(born
June 6 1956, in
Stockholm,
Sweden) is a former
World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden regarded by some observers and tennis players as the greatest player in the sport's history.
[1][2][3] During a nine-year career, he won 41 percent of the
Grand Slam singles tournaments he entered (11 of 27) and 89.8 percent of the Grand Slam singles matches he played. Both are male
open era records. In addition, Borg's six
French Open singles titles are an all-time record.
[4][5] He is the only player to have won both
Wimbledon and the French Open in three consecutive years
Career overview
As a child growing up in
Södertälje, a town near Stockholm, Borg became fascinated by a golden tennis racquet that his father had won as a prize at a
table-tennis tournament. His father gave him the racquet, beginning one of the brightest careers in tennis history.
In 1972, at the age of 15, Borg became one of the youngest players ever to represent his country in the
Davis Cup and won his debut singles rubber in five sets against seasoned professional
Onny Parun of
New Zealand. Later that year, he won the Wimbledon junior singles title.
In 1973, Borg reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in his first attempt.
In 1974, aged 17 years and 11 months, Borg won his first top-level singles title at the
Italian Open. Two weeks later, he won his first Grand Slam title at the
French Open, coming back from two sets down in the final to defeat
Manuel Orantes 2-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1. Barely 18 at the time, Borg was the youngest-ever male French Open champion (the record has since been lowered by
Mats Wilander in 1982 and
Michael Chang in
1989).
In early 1975, Birdie played
Rod Laver, then 36 years old, in a semifinal of the
World Championship Tennis (WCT) finals in
Dallas, Texas, which Borg won 7-6, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Borg lost to
Arthur Ashe, another veteran of the tour, in the final.
Borg retained his French Open title in 1975, beating
Guillermo Vilas in the final in straight sets. Borg then reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he lost in four sets to Ashe, the eventual champion.
Borg also helped Sweden win its first ever Davis Cup title in 1975. He won two singles and one doubles rubber in the final as Sweden beat
Czechoslovakia 3-2. With his two singles wins in the final, Borg had put together a run of 19 consecutive wins in Davis Cup singles rubbers going back to 1973. That was already a record at the time. But Borg never lost another Davis Cup singles rubber, and, by the end of his career, he had stretched that winning streak to 33--a Davis Cup record that still stands.
Borg swept through Wimbledon in 1976 without losing a set, defeating the much-favoured
Ilie Năstase in the final. Borg became the youngest male Wimbledon champion of the modern era at 20 years and 1 month (a record broken by
Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon aged 17 in
1985). Some speculate that Borg's surviving the first week of Wimbledon, when the courts were slick and fast, was the key to his success. This might have been due to the unusually hot conditions that summer. The courts played slower in the second week, which suited Borg's baseline game. Borg also reached the final of the 1976
U.S. Open, which was then being played on clay courts. Borg lost in four sets to world #1
Jimmy Connors.
Borg repeated his Wimbledon triumph in 1977, although this time he was pushed much harder. He won a close match over his good friend
Vitas Gerulaitis in a semifinal 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6.
[6] In the final, Borg was pushed to five sets for the third time in the tournament, this time by Connors. The win propelled Borg to the #1 ranking on the computer, albeit for just one week in August.
Borg was at the height of his career from 1978 through 1980, winning the French Open and Wimbledon all three years.
In 1978, Borg won straight-set finals over Vilas at the French Open and Connors at Wimbledon but was defeated in straight sets by Connors in the final of the U.S. Open, now held on hard courts in Flushing Meadow, New York. That autumn, Borg faced
John McEnroe for the first time in a semifinal of the Stockholm Open (in the city of his birth) and was upset in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Borg did not drop a set at the 1978 French Open, a feat only he and
Ilie Nastase have accomplished.
Borg lost to McEnroe again in four sets in the final of the 1979 WCT Finals but was now overtaking Connors for the top ranking. Borg established himself firmly in the top spot with his fourth French Open singles title and fourth straight Wimbledon singles title, defeating Connors in a straight-set semifinal at the latter tournament. At the French Open, Borg defeated big-serving
Victor Pecci in a four-set final, and at Wimbledon, Borg took five sets to overcome an even bigger server,
Roscoe Tanner. Borg was upset by Tanner at the U.S. Open, in a four-set quarterfinal played under the lights.
