Whereas in my time it was really crazy and that was one of the decisive factors that made me throw in the towel,” says the Swedish tennis player.
Considered one of the most relevant figures in the history of tennis, he has been getting more involved in the public scene of the sport in the last five years thanks to his incorporation as captain of the European Laver Cup team, and also accompanying his son Leo Borg, who at 19 years of age competes in the Futures circuit and some Challengers.
This interview, originally published in French for Tennis Magazine, is a review of his best memories.
The conversation reveals little-explored anecdotes from Borg’s career. Like when John McEnroe was his ball boy in his first match as a pro, when he was disqualified for the bad behavior of his doubles partner Ion Tiriac, or how much he regrets playing a minor tournament instead of the French Open motivated by money. “I was nice to Vilas and let him win that year,” he jokes.
In English and Spanish, the full interview on CLAY.
Interview with Bjorn Borg
– Tell me an anecdote that is not so well known from your time as a professional.
– It was the day of the Roland Garros semifinals in 1980, and I was in the locker room waiting to enter the court to play against (Harold) Solomon, I think. The match before that was between (Jimmy) Connors and (Vitas) Gerulaitis. Vitas won 6-4 in the fifth, came into the locker room and the first thing he did was come up to me, hug me and say, “You’re lucky, you’re going to play me in the final and not Jimmy.” Then I beat Solomon (6-2, 6-2, 6-0) and the next day, as we were close friends, Vitas and I had dinner together and he said to me, laughing, “Hey, you’re going to have a tough match tomorrow!”. He was very happy to have beaten Jimmy and to have reached the French Open final.
Editor’s note: (Borg won the final 6-4, 6-1, 6-2).
– Gerulaitis was certainly a very particular character.
– I’ll tell you another story about my friend Vitas. We played a marathon semi-final at Wimbledon (in 1977) which I won in five sets. The next day I was training in Hurlingham, at a club outside London, in preparation for the final. The day before, Vitas had lost 8-6 in the fifth set, came came to the club and said to me, “Björn, if you need a training partner, I’m always willing!”. I thought about telling him if he didn’t have anything better to do. I don’t know, go on vacation, get depressed, do anything (laughs).
– I go back in time…Do you remember the day you realized you hated loosing?
– It was the day I was born! (laughs). It didn’t matter if it was tennis, board games, badminton, I’ve always hated losing. And… I’ve always loved winning (laughs).
– The day you felt embarrassed on a tennis court.
– I’ve never been embarrassed… Ah, yes, I remember a day I played doubles with Ion Tiriac in Madrid. Against Ilie Nastase and Tom Okker. The match was good, we even had a match point, but the problem was that Tiriac was behaving very badly. So bad that the referee ended up disqualifying us. That was probably the only time I was ever embarrassed on a court. And the only time I was disqualified.
– Your first match on the professional tour.
– US Open 1972 against Roy Emerson. I remember the moment we were walking to the court and I thought, “Wow, that’s Roy Emerson you’re going to play against.” That’s not a small business. He wasn’t playing much anymore, but he was a legend! I lost that game, but you know what the funniest thing is? Guess who was on our court as a ball boy… John McEnroe! He was the one who told me years later. It’s unbelievable.
– Unbelievable. A twist of fate. Then in Båstad you played your first Davis Cup match in 1972. At the age of 15 against a top player, Onny Parun.
– Yes, that’s right, but at the beginning I wasn’t considered to play that match. Shortly before, in Madrid, in the second or third round I beat Jan-Erik Lundqvist in two sets. He was the one who was considered to play Parun. When he saw that match, Lennart Bergelin who was the captain, thought this guy can play. He picked me and I beat Parun, who ended up furious about losing to a kid. Really angry. It’s true that losing to a 15-year-old is not easy to accept, especially when you’re the ninth best player in the world!
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– The year you won your first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 1974.
– I played in Rome the week before and won the tournament beating (Ilie) Nastase in the final. Then I went back to Stockholm for a couple of days before flying to Paris. And there, in the first round, I played against Frenchman (Jean-François) Caujolle. I knew him well, we had played several times as juniors. He was leading 4-1 in the third set, with two breaks ahead (editor’s note: at that time the first rounds were played to the best of three sets). I finally found the resources to come back and win that match, and then I said to myself: that’s it, I’m back. I thought I had a good chance of winning two or three more matches, but not of going all the way. And yet I beat (Manuel) Orantes in the final after being down two sets to zero. That year I was alone in Paris. Only the Swedish journalists kept me company. After winning the final, I asked one of them from the Expressen newspaper, who was a friend: “What are we doing tonight? I won in Paris, why don’t we go to the Eiffel Tower?”. And that’s what we did. We went up to the top and had a wonderful dinner to celebrate my victory.
Bjorn Borg next to Manuel Orantes in the award ceremony, Roland Garros 1974.
– The day you realized you were famous.
– After winning the Davis Cup against New Zealand. There was a lot of excitement. That’s when it all started. It was nice, people recognized me, they wanted autographs, photos… Yes, I liked it at the beginning, but in the long run much less. And that’s why I retired so young. The lasts years it became unbearable. During Wimbledon or Roland Garros, when I arrived at the hotel, there were 100 people waiting for me. When I arrived at a restaurant, there were 25 photographers all over me. I felt it was not funny. It was funny in a way, but then I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to have a normal life. And I know some people will think I’m crazy, but it became such a circus that I said to myself, “I can’t go on living like this. I loved tennis, but I didn’t want that life anymore. Of course, today there is so much excitement for the champions, but they are much more protected. Whereas in my day it was really crazy and that was one of the deciding factors that made me throw in the towel.
– Let’s move on to Wimbledon. We have heard so much about your first victory over Nastase in 1976, the fantastic final in 1980 against McEnroe… But during these five years of consecutive successes, you came close to losing several times in the first rounds. Against Victor Amaya in 1978, or against Vijay Amritraj the following ye
ar… What memories do you keep of these escapes?
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