to retire from the Open during a Round of 16 match vs Dick Stockton. The majority of tennis authorities considered Borg to be the No. 1 player in the world for 1977. Through 1977, he had never lost to a player younger than himself.

1978 – French and Wimbledon titles

Borg was at the height of his career from 1978 through 1980, completing the French Open-Wimbledon double all three years. In 1978, Borg won the French Open with a win over Vilas in the final. Borg did not drop a set during the tournament, a feat only he, Năstase, and Rafael Nadal have accomplished at the French Open during the open era. Borg defeated Connors in straight sets in the 1978 Wimbledon final. At the 1978 US Open, now held on hard courts in Flushing Meadow, New York, he lost the final in straight sets to Connors. Borg was suffering from a bad blister on his thumb that required pre-match injections. That autumn, Borg faced John McEnroe for the first time in a semifinal of the Stockholm Open, and lost. Borg was considered the No. 1 male tennis player in the world for 1978 by most tennis authorities.

1979 – French and Wimbledon titles and year-end No.1 ranking

Borg lost to McEnroe again in four sets in the final of the 1979 WCT Finals but was now overtaking Connors for the top ranking. Borg established himself firmly in the top spot with his fourth French Open singles title and fourth straight Wimbledon singles title, defeating Connors in a straight-set semifinal at the latter tournament. At the 1979 French Open, Borg defeated big-serving Victor Pecci in a four-set final, and in the 1979 Wimbledon final Borg came from behind to overcome an even bigger server, Roscoe Tanner. Borg was upset by Tanner at the US Open, in a four-set quarterfinal played under the lights. At the season-ending Masters tournament in January 1980, Borg survived a close semifinal against McEnroe. He then beat Gerulaitis in straight sets, winning his first Masters and first title in New York. Borg finished the year at No. 1 in the ATP Point rankings and was considered the No. 1 player in the world by most authorities.

1980 – French and Fifth consecutive Wimbledon title

In June 1980 he overcame Gerulaitis, again in straight sets, for his fifth French Open title. Again, he did not drop a set.
Borg won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final, by defeating McEnroe in a five-set match, often cited as the best Wimbledon final ever played – the only comparable match being the 2008 Federer – Nadal final. Having lost the opening set to an all-out McEnroe assault, Borg took the next two and had two championship points at 5–4 in the fourth. However, McEnroe averted disaster and went on to level the match in Wimbledon's most memorable 34-point tiebreaker, which he won 18–16. In the fourth-set tiebreak, McEnroe saved five match points, and Borg six set points, before McEnroe won the set. Björn served first to begin the 5th set and fell behind 15–40. Borg then won 19 straight points on serve in the deciding set and prevailed after 3 hours, 53 minutes. Borg himself commented years later that this was the first time that he was afraid that he would lose, as well as feeling that it was the beginning of the end of his dominance.
In September, 1980 Borg reached the final of the U.S. Open for the third time, losing to John McEnroe in five sets in a match that cemented what had become the greatest contemporary rivalry, albeit short-lived, in men's tennis.
He defeated McEnroe in the final of the 1980 Stockholm Open, and faced him one more time that year, in the round-robin portion of the year-end Masters, actually played in January 1981. With 19,103 fans in attendance, Borg won a deciding third-set tie-break for the second year in a row. Borg then defeated Ivan Lendl for his second Masters title. Borg again finished the year at No. 1 in the ATP Point Rankings and was considered the No. 1 player in the world by most tennis authorities.

1981 – Sixth and final French Open title

Borg won his last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1981, defeating Lendl in a five-set final. Borg's six French Open Grand Slam titles was a record bettered only by Rafael Nadal in 2012.
In reaching the Wimbledon final in 1981, Borg stretched his winning streak at the All England Club to a record 41 matches. In a semifinal, Borg was down to Connors by two sets to love, before coming back to win the match. However, Borg's streak was brought to an end by McEnroe, who defeated him in four sets. Years afterward, Borg remarked "And when I lost what shocked me was I wasn't even upset. That was not me: losing a Wimbledon final and not upset. I hate to lose." Borg around that time felt that his desire to play was gone, despite McEnroe's desperate efforts to persuade him not to retire and continue their rivalry.
Borg went on to lose to McEnroe at the 1981 US Open. After that defeat, Borg walked off the court and out of the stadium before the ceremonies and press conference had begun, and headed straight for the airport. There are reports that Borg received threats after his semifinal win over Connors. In later years, Borg apologized to McEnroe. The 1981 US Open would be the Swede's last Grand Slam final. Major tournaments and tour organizers were enforcing a new rule; by 1982, that players had to play at least 10 official tournaments per year. However, Borg wanted to curtail his schedule after many years of winning so often. Although he felt in good condition physically, he recognized that the relentless drive to win and defy tour organizers had begun to fade.
Borg failed to win the US Open in nine tries, losing four finals, 1976 and 1978 to Jimmy Connors, and 1980 and 1981 to John McEnroe. The surface was hard court from 1978 onward and Borg reached the final there on hard court on three occasions, in 1978, 1980 and 1981. He led 3–2 in the fifth set of the 1980 final, before losing. That match followed Borg's classic encounter with McEnroe at the 1980 Wimbledon. In 1978, 1979 and 1980, Borg was halfway to a Grand Slam after victories at the French and Wimbledon only to falter at Flushing Meadows, lefty Tanner his conqueror in 1979.