At the season-ending
Masters tournament in January 1980, Borg survived a close semifinal against McEnroe 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 (7-3). He then beat Gerulaitis in straight sets, winning his first Masters and first title in New York. In June, he overcame Gerulaitis, again in straight sets, for his fifth French Open title. Again, he did not drop a set.
Borg won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title in 1980 by defeating McEnroe in a five-set match often listed among the best Wimbledon finals ever played. In the fourth-set tie-break, McEnroe saved five match points and Borg six set points before McEnroe won the set. Borg then won 19 straight points on serve in the deciding set and prevailed after 3 hours, 53 minutes.
Borg lost to McEnroe in another five-set final, this one lasting 4 hours and 13 minutes, at the 1980 U.S. Open. He then defeated McEnroe in the final of the Stockholm Open, 6-3, 6-4, and faced him one more time that season, in the round-robin portion of the year-end Masters, played in January 1981. With 19,103 fans in attendance, Borg won a deciding third-set tie-break for the second year in a row, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6(3). Borg then defeated
Ivan Lendl for his second Masters title, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
When Borg won his sixth
French Open in 1981 it landed him his fourth ''
Sports Illustrated'' cover.
[7] It would be mark the end of an era however, as it was Borg's last major title.
Borg won what turned out to be his last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1981, defeating Lendl in a five-set final. Borg's six French Open singles titles remains a record for a male player.
In reaching the Wimbledon final in 1981, Borg stretched his winning streak at the
All England Club to a record 41 matches. In a semifinal, Borg was down to Connors by two sets to none before coming back to win the match 0-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. Borg's streak was brought to an end by McEnroe, who beat him in four sets.
Borg's last Grand Slam final was a four set loss to McEnroe at the 1981 U.S. Open.
By the end of 1981, Borg was on the verge of burn-out. In 1982, Borg played only one tournament, losing to
Yannick Noah in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo. Nevertheless, Borg's announcement in January 1983 that he was retiring from the game at the age of 26 was a shock to the tennis world.
Borg was ranked the World No. 1 in six different stretches between 1977 and 1981, totaling 109 weeks. Tennis commentators considered him as the
best player from 1977 through 1980. During his career, he won a total of 77 (61 listed on the
Association of Tennis Professionals website) top-level singles and four doubles titles.
Borg won the
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 1979.
Borg was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in
1987.
After retiring, Borg suffered a
drug overdose, was rumoured to have attempted
suicide (which he denied), and had a turbulent relationship with his then-wife, the Italian singer
Loredana Bertè. He later bounced back as the owner of the Björn Borg fashion label, whose most noted advertising campaigns asked Swedes (from the pages of a leading national newspaper) to "Fuck for the Future."
In the early-
1990s, Borg attempted a comeback on the men's professional tennis tour. This time around, however, he was completely unsuccessful. Playing with his old wooden rackets in an attempt to regain his once-indomitable touch, he lost his first comeback match in 1991 to
Jordi Arrese at the
Monte Carlo Open. A series of first-round losses to low-ranked players followed over the next two years. The closest he came to winning a match was in 1993 in
Moscow, when he pushed
Alexander Volkov to three sets and lost a final-set tie-breaker 9-7. After that match, he retired from the tour for good and confined himself to playing on the senior tour, with modern rackets, where he delighted crowds by renewing his old rivalries with McEnroe, Connors, and Vilas.
In March 2006, Bonhams Auction House in
London announced that it would auction Borg's Wimbledon trophies and two of his winning rackets on
June 21 2006.
[8] Several players then called Borg wondering what he was thinking, but only McEnroe was able to make Borg reconsider. According to
Dagens Nyheter – who had talked to Borg – McEnroe called from New York and asked, "What's up? Have you gone mad?"
[9] The conversation apparently persuaded Borg to buy out the trophies from
Bonhams at an undisclosed amount.
In an TV advertisement first shown in August 2007, Borg and McEnroe parody their rivalry in an ad to promote UK supermarket Tesco's new "one in front" register opening policy.
On
December 10 2006, the
British Broadcasting Corporation gave Borg a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by
Boris Becker.
