Series: Legendary Coaches - Lennart Bergelin
Maybe it was louder behind the scenes. But in public, coach Lennart Bergelin was as reserved as his protégé Björn Borg. Part one of our open-ended series on legendary tennis coaches.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Feb 21, 2023, 08:20 pm
The inclined tennis fan does not know how large the proportion of fiction is in the film "Borg vs. McEnroe", which is really worth seeing. The American title hero has already estimated this proportion at at least 100 percent, at least as far as the presentation of his private circumstances during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament is concerned. And so of course it is not possible to say with certainty how close the legendary player-coach duo Björn Borg and Lennart Bergelin came to a final divorce.
The sources are clear that there was gossip. But in the end, on July 5, 1980, Bergelin sat in Borg's pits, while Borg sank to his knees on Church Road after his fifth and final championship. And the fact that coaches and players in the evenings before the matches in the chilled hotel room learned a science from choosing the right racket is also historically proven.
Bergelin wins the Davis Cup with Borg
Lennart Bergelin was 55 at the time, and he was to see his protégé win another major title next year in Roland Garros. A few months later, Björn Borg had had enough of professional tennis at the age of just 26. Which also meant that Coach Bergelin was no longer to be seen on the big stage.
But what was there to come? Björn Borg, certainly not only a well-known watch manufacturer sees it that way, was the first real icon of tennis. And Bergelin had shaped his Swedish compatriot like no other coach. Among other things, the transformation from hotspur Björn to ice Borg is probably the responsibility of the coach, who also won the Davis Cup in 1975 with Borg as the top man. The then only 19-year-old Borg won his two singles against Jiri Hrebec and Jan Kodes and also won the doubles with Ove Bengston - the Swedish number one won nine sets in total. And didn't lose a single one.
Himself Grand Slam champion at Roland Garros
Lennart Bergelin, born in 1925, was a great Davis Cup player himself. He played 89 games for his home country. 63 of them won. During his time as an active player, Bergelin was also able to win a Grand Slam: in 1948 in Roland Garros alongside Jaroslav Drobny.
As a coach, however, Lennart Bergelin will always remain inextricably linked to Björn Borg. And it's nice to see that Stellan Skarsgård gave him a worthy keepsake in Borg vs. McEnroe. That the legendary trainer could no longer appreciate himself: Bergelin died in Stockholm in 2008 at the age of 83.