My idol growing up in the 70’s. I’m 60 now and still have great memories of my favourite tennis player. For me still the best. His demeanour, fashion sense and charisma. 🤩🙏🏾
Borg practically reinvented the game of tennis. Before him players were using serve volley, one handed back hands and mainly sliced backhands. Borg introduced severe topspin on both wings plus he had amazing movement and towards the end of his time he developed a very powerful serve. Jimmy Connors developed on similar lines although he hit his two handed backhand much flatter. The modern game owes much to these two greats.
It's interesting that he is known as a baseliner but watching old matches of Borg , not just on grass but even clay, he came to the net far more than any of the players today. He had pretty good hands at the net.
@@dansmith9724 He also had an excellent big first serve which was underrated. Nadal who is sort of his modern analogue has great hands at the net and developed into an excellent volleyer has never consistently served as well as Borg except for some years. Borgs serve was a factor on grass and indoor carpet.
He's the reason I picked up a tennis racquet in my youth in the late 70's. While I emulated the playing styles of players like Sampras and Federer, I'm forever indebted to him for loving tennis very strongly to this day.
My parents would gather the whole family for the Wimbledon final match when I was a kid. Even though, living in Canada the match match was pretty early, we'd have a special breakfast and all, and watch the match with 7 of us squeezed and on and around the sofa. At that young age, Borg defined for me what a real champion and sportsman was. Fought for every point, yet never winged or complained. The spectacle he provided was his skill and spirit, not outbursts of bad temper. Great memories!
I had a similar experince. Summer holidays in the south of Sweden. No TV but in our grandmothers house. Wibledon finals we're allowed to watch. Superstrong memories, even of rain intermissions....
He’s a game changer. Top 5 all time Quality over quantity. 11 slams in short time span. Won on slow clay and fast grass 3 years in a row in a short turnaround. This record will never be broken. Made topspin popular.
One of best players of all time. He won all those majors and retired at 25. He did it all with a wooden racquet which were much less forgiving than today’s equipment. Incredibly quick around the court, he could serve and volley and play from the baseline.
His achievement of the French Wimbledon double hat trick on vastly different slower high bouncing clay and low bouncing grass is unmatched even in today's homogenized conditions today (much faster clay and higher bouncing and overall slower grass). Only Nadal (2008,2010), Federer (2009) and Djokovic (2021) have even accomplished this. Absolutely stellar achievement. One of a kind
@@dansmith9724 I'm aware that laver has won 2 calender grand slams, but did he ever win the USO on hard? Borg reached slam finals on clay, grass and hard for 3 years if I'm not mistaken. Yes I agree I should have mentioned laver too
@@z1az285 Laver never really had a fair chance to win USO on Hard Court. From 1968-1974 USO was played on Grass From 1975-1977 it was played on Clay From 1978 onwards it was played on Hard Court. Laver retired in 1979 at the age of 41. He was 40 in 1978 when USO was played on Hard Court But Laver played his last USO in 1975. Interesting fact: From 1975 to 1978, till R32 USO was Best of 3 sets and Best of 5 sets from R16 onwards. In 1977, even R16 was Best of 3 sets From 1973 to 1975, till R64 RG was Best of 3 sets and Best of 5 sets from R32 onwards.
It is entirely possible that he was the best player ever, but we'll never know how much more he would have achieved. I was crushed when he retired at age 26.
Borg learnt his way of play himself, no academy. Started against a garage door with a heavy racket made for adults. He fought everybody including trainers who wanted to change him.
The garage door / back alley wall was the only hitting partner most of us had growing up in the early 70’s and I was blessed to be able to save up for a second hand Dunlop Maxply from my paper round. Weighed 395 grams.., I weighed 9 stone, two handed forehand and backhand was the only way to wield the beast. These days I play with no more than a 320 gram bat. What he did was something else, topspin. No one broke it down technically like Borg did, strung his rackets so tight some of them popped the frame in his bag on a hot day. At his best at the base line on a hard court, all most of us knew was gravelly dusty hard back then. Wimbledon grass! He worked out a way to play on the fast grass to make it a hard court. First week he’d take risks, get to the net and play the fast court game against the lower ranked players, rely on his fitness and speed. Second week once the grass was dry and worn the surface got more like a soft clay court and he could play his baseline game again against the better players in the draw. Total genius but a bit more to it than a garage door and battling his coach, changed tennis forever.