[10]
Place among the all-time greats
Borg won the third most
Grand Slam singles titles (11) of all time, behind
Pete Sampras (14) and
Roy Emerson (12). After winning Wimbledon in 2007,
Roger Federer now shares this third place with Borg.
Among his other achievements are a record 89.8 Grand Slam match winning percentage (141-16) and a male open era record 41 winning percentage for Grand Slam tournaments played (11 of 27). The French-Wimbledon double he achieved three times consecutively was called by Wimbledon officials "the most difficult double in tennis"
[11] and "a feat considered impossible among today's players."
[12] No player has managed to achieve his double since – and indeed
Andre Agassi is the only male player since Borg to win both the French Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles over the course of his career.
Roger Federer came closest to winning the
French Open-Wimbledon double by twice reaching the final of the French and then going on to win Wimbledon (2006/2007)
In his 1979 autobiography,
Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, had already included Borg in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. In 2003,
Bud Collins chose Borg as one of his top-five male players of all time.
[13], and in 2006, Sergio Cruz, the Portuguese national champion who coached
Jim Courier, explained why he believed Borg was the
"undisputed best player ever."
Borg never won either the U.S. Open or the
Australian Open, losing in the final at the U.S. Open four times. The only players to defeat Borg in a Grand Slam final were fellow
World No. 1 tennis greats
John McEnroe and
Jimmy Connors. Borg chose to make the journey to the Australian Open only once, in 1974, where he lost in the third round. Borg has stated publicly that he would have attempted to complete the calendar year Grand Slam and played in the Australian Open had he succeeded in winning the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the year, which he never did. (During Borg's career, the Australian Open was the last Grand Slam tournament of each year.)
Playing style
Borg had one of the most unique playing styles in the open era. Borg played from the baseline, with powerful ground-strokes and a two-handed backhand (very rare at the time and unorthodox). He hit the ball hard and high from the back of the court and brought it down with considerable topspin, which made his ground-strokes very consistent. There had been other players, particularly Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe, who played with topspin on both the forehand and backhand. But Laver and Ashe only used topspin as a way to mix up their shots and pass their opponents at the net easily. Borg was one of the first top players to use heavy topspin on his shots consistently.
Complementing his consistent ground-strokes was his fitness. Both of these factors allowed Borg to be dominant at Roland Garros.
However, one of the feats that make Borg unique is his dominance on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where baseliners historically do not succeed. Experts attribute his dominance on grass to his consistency and an underrated serve.
Another trait usually associated with Borg is his grace under pressure. His calm court demeanor earned him the nickname of the "Ice Man" or "Ice-Borg".
[1]
Borg's physical conditioning was legendary as he could outlast most of his opponents under the most grueling match conditions. He is the most famous athlete known to have
bradycardia, with a heart rate at rest reported to be between 30 and 45 beats per minute.
[2] [3] [4][5]
Borg is credited with helping to develop the style of play that has come to dominate the game today.
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (11)
| 'Year | 'Championship | 'Opponent in Final | 'Score in Final |
| 1974 | French Open | Manuel Orantes | 2-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 1975 | French Open (2) | Guillermo Vilas | 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1976 | Wimbledon | Ilie Năstase | 6-4, 6-2, 9-7 |
| 1977 | Wimbledon (2) | Jimmy Connors | 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 |
| 1978 | French Open (3) | Guillermo Vilas | 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 |
| 1978 | Wimbledon (3) | Jimmy Connors | 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 |
| 1979 | French Open (4) | Victor Pecci | 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 |
| 1979 | Wimbledon (4) | Roscoe Tanner | 6-7, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1980 | French Open (5) | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 |
| 1980 | Wimbledon (5) | John McEnroe | 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(16), 8-6 |
| 1981 | French Open (6) | Ivan Lendl | 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 |
Runner-ups (5)
| 'Year | 'Championship | 'Opponent in Final | 'Score in Final |
| 1976 | U.S. Open | Jimmy Connors | 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 |
| 1978 | U.S. Open | Jimmy Connors | 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 1980 | U.S. Open | John McEnroe | 7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4 |
| 1981 | Wimbledon | John McEnroe | 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 |