1982–1984 - Retirement

In 1982, Borg played only one tournament, losing to Yannick Noah in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo in April. Nevertheless, Borg's announcement in January 1983 that he was retiring from the game at the age of 26 was a shock to the tennis world. McEnroe tried unsuccessfully to persuade Borg to continue. He did, however, play Monte Carlo again in March 1983, reaching the second round, and Stuttgart in July 1984.

Retirement

Upon retirement, Borg had three residences: a penthouse in Monte Carlo, not far from his pro shop; a mansion on Long Island, New York and a small island off the Swedish coast.
Borg later bounced back as the owner of the Björn Borg fashion label. In Sweden, his label has become very successful, second only to Calvin Klein.

Failed comeback

In 1991–1993, Borg attempted a comeback on the men's professional tennis tour, coached by Welsh karate expert Ron Thatcher. Before his 1991 return, Borg grew his hair out as it had been during his previous professional tennis career and he returned to using a wooden racket; he had kept his hair cut and used modern graphite rackets in exhibitions he played during the late 1980s. Borg, however, failed to win a single match. He faced Jordi Arrese in his first match back, again at Monte Carlo but without practicing or playing any exhibition matches, and fell in two sets. In his first nine matches, played in 1991 and 1992, Borg failed to win a single set. He fared slightly better in 1993, taking a set off his opponent in each of the three matches he played. He came closest to getting a win in what turned out to be his final tour match, falling to Alexander Volkov.
In 1992 Borg, aged 35, using a graphite racket, defeated John Lloyd, 37, at the Inglewood Forum Tennis Challenge. Borg later joined the Champions tour, returning to shorter hair and using modern rackets.

Playing style

Borg had one of the most distinctive playing styles in the Open Era. He played from the baseline, with powerful ground-strokes. His highly unorthodox backhand involved taking his racket back with both hands but actually generating his power with his dominant right hand, letting go of the grip with his left hand around point of contact, and following through with his swing as a one-hander. He hit the ball hard and high from the back of the court and brought it down with considerable topspin, which made his ground strokes very consistent. There had been other players, particularly Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe, who played with topspin on both the forehand and backhand, yet Laver and Ashe used topspin only as a way to mix up their shots to pass their opponents at the net easily. Borg was one of the first top players to use heavy topspin on his shots consistently.
Complementing his consistent ground-strokes was his fitness. Both of these factors allowed Borg to be dominant at the French Open.
One of the factors that made Borg unique was his dominance on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where, since World War II, baseliners did not usually succeed. Some experts attributed his dominance on this surface to his consistency, an underrated serve, equally underrated volleys, and his adaptation to grass courts. Against the best players, he almost always served-and-volleyed on his first serves, while he naturally played from the baseline after his second serves.
Another trait usually associated with Borg was his grace under pressure. His calm court demeanor earned him the nickname of the "Ice Man" or "Ice-Borg."
Borg's physical conditioning was unrivalled by contemporaries. He could outlast most of his opponents under the most grueling conditions. Contrary to popular belief, however, this was not due to his exceptionally low resting heart rate, often reported to be near 35 beats per minute. In his introduction to Borg's autobiography My Life and Game, Eugene Scott relates that this rumor arose from a medical exam the 18-year-old Borg once took for military service, where his pulse was recorded as 38. Scott goes on to reveal Borg's true pulse rate as "about 50 when he wakes up and around 60 in the afternoon." Borg is credited with helping to develop the style of play that has come to dominate the game today.

Mental approach

Borg's first wife has said that he was "always very placid and calm, except if he lost a match – he wouldn’t talk for at least three days. He couldn't stand losing." This mental approach changed by 1981, when he has said that when he lost the Wimbledon final "what shocked me was I wasn't even upset."

Personal life

Borg and Romanian tennis pro Mariana Simionescu began their relationship in 1976 and married in Bucharest on 24 July 1980. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984. He fathered a child, Robin, in 1985, by the Swedish model :sv:Jannike Björling|Jannike Björling, and he was married to the Italian singer Loredana Bertè from 1989 to 1993. On 8 June 2002, Borg married his third wife, Patricia Östfeld. Together they have a son, Leo, born in 2003.
He narrowly avoided personal bankruptcy when business ventures failed.

Film

In 2017, Borg vs McEnroe, a biographical film focusing on the rivalry between Borg and McEnroe and the 1980 Wimbledon final, was released.