@@ianseaweed Yes, my point was to credit him for reaching that far very much due to his own will. His top spin forehand was influenced by table tennis (his father was a skilled player which won that first racket Borg used in a table tennis competition!- he selected between that racket and a fishing rod, he glanced at his son and took the racket instead) and his backhand on his background in hockey. He made the blueprint of play which we still find in top players of today as well.
His father also (jokingly) handed Borg the racket saying: "- Now you must promise me you win Wimbledon!". " -I promise, thank you!" Borg said. He kept that promise, 5 times over :))
Where tennis began for me. 11 titles at 25 - we'll never know what he could've accomplished. And all this without partaking in the Australian Open either (bar one time in 74, I think). Surprised not to see that mentioned. We talk about the Big 3 nowadays but the Big 3 back then was Connors, McEnroe and Borg. It was the start of Superstar tennis imho...
Agreed! I have zero doubt that had he played the AO during the height of his success, he would have won it at least twice. Then again, I would have thought he would have won the USO at least twice, especially when it was on clay.
We do know what Borg accomplished. He was the best player of his time. Tilden was the best of the 20s, Gonzalez of the 50s, Laver of 60s. Borg may be the best wood racket player ever. But space age rackets killed the serve n volley big game and led to rocket servers and very tall men hitting winners from the baseline. Borg against Mac, Laver vs Rosewall, Becker vs Agassi, and Sampras against Agassi, produced some great yin and yang tennis.
Borg won his 11th grand slam singles title one day after he turned 25 years old (winning the 1981 French Open on June 7th, 1981). No male player has won as many GS singles titles by that age. Rafa is the closest with 10 GS titles by that age, Roger had won 8 by that age, Sampras had won 7 and Novak had won just 5. The fact that Borg won more than anyone at that early age is enough for him to be seen as the best young men's player ever... but there is even more reason to consider Borg as a legitimate contender as the best men's player ever. Bjorn Borg only played at the Australian Open ONE time (back when he was just 17 years old). There were EIGHT Ausie Opens that he did not play in during his prime years... and he probably would have been the favorite to win the event in 6 of them. Plus he missed the French Open in 1977 which he also would have been the favorite to win. So Borg "could" have won 7 more GS titles by the time he had won his final GS title (the day after he turned 25 years old) which would have put him at EIGHTEEN GS singles titles. Imagine if Borg had won 18 GS singles titles by the time he just turned 25. That could have actually happened. THAT... is how good Borg was.
@@stuartcallaghan3285 - You are right, Stuart. Bjorn Borg was born on June 6th, 1956, He won his last grand slam singles title (the 1981 French Open) on June 7th, 1981. So he was still 24 throughout most of the 1981 French Open - and he turned 25 the day before he won his last GS title. Thanks for making me re-check his age when he won his last GS title. I have updated all the info in my original post above.
Amazing that Borg and Evert appeared in the same era and dominated with similar styles and temperaments. Icy composure blended with merciless killer instinct.
He was and still is the greatest. No one can do the THE IMPOSSIBLE DOUBLE. I mean winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back...No one not even Rafa, Federer or even Djokovic...The abbility to do that ranks him into the greatest athletes of all time, together with Mohamed Ali
Actually Federer 2009, Nadal 2010 and Djokovic 2021, once each. I think after Borg until 2009 Agassi was the only player who even had both titles in his resume. Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras could only do one or the other.
You can't say enough good things about Borg. He was the best 'point against' player ever. Whenever he was 30-40 or advantage down he would invariably win that point. He could also spin a backhand from the back of the court and land it at his opponent's feet just over the net and I've never seen anyone else do that. He was also fitter and concentrated better than anyone else, but above all he 'played the game' and because he played the game we were all the better for it.
things like this would be done even more often if they weren't statistically fixing draws to favor fed or nadal vs djokovic in the tournament, or they weren't cancelling the tournament for questionable medical reasons
Now that's the real GOAT. 11 GS without even playing in AO by the age of 26 against legends like Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, etc. A player who also drastically changed the game (baseliner, 2-handed backhand, topspin, etc). Now that's what GOAT's are made of imho, not players who stick around the game in their late 30s trying to accumulate stats.