| 1981 | U.S. Open | John McEnroe | 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 |
Career singles titles (96)
Career singles titles (63), only 61 listed in the ATP Website
| 'No.' | 'Date' | 'Tournament' | 'Surface' | 'Opponent in the final' | 'Score' |
| 1. | 1974 | London WCT, England | Hard (i) | Mark Cox | 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 |
| 2. | 1974 | São Paulo WCT, Brazil | Hard (i) | Arthur Ashe | 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 3. | 1974 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Ilie Năstase | 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 4. | 1974 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Manuel Orantes | 2-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 5. | 1974 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Adriano Panatta | 6-3, 6-0, 6-7, 6-3 |
| 6. | 1974 | Boston, USA | Clay | Tom Okker | 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 7. | 1974 | Adelaide, Australia | Grass | Onny Parun | 6-4, 6-4 3-6, 6-2 |
| 8. | 1975 | Richmond WCT, USA | Carpet | Arthur Ashe | 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 9. | 1975 | Bologna WCT, Italy | Carpet | Arthur Ashe | 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 |
| 10. | 1975 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 11. | 1975 | Boston, USA | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 12. | 1975 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Adriano Panatta | 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
| 13. | 1976 | Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada | Carpet | Vitas Gerulaitis | 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
| 14. | 1976 | São Paulo WCT, Brazil | Carpet | Vitas Gerulaitis | 7-6, 6-2 |
| 15. | 1976 | Dallas WCT, USA | Carpet | Guillermo Vilas | 1-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 |
| 16. | 1976 | Düsseldorf, Germany | Clay | Manuel Orantes | 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 |
| 17. | 1976 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Ilie Năstase | 6-4, 6-2, 9-7 |
| 18. | 1976 | Boston, USA | Clay | Harold Solomon | 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 |
| 19. | 1977 | Memphis, USA | Carpet | Brian Gottfried | 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 |
| 20. | 1977 | Nice, France | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 |
| 21. | 1977 | Monte Carlo WCT, Monaco | Clay | Corrado Barazzutti | 6-3, 7-5, 6-0 |
| 22. | 1977 | Denver, USA | Carpet | Brian Gottfried | 7-5, 6-2 |
| 23. | 1977 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Jimmy Connors | 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 |
| 24. | 1977 | Boca Raton - Pepsi Grand Slam | Clay | Jimmy Connors | 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 |
| 25. | 1977 | Madrid, Spain | Clay | Jaime Fillol Sr. | 6-3, 6-0, 6-7, 7-6 |
| 26. | 1977 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Manuel Orantes | 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 |
| 27. | 1977 | Basel, Switzerland | Carpet | John Lloyd | 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 |
| 28. | 1977 | Cologne, Germany | Carpet | Wojtek Fibak | 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 |
| 29. | 1977 | Wembley, England | Hard | John Lloyd | 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 |
| 30. | 1978 | Birmingham WCT, USA | Carpet | Dick Stockton | 7-6, 7-5 |
| 31. | 1978 | Boca Raton - Pepsi Grand Slam | Clay | Jimmy Connors | 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 32. | 1978 | Las Vegas, USA - WCT Tournament of Champions | Hard | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-5, 5-6, 6-4, 6-5 |
| 33. | 1978 | Milan WCT, Italy | Carpet | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 34. | 1978 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Adriano Panatta | 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 35. | 1978 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 |
| 36. | 1978 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Jimmy Connors | 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 |
| 37. | 1978 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Corrado Barazzutti | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 38. | 1978 | Tokyo Indoor, Japan | Carpet | Brian Teacher | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 39. | 1979 | Richmond WCT, USA | Carpet | Guillermo Vilas | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 40. | 1979 | Boca Raton - Pepsi Grand Slam | Hard | Jimmy Connors | 6-2, 6-3 |
| 41. | 1979 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet | John McEnroe | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 42. | 1979 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 |
| 43. | 1979 | Las Vegas, USA | Hard | Jimmy Connors | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 44. | 1979 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Victor Pecci Sr. | 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 |
| 45. | 1979 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Roscoe Tanner | 6-7, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 46. | 1979 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Balázs Taróczy | 6-1, 7-5 |