Memorabilia preserved

In March 2006, Bonhams Auction House in London announced that it would auction Borg's Wimbledon trophies and two of his winning rackets on 21 June 2006. Several players then called Borg in an attempt to make him reconsider, including Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi, who volunteered to buy them to keep them together. According to Dagens Nyheter – who had talked to Borg – McEnroe called Borg from New York and asked, "What's up? Have you gone mad?" and said "What the hell are you doing?" The conversation with McEnroe, paired with pleas from Connors and Agassi, eventually persuaded Borg to buy out the trophies from Bonhams for an undisclosed amount.

Distinctions and honors

With 11 Grand Slam titles, Borg ranks sixth in the list of male tennis players who have won the most Grand Slam singles titles behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras and Roy Emerson. The French Open—Wimbledon double he achieved three times consecutively was called by Wimbledon officials "the most difficult double in tennis" and "a feat considered impossible among today's players." Only Nadal and Federer have managed to achieve this double since, and Andre Agassi, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are the only male players since Borg to have won the French Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles over their career. Ilie Năstase once said about Borg, "We're playing tennis, and he's playing something else".
Borg is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, had already included Borg in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. And in 2003, Bud Collins chose Borg as one of his top-five male players of all time.
In 2008, ESPN.com asked tennis analysts, writers, and former players to build the perfect open era player. Borg was the only player mentioned in four categories: defense, footwork, intangibles, and mental toughness—with his mental game and footwork singled out as the best in open era history.
Borg famously never won the US Open, losing in the final four times. Borg also never won the Australian Open, although he only played in the event once, in 1974 as a 17-year-old. The only players to defeat Borg in a Grand Slam final were fellow World No. 1 tennis players John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Even though it was then played on grass, a surface where he enjoyed much success, Borg chose to play the Australian Open only once, in 1974, where he lost in the third round. Phil Dent, a contemporary of Borg, has pointed out that skipping Grand Slam tournaments—especially the Australian Open—was not unusual then, before counting Grand Slam titles became the norm. Additionally, another contemporary Arthur Ashe told Sports Illustrated, "I think Bjorn could have won the US Open. I think he could have won the Grand Slam, but by the time he left, the historical challenge didn't mean anything. He was bigger than the game. He was like Elvis or Liz Taylor or somebody."

Laver Cup

From 22–24 September 2017, Borg was the victorious captain of Team Europe in the first ever edition of the Laver Cup, held in Prague, Czech Republic. Borg's Team Europe defeated a rest of the world team, known as Team World, who were coached by Borg's old rival, John McEnroe. Europe won the contest 15 points to 9, with Roger Federer achieving a narrow vital victory over Nick Kyrgios in the last match played.
Borg returned as the coach of Team Europe for the second edition in Chicago, Illinois from September 21–23, 2018. McEnroe also returned as the coach for Team World. Borg again lead Europe to victory as Alexander Zverev defeated Kevin Anderson to secure the title 13–8, after trailing Anderson in the match tiebreak until the last few points.

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Open Era records

Time spanSelected Grand Slam tournament recordsPlayers matchedReferences
1976 Wimbledon —
1981 French Open		41% title winning percentageStands alone
1976 Wimbledon —
1981 French Open		89.81% career match winning percentageStands alone
1976 Wimbledon —
1980 French Open		3 titles won without losing a setRafael Nadal
1977–19815 consecutive years with a match winning percentage of 90%+ ^Stands alone
1976 Wimbledon —
1980 French Open		60.8% career games winning percentageStands alone
1978 French Open —
1978 US Open		66.5% games winning percentage in 1 seasonStands alone
1978 French Open —
1978 US Open		79.9% games winning in one tournamentStands alone
1976 Wimbledon —
1980 Wimbledon		6 existing Major champions defeated in finalsRoger Federer
1976 Wimbledon —
1980 Wimbledon		6 concurrent Major champions defeated in finalsStands alone
1973 Wimbledon —
1981 Wimbledon		90.9% career 5 set match recordStands alone
1980 WimbledonLongest tiebreak in a final vs. John McEnroeJohn McEnroe

Grand Slam tournamentsTime spanRecords at each Grand Slam tournamentPlayers matchedReferences
French Open1979–198141 consecutive sets won ^Stands alone
French Open197881.4% games winning percentage in 1 tournamentStands alone
French Open—Wimbledon1978–19803 consecutive "Channel Slams": Winning both tournaments in the same year ^Stands alone
Wimbledon1976–19805 consecutive titles ^Roger Federer
Wimbledon1976Won title without losing a setRoger Federer
Wimbledon1976–198141 consecutive match winsStands alone
Wimbledon1973–198192.72% match winning percentageStands alone

Time spanOther selected recordsPlayers matchedReferences
1973–198172.5% career winning percentage against top 10 playersStands alone
1977–19804 consecutive years with a match winning percentage of 90%+Stands alone
1979–198010 consecutive titlesStands alone
197850 consecutive matches won in 1 seasonStands alone
1978–19802 winning streaks of 35+ matches ^Roger Federer
Jimmy Connors
1974–198163 titles until the age of 25Stands alone
1975–197616 titles won as a teenagerRafael Nadal
1972–198181.8% career 5 set match recordJean Borotra
Johan Kriek

Professional awards