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Björn Borg - the first tennis superstar turns 65

Today, Sunday, one of the great legends of tennis celebrates his 65th birthday: Björn Borg , eleven-time champion at Grand Slam tournaments.

by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 06, 2021, 12:41 pm

Björn Borg - very young, and yet at the end of his career
© Getty Images
Björn Borg - very young, and yet at the end of his career

In football, it is said, it is not the fan who chooses his favorite club, but the other way around. So you never miss a competition, broadcasts from all leagues are available non-stop, and one day, as if by magic, you fall in love with Ferencvaros Budapest. Or Malmö FF.

Tennis has a disadvantage in this respect in that the range of fan options is not quite as wide as in football. And that the round of 16 of the ATP tournament in Bastad is not as easy to find as the second round of qualifying for one of the too many events that UEFA is trying to sell as the next big thing. In this respect, the 1970s was a great decade because it was much more balanced. Football only on selected occasions on one of the two TV channels, tennis from Paris and Wimbledon on the other hand for hours and without commercial breaks. How could the common fan not fall for Björn Borg back then?

Borg dominates at Wimbledon

Where to start With the terry headband? With long hair? The mysterious white things that Borg had glued to the fingers of his batting hand? Anyone who has seen the really good film "Borg / McEnroe" knows: The "Ice Borg", this stoic warrior on the world's largest courts, only saw the light of day after a painful maturation process. As a child and adolescent, Borg was no stranger to racket throwing, that's how we learn today. At that time none of us knew that we were excited about every appearance of the grandmaster.

The big knee falls are well documented, especially at Wimbledon, where Björn Borg dominated from 1976 to 1980. Above all, the last successful final against John McEnroe is remembered by the fan. But there was also this final against Roscoe Tanner in 1979. He came around the corner with a serve like Goran Ivanisevic later. Only with a wooden club. That wasn't nice, Björn Borg needed a lot of luck in this game. From the point of view of us aficionados: so what?

The US Open as a problem

Borg, who celebrates his 65th birthday today, has won eleven majors. Six titles at Roland Garros alongside five at Wimbledon. The dream of winning the US Open has remained unfulfilled, all the more remarkable since there was occasional play on ashes. At the time of Björn Borg, the Australian Open was not worth a trip to every top player, the great silent one at least consistently left them out.

And then suddenly he was gone. And we were amazed. And cried a little. And above all: The blame was put on Mariana Simionescu. For us, Björn Borg's first wife was in a tradition with Yoko Ono. Only worse. It was incomprehensible to us that the grandmaster could not (and would not) no longer even at the age of 26. The comeback attempts were short and painful, the good old wooden club had had its day.

# IMG2 #

McEnroe as a counterpart in the Laver Cup

That after the end of his career in Björn Borg's life not everything went smoothly, especially financially? We don't care. We are happy to see Borg at his few public appearances, soon as captain of the European team at the Laver Cup in Boston. As a counterpart to his rival, and as you know from his biography, also pretty good buddies, John McEnroe. For whom there were of course good reasons to fall victim to him as a supporter.

Of course, what is also true is what is announced with the chest tone of conviction in a commercial that runs over and over again during tennis broadcasts: You can see a few pictures of Björn Borg. The text: "The first superstar in sport was born."

by Jens Huiber

Sunday
Jun 06, 2021, 12:55 pm
last edit: Jun 06, 2021, 12:41 pm