If there was no Bjorn Borg would there have been a Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal?
The tennis Gods back in the 1970s decided to play around a bit and design what they thought was the blueprint of the perfect tennis player. They came up with Bjorn Borg. As a result of his playing style, personality and feats, he transformed tennis and made it hugely popular worldwide.
Borg’s battles with John McEnroe were legendary, with a 7-7 score-line between them after fourteen matches evidence of that fact. As Tennis.com reported, “The Wimbledon Final of 1980 serves as a poignant reminder of a golden era now long past, when tennis reached a peak of popularity and cultural influence that it would never reach again”.
John McEnroe of the United States raises his racquet in celebration after defeating Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon on the 4th July 1981( Photo by Rob Taggart/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images )
That final was the measure by which all future tennis duels would be compared. The match is acknowledged as being one of the greatest ever played, with neither player giving an inch and battling it out like two heavyweight boxing champions. The players brought to tennis what Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier brought to boxing, the absolute adulation of fans.
The match emphasized Borg’s intense focus on playing each point on its own merits and not worrying about the state of the contest. This was probably the key to his overall success compared to other players; not becoming emotional about how a previous point was played. When Borg walked out onto court with the score at two sets apiece against McEnroe, he was not focused on what had gone before, but on how he was going to hit the next ball.
There was no histrionics, no face pulling, screaming or abuse from Borg when in a losing position, he remained the calmest person in the stadium. He would have made a brilliant poker player.
Bjorn Rune Borg was born in 1956 in Stockholm Sweden and was an only child to Rune, an electrician and Margaretha. His father famously gifted him a gold tennis racket for winning a table tennis tournament and that sparked his career.
By the age of thirteen he was beating the best of Sweden’s under-18 players and at fifteen he represented Sweden in the 1972 Davis Cup, beating Onny Parun of New Zealand. He ended up achieving a winning streak of 33 matches in Davis Cup play.
Bjorn Borg of Sweden prepares to serve against John McEnroe during their Men’s Singles Final match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship on 5th July 1980 (Photo by Steve Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
He was surprisingly the bad boy of Swedish tennis in his youth, but after authorities banned him for six months, he became determined to not let emotions distract and to control his mind. Borg turned pro in 1973 and eventually secured 66 career titles that included eleven Grand Slam singles titles.
His wins included five consecutively at Wimbledon and six at the French Open. A title win at the US and Australian Opens eluded him. Borg completed the French Open-Wimbledon double in the three years from 1978 – 1980. Ilie Nastase once said about Borg, “We’re playing tennis, and he’s playing something else.”
When Borg felt that he wasn’t going to be the totally dominant player he once was, he retired gracefully. His battle with McEnroe in 1980 made him realise that the gap was closing and this was confirmed in 1981 when he was defeated by the American at Wimbledon.
McEnroe treated many other players with disdain but not Borg, “I never acted like a jerk against him,’ McEnroe would admit. ‘I had too much respect.”
Borg shocked the tennis world by announcing his retirement in 1983 at the youthful age of 26, with McEnroe and others attempting to make him reverse his decision. His distinctive style of the two-handed backhand, heavy top spin on both sides, his athleticism and strong will to win, endeared him to many fans.
Borg achieved the amazing statistic of an 89.8 per cent winning rate in all Grand Slam matches.
The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Borg became the owner of the Bjorn Borg fashion label, with World Brand Management eventually buying out the trademark in 2006 for $18million, which helped him overcome personal debt after being close to bankruptcy in retirement.
Borg attempted to capture his previous form when he came out of retirement in 1991, but it was a failure, with no wins recorded and no sets won in his first nine matches. Growing his hair long and using the same old Donnay wooden racket was no formula to rediscovering the victories of old.
Borg was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987 and who knows what he may have achieved if retirement had not come so soon. John McEnroe probably never fulfilled the greatness he could have with better discipline and there was a feeling that it was because he lamented the absence of his old sparring partner.
Borg’s icy demeanour matches the cold temperatures of his home country Sweden, gifting him the nickname “Iceborg.”
If I was an elite level coach I would highly recommend players view footage of Borg and how he controlled his emotions. He was almost robotic in his personality but all his attributes combined were the forerunner to the perfectly designed tennis player. In the pursuit of perfection he kept the same routines for pre-match, match and post-match schedules.
What a player. What a legend. Bjorn Borg.
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