@@silentvoice59 Last I checked Federer was 32+ years old in the past decade. Nadal was never dominated on clay. Plus both these guys were more injury plagued than Novak. Also earlier when Novak was at his peak he never had any real young talent to fight against: Nishikori, Raonic, Dimitrov and the rest of the lostgen were very weak. Novak accumulated his stats after 2018 when he got half his GS.
@my8osprive Lol you conveniently failed to mention Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, heck even Tsonga was pretty decent...so Djokovic faced Nadal, Federer (he was 29 when Novak peak started in 2011), Wawrinka, Murray, Del potro and its a weak era??? Are you saying Federer era was stronger at his peak?
totally lame! wimbledon was also slow....with those weak wooden racquets! actually it's just a different type of tennis game, but his massive failure when coming back playing against new racquets, stronger hitters, tells you his traditional game wasn't going to cut it. How much success did McEnroe have after conditions changed? A whole lot less. Neither of their games were a dominant force into the later 80s/early 90s.
totally lame! wimbledon was also slow....with those weak wooden racquets! actually it's just a different type of tennis game, but his massive failure when coming back playing against new racquets, stronger hitters, tells you his traditional game wasn't going to cut it. How much success did McEnroe have after conditions changed? A whole lot less. Neither of their games were a dominant force into the later 80s/early 90s.
Borg was beautiful as a player. He dominated through great strokes fantastic conditioning and tremendous footwork. Like his racquets Borg was strung too tight. He could have kept winning French Open titles at the very least for the foreseeable future in 1982 and 1983.
It's impossible to say who's best given the changes to everything from equipment to playing surfaces, but head-to-head sport is really defined by rivalries. We've been blessed to have the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic era, but Borg v McEnroe was a lot more, let's say, colourful, and such a massive contrast of styles both in play and personality. All of them have left a massive imprint on the history of the game.
I really enjoyed your video. All those shorts you showed Borg wearing were the perfect length for him. He was so well-groomed and well-dressed in those days that he keeps those old film clips from looking dated, whereas McEnroe and some of the other players appear to be wearing their hair too long, even though that was the fashion in those days.
He retired because he was so wired up. It surprised me some years ago to learn about his regime and superstitions around playing at Wimbledon for example, it sounded surreal re his fanatical adherence to every little thing leading up to a match and being there, the car taking him to the courts, the driver etc etc etc, it was literally mind blowing the minute detail that he had to have 'just right'. During that '75-'81 period I was glued to the TV watching his results and his career, it was incredible, he was the 'good guy', what a majestic player and personality he was then.
Most of the tour players are superstitious, just look at Nadal and his routine after every point and his water bottle positioning. Borg was a superstar at age 16. I think he just got tired of the game when he retired.
@@jerseyneil1 Have to agree, he just didn't want to play with the lifestyle that goes with it I guess also. Fed, Rafa and Novak are exceptions to that however, and that's amazing to me.
I'd love to see a similar video on Monica Seles if there isn't one (or see a link if there is one). For a different reason her career was cut short, but her impact on the game and her dominance at the height of her career is incredibly admirable even to this day. Seles came along when women's tennis had a new massively dominant player (Graf) and unceremoniously dethroned her. It is both a shame and a loss to both women that Seles had to leave the game robbing herself of GS titles and Graf the opportunity to adapt and potentially become an even better player to counter Seles' dominance.
Monica Seles won a staggering 7 of the last 8 grand slam tournaments that she played in... before she was stabbed. SEVEN of eight!! That's an unreal 88% winning percentage. And the one time she didn't win... she finished second. She won SEVEN grand slam singles titles... AS A TEENAGER - and won her 8th at age 20 and 2 months. When she was stabbed... she had won the last three Australian Opens, the last three French Opens and the last two US Opens. She was DOMINATING the women's game. It's hard to understand just how GREAT she was at such a young age. She was the 3 time defending champ at both the Australian Open and the French Open... plus the 2 time defending champion at the US Open - and had just turned 20 - before some lunatic derailed her career.