| 47. | 1979 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | John McEnroe | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 48. | 1979 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Corrado Barazzutti | 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 |
| 49. | 1979 | Tokyo Indoor, Japan | Carpet | Jimmy Connors | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 50. | 1979 |
★ Montreal - WCT Challenge Cup | Carpet | Jimmy Connors | 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 |
| 51. | 1979 | Masters, New York | Carpet | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 52. | 1980 | Boca Raton, USA - Pepsi Grand Slam, | Hard | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 |
| 53. | 1980 |
★ Salisbury, USA - WCT Invitational | Carpet | Vijay Amritraj | 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 |
| 54. | 1980 | Nice, France | Clay | Manuel Orantes | 6-2, 6-0, 6-1 |
| 55. | 1980 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 |
| 56. | 1980 | Las Vegas, USA | Hard | Harold Solomon | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 57. | 1980 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 |
| 58. | 1980 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | John McEnroe | 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6 |
| 59. | 1980 | Stockholm, Sweden | Carpet | John McEnroe | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 60. | 1980 | Masters, New York | Carpet | Ivan Lendl | 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 61. | 1981 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Ivan Lendl | 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 62. | 1981 | Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany | Clay | Ivan Lendl | 1-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 63. | 1981 | Geneva, Switzerland | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd | 6-4, 6-3 |
Other singles titles, including invitational tournament titles (18)
Here are Borg's tournament wins that are not included in the statistics on the Association of Tennis Professionals website. These are mainly special events like invitational tournaments and exhibitions.
★
1973 (1) - Helsinki
★
1974 (2) - Auckland, Oslo
★
1976 (5) - Mexican Round Robin (invitational tournament), Guadalajara (invitational tournament), World Invitational Tennis Classic (WITC) at Hilton Head (4-man tournament), Copenhagen - Pondus Cup, Detroit (4-men tournament)
★
1977 (1) - WITC at Hilton Head (4-men invitational tournament)
★
1978 (6) - Goteborg - Scandinavian Cup (4-men invitational tournament), Copenhagen (4-men invitational), Tokyo - Suntory Cup
(4-men invitational tournament), Essen (4-men invitational tournament), Manila (4-men invitational tournament), Anvers (4-men invitational tournament)
★
1979 (1) - Brussels (4-men invitational tournament)
★
1980 (1) - Berlin (4-men invitational)
★
1985 (1) - Tokyo (4-men invitational)
Other (non-ATP, exhibition/invitational and special events) singles titles - draw at least eight players (4)
Other (non-ATP, exhibition/invitational and special events) singles titles - draw less than eight players (11)
Sources for this section
★ John Barrett, editor, ''World of Tennis Yearbooks'', London, from 1976 through
1983.
★ Michel Sutter, ''Vainqueurs Winners 1946-2003'', Paris,
2003. Sutter has attempted to list all tournaments meeting his criteria for selection beginning with 1946 and ending in the fall of 1991 . For each tournament, he has indicated the city, the date of the final, the winner, the runner-up, and the score of the final. A tournament is included in his list if: (1) the draw for the tournament included at least eight players (with a few exceptions, such as the Pepsi Grand Slam tournaments in the second half of the 1970s); and (2) the level of the tournaments was at least equal to the present day challenger tournaments. Sutter's book is probably the most exhaustive source of tennis tournament information since
World War II, even though some professional tournaments held before the start of the
open era are missing. Later, Sutter issued a second edition of his book, with only the players, their wins, and years for the 1946 through
April 27,
2003, period.
Grand Slam and Masters singles tournament timeline
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
1The Masters tournaments for calendar years 1977, 1979, and 1980 were actually held in January of the following year. In this table, however, the year of the tournament is listed for the preceding year.
Records
Grand Slam records
★ Borg won more
Grand Slam singles titles (11) than any male player except for
Pete Sampras (14) and
Roy Emerson (12).
Rod Laver and
Roger Federer have also won 11.
★ Borg's 11 Grand Slam singles titles out of 27 tournaments played gives him a male open era record 41 winning percentage.
Margaret Court holds the record among all players.
★ In Grand Slam singles tournaments, Borg's match record is 141–16, giving him an 89.8 winning percentage, better than any male player ever. The only other male players in the open era with winning percentages over 80 are Federer (85), John McEnroe (82),
Jimmy Connors (81.9), and Lendl (81.8).
★ Borg won more
French Open singles titles (6) than any other male player in tennis history.
