Bjorn Borg, a legend of Swedish tennis, adores Wimbledon. He discusses his fondness of SW19 and his rivalry with John McEnroe as a friend and foe with Pat Cash of Open Court.
Despite only having 14 matches together, the two had one of the most intense and talked-about rivalries in tennis history.
Roger Federer has faced Rafael Nadal forty times in the past seventeen years, nine of those matches being in Grand Slam finals. Since 2006, he has played 50 times against Novak Djokovic, including twice in five-set Wimbledon championship matchups that Djokovic won. Furthermore, 58 matches between Nadal and Djokovic have been played, nine of which have taken place at the French Open.
In contrast, from 1978 and 1981, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe participated in 14 matches. Nevertheless, they gave rise to one of the most intense and well-discussed rivalries in sports history.
Forty years ago, as the sun began to set and shadows spread across Louis Armstrong Stadium, over 18,000 fans witnessed an odd conclusion to an all-too-brief period that featured two of the greatest players in history. Initially, people marveled as the local New Yorker McEnroe defeated Borg 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and forty minutes to win the US Open for the third time in a row. However, what transpired at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, next confused and worried people.
Borg was nowhere to be seen as McEnroe was embracing his parents, Kay and John Sr., and raising the champion’s trophy in the air. He had eschewed the required news conference and post-match ritual. Never again to be seen competing at the U.S. Open or any other major, he had hurriedly had a shower and climbed in a waiting station wagon after leaving the stadium with his old coach and confidant, Lennart Bergelin.