Moreover, I used to resent that Graf got more titles because Seles was robbed so young, but in a real sense Graf was robbed of her greatest rival. Who knows how amazing Graf might have become if Seles had dominated her much longer. How the rise of Navrtilova pushed Everett, how Everett pushed Billie-Jean. How Agassi pushed Sampras, how Edberg pushed Becker. Tennis is replete with examples of an extremely dominate player who has to become that much better just to stay with a rival that just comes along and attempts to dethrone him/her..
totally off, she came back from her tragedy, won majors after her tragedy. When she fully grew into her woman's body, she was significantly less athletic than Graf. Lots of females have peak performance in many sporting events as teens vs 20s 30s. Wake up and smell the coffee
@@aBeatleFan4ever totally off, she came back from her tragedy, won majors after her tragedy. When she fully grew into her woman's body, she was significantly less athletic than Graf. Lots of females have peak performance in many sporting events as teens vs 20s 30s. Wake up and smell the coffee
An incredible legend probably hardly known by the youth today, especially regarding his outstanding records, especially presented in the manner in this video. Thanks a million Tennis Plus for this superb video. Cheers! M
Borg at ages 22-23 was unbeatable. He ran down everything, never made an error, and the more you pressured him, the better he played. But that was all in the era of wooden rackets.
pretty certain he is the #1 reason I have always held tennis in such high esteem. Turned 13 in 1978 and he was the coolest dude. His matches with Connors were spellbinding. AND I saw him pictured with Cheryl Tiegs so obviously he was a role model.
Bjorn Borg was my favorite tennis player. I became so anxious when he played vs McEnroe. Their rivalry was epic. They are 7-7 in official matches but I remember Borg won in Anversa/Antwerp (Belgium) a golden racket beating up John 3 matches to 1 or something like that. My cousin is called Bjorn in his honor 😂
11 grand slams by the time he was 26yrs old I think that puts him up there with anyone when you consider the top 3 although Roger has just retired are playing into their late 30’s
Probably the fastest player ever.Amazing court coverage. With todays technology he would’ve impossible to beat on clay, except against Nadal.When he retired I quit watching pro tennis until I discovered Rafa.With todays technology that would have been a match I’d pay to see.
Although he “officially“ retired at 26, he actually walked away mentally at 25. He fulfilled a couple of contractual obligations that following year only because he had to. It was a different time back then for sure but as super talented as he was he did not seem to have a love for the game and the competition that subsequent stars have had such as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. If he had, just think about the number of slams he would have won.
I agree, but maybe he initially had the love of the game and got disgusted by the stress to incarnate "iceman". Maybe it was a role for him, that he learnt to become because it was the best way to win but was not natural, and being this guy was mentally exhausting. Agassi talks about how you can become fed up with tennis, while still being deeply in love with the game in his book. I believe that the enormous difference between the 3 GOATs and other legends (Sampras, Borg, Mac etc) is that these 3 aliens do not have to play a role, they are purely natural champions in their mindsets and they love this lifestyle. That is why they last(ed) so long, much longer than others.
Chrissie was ahead of Borg in using 2 handed bh. The ice maiden and iceberg. Both my idols in quietness and proper decorum. Borg is d 1 who i 1st saw using d topspin lob. Now, i see carlos as part of his arsenal.
Nadal's uncle Toni said Borg was his favorite player growing up and he coached Nadal to do a lot of the same things Borg did. I consider Nadal to be a modern day version of Borg, if Borg had been born 30 years later and been left handed. Interesting that they have almost the exact same birthday, 30 years apart, and that Borg won 11 slams and Nadal 22, which is a double 11. I consider Borg the best player ever with the wood and Nadal the best ever with the modern equipment. But still give my respect to Laver, Djokovic, Federer, Lendl and McEnroe. All super great players and worthy of GOAT consideration. Novak especially.