★ Borg won more
Wimbledon singles titles (5) than any other male player since the abolition of the Challenge Round in 1922 until Sampras (7).
★ Borg won four consecutive French Open singles championships, an all-time record. He retired while on a winning streak of 28 consecutive matches at the French Open.
★ Borg won more consecutive Wimbledon singles titles (5) than any man under modern rules until
Roger Federer equalled his record in 2007, beating
Rafael Nadal in the finals for his 5th Wimbledon title. Only
William Renshaw won more consecutive titles there (1881-86). In Renshaw's day, the defending champion played only one match, the Challenge Round. After the adoption of the current rules,
Fred Perry established a record of three consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1934 through 1936, until Borg equalled it in 1978.
★ Borg's 41 consecutive match winning streak at Wimbledon remains an all-time record. Feder has come closest to matching this, with an active winning streak of 34 consecutive Wimbledon matches from 2003 through the 2007 final. In winning his four consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1997 through 2000, Sampras recorded 31 consecutive match wins.
★ Borg played in six consecutive Wimbledon singles finals, still a record since the abolition of the Challenge Round in 1922.
★ Borg played in four consecutive French Open singles finals, a men's open era record.
★ Borg played in 16 Grand Slam singles finals, a male record for the open era (and second in tennis history only to 17 by
Rod Laver). This record was broken by Lendl, who played in 19, and Sampras, who played in 18.
★ Borg won at least one Grand Slam singles title for eight consecutive years (1974–1981), an all-time men's record. Only Sampras has matched this (1993–2000).
★ Borg defeated more players (9) in Grand Slam singles finals than any male player in history. Sampras tied this mark.
Youngest to win
★ In 1972, Borg became the youngest-ever winner of a
Davis Cup match, at age 15.
★ In 1974, one month before his 18th birthday, Borg became the youngest winner of the
Italian Open. That record has since been broken.
★ In 1974, only days after his 18th birthday, Borg became the youngest man ever to hold a
Grand Slam singles title. He retained that distinction until another Swede,
Mats Wilander, won the
French Open in 1982.
★ At 18, he was the youngest winner of the
U.S. Professional Championships until
Aaron Krickstein won in 1983.
★ In 1976 at age 20, Borg became the youngest winner of
Wimbledon during the open era until
Boris Becker became the youngest Grand Slam winner of all time by taking Wimbledon at age 17 years, 7 months in 1985 (a record broken by
Michael Chang who won the French Open when he was 17 years, 3 months in 1989).
★ Borg won his 11th Grand Slam singles title in 1981 aged 25 years and 1 day, the youngest male to reach that number of titles. By comparison,
Roger Federer won his 11th aged 25 years and 324 days;
Pete Sampras won his 11th at almost age 27,
Roy Emerson at age 30, and
Rod Laver at age 31.
Match competition
★ Borg compiled a 576-124 win-loss singles record, winning more than 82 percent of the matches he played. By comparison,
Pete Sampras won 77 percent during his career.
★ Borg won 14 consecutive five-set singles matches before losing to
John McEnroe at the 1980
U.S. Open, a record for the open era.
★ In career five-set matches, Borg was 24-4. His 85.7 winning percentage was unrivalled in the
open era, with
Aaron Krickstein in second place at 75.7 percent (28-9). Five of Borg's wins were in
Grand Slam finals, a mark that surpassed
Bill Tilden (who won four) and has remained unequalled.
★ In 1980, Borg won the longest-ever
Wimbledon singles final to that time, 3 hours and 53 minutes (the record stood until 1982). That year, he also lost the longest-ever U.S. Open final to that time, 4 hours and 13 minutes (the record stood until 1988).
★ Borg won the longest tiebreak of the open era, 20-18 in the third set of his first round match at the 1973 Wimbledon – a mark that has been tied four times (by
Roger Federer,
Goran Ivanišević,
José Acasuso, and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga).
★ Borg won 19 consecutive points on serve in the fifth set on two occasions: his 1980 Wimbledon final against McEnroe and his 1980 U.S. Open quarterfinal against
Roscoe Tanner.
Career winning streaks
★ On the list of
open era winning streaks, Borg is third (43 consecutive tour matches in 1978). The only other men with winning streaks of at least 40 matches are
Guillermo Vilas (46),
Ivan Lendl (44),
John McEnroe (42), and
Roger Federer (41).
★ Borg previously held the record for most consecutive wins on grass, with 41 victories (all at
Wimbledon). Federer, who customarily plays a lesser grass tournament in
Halle in addition to Wimbledon, has a 54 match winning streak on grass (from 2003 through the 2007 Wimbledon final).
★ Borg holds the
Davis Cup record singles winning streak at 33 consecutive victories (his streak was never broken, for he retired without losing).
★ Borg holds third place for most consecutive wins on clay, with 46 victories in 1977-79. Only
Rafael Nadal with 81 and Vilas with 53 have won more consecutive clay court matches.
Miscellaneous
★ Borg's 61 career titles as listed on the
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) website places him sixth on that website's
open era list behind
Jimmy Connors (105),
Ivan Lendl (94),
John McEnroe (77),
Pete Sampras (64), and
Guillermo Vilas (62).
★ Borg retired with
US$3.6 million in career prize money, a record at the time.
★ According to the match scores listed on the ATP website, Borg bageled his opponents (sets won 6-0) 116 times from 1973 through 1981, compared to
Roger Federer's 55 bagels from 1999 through the
2007 French Open.
★ Borg was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987 at only 30 years of age.
★ In 1999, Borg was elected the best Swedish sportsman ever by a jury in his home country. His tennis rivals included a pair of top ranked players:
Mats Wilander (who won seven
Grand Slam titles) and
Stefan Edberg (who won six).
★ In their only career match-up, Borg defeated Wilander in September 1981 in the first round of a tournament in
Geneva, Switzerland. The score was 6-1, 6-1. Geneva was the last tournament that Borg won during his career.
★ Borg won the
Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal both in 1974 and in 1978, the latter being shared with
alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark. Both men are the only people to ever win this honor twice.
★ Borg was well-known for his sleek signature line of
Fila sportswear, particularly the pin-striped tennis shirts that became a trademark. Although Borg wore Fila throughout the world, he used different rackets and shoes for different parts of the world. In North America, he wore Tretorn sneakers and used a Bancroft Borg frame, while everywhere else it was the Donnay Allwood or Borg Pro, with Diadora Borg Elite shoes. There was superstition in what he wore, too. Borg always reverted to the traditional green pinstripe shirt for Wimbledon, no matter what other design he may have worn at the time.
Bjorn Borg belongs to the famous Swedes born 1956 - Ingmar Stenmark slalom - Linda Haglund sprinter and Frank Andersson wrestling.
See also
★
List of Swedish sportspeople
★
World number one male tennis player rankings
★
Tennis, male players statistics
★
List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions
References
★ Autobiography: Borg, Bjorn (with Eugene L. Scott) "My Life and Game". (1980) ISBN 0283986638
1. "Borg may still be at top of his game", ''The Otago Daily Times'', July 14 2007
2. "Navratilova joins Laver and Borg on the shortlist (as voted for by . . . Navratilova)", Alastair Campbell, ''The Times'', July 3 2004
3. "When he was king", Tim Pears, ''The Observer, June 5 2005
4. "Compare and contrast", Jon Wertheim, ''Sports Illustrated'', September 23 2002
5. "Borg still making the shots", Douglas Robson, ''USA Today'', May 25 2006
6. "Classic Matches: Borg v Gerulaitis", BBC Sport, May 31 2004
7. Bjorn Borg SI covers, accessed January 29 2007
8. "Borg to auction off Wimbledon trophies", ''USA Today'', March 3 2006
9. "McEnroe fick Borg på andra tankar"
10. "Sports Personality: The winners", BBC Sport, December 10 2006
11. "Wimbledon Legends: Bjorn Borg", Wimbledon official website
12. "Strokes for Agassi: He belongs among the 10 greatest ever", Bruce Jenkins, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 13 2006
13. "Top Stars of Tennis", Bud Collins, MSNBC
External links
★
★
International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
★
Official Wimbledon website profile
★
BBC profile
★
tenniscorner.net profile
★
Davis Cup record
★
The Tennis Channel: The Björn Borg Saga
★
Björn Borg fashion company
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