Nadal was less dominative on grass court ( Wimbledon) grass and I think if iam not wrong his wins were not consecutive but anyways good comparison statistically and above all Bjorg retired early and there were competitors in the game of tennis in that era
Reading through the comments here it is obvious that Borg was dearly loved by people everywhere, he was larger than the sport. Borg was such a stark contrast to the other top players he dethroned - prickly, combative, dudes like Nastase and Connors and then McEnroe - so cool, so unflappable, such an admirable on-court demeanor and the guy just looked amazing. He NEVER showed any emotion, and he NEVER got tired or disheartened in the least - he was all business like a machine but so elegant at the same time, he was like a king on the court, above it all but without and hint of hubris, and the way he floated over the court was beautiful to see, so effortlessly fast, nobody could hit past him. I was about 18 when he exploded onto the pro scene. I had heard about the Swedish golden boy and his army of groupies and the first time I watched him I was expecting to hate-watch this pretty boy but as soon as he walked onto the court my attitude changed 180 degrees - he had that kind of impact, just to see the guy walk out there and start hitting! and he instantly became my sport idol. I got serious about tennis (if you could find an open court in the mid-seventies. Tennis was THAT hot thanks to Borg and Connors.) and changed to the extreme western grip to get that high, topspin ball that gave you so much net clearance. This is routine today but not then - the "continental" grip and a flat ball was the norm. I would have gone to the two-handed backhand too but it was too late for me to change. I watched each one of his Wimbledon wins and thanks to his popularity, NBC (US TV) finally started showing Wimby live at 9 am on Sunday mornings (Breakfast at Wimbledon) and this was SO much fun. Getting up early on Sunday to watch Bjorn on center court was such a novel experience, magical. Live sports at its best. Seeing him finally get the upper hand over Connors and take the #1 ranking was so gratifying and that 5-set win in 1980 over McEnroe, with the famous tiebreaker 4th set, was EPIC. That was the talk of the sport's world - everybody was talking about it - tennis was HOT. And then . . .he lost to Mac at the next Wimby final, and again at the US open and just quit. Retired, at 26. 26! WTF? Talk about a let-down. I was so disappointed. It made no sense! He seemed like the last guy you would expect to burn out. And of all people to cede #1 to but effing Johnny Mac, the biggest a-hole to ever swing a racket. (he's cool now but THEN he was insufferably selfish and disagreeable. I would have paid good money to punch his face a few times). That was it. The dream was over. There was a brief glimmer of hope when he tried to make a comeback some years later, with his precious wood racket, LOL, but he could hardly win a set.
It's a pity that Björn retired so young. He the hero of my early tennis-years and truly the godfather of moderern tennis. But his style was completly adepted on the then-material, wheras Mac and Jimbo managed the change to modern rackets he did not. When Björn tried a comeback in the 90ies, he still played his wooden racket and had no chance even against low-level players.
Borg and McEnroe is the best rivalry of all time. Yes there have been a lot of rivalries over the decades but nothing topped these 2. They fought wars on the court.
It's difficult to overstate how big Borg was back in the late 70's, which is when I started to play tennis. He was like Federer, Nadal and the Beatles rolled into one guy.
Borg & Vilas invented heavy topspin. Borg did not have a western grip on his forehand. He had same grip as Federer. The role model for Nadals heavy extreme topspin was former No 6 Kent Carlsson. 😉🎾🎾🎾
I remember one journalist asking him after winning a five-setter: "Were you ever nervous?" Borg replied: "No, no-one can play that good for five sets". For me, this incarnates the beauty of tennis styles, where we have had shot-making geniuses like Federer, Sampras, McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, and Kyrgios who can win any point at any time. If they play at their best, they usually win. Nadal, after being bagled by Federer simply concluded "When he's like that, all you can do is hit a winning first serve". However, it is very hard to play at high level for an extended period of time. Enter the defensive, mentally tough grinders like Borg, Agassi, Nadal, Djokovic, Hewitt, Wilander, and Ruud. The rivalry against each other becomes the best entertainment tennis can offer. Combined with the elegant scoring system in tennis, eternal questions arise: "Can he play at that level in four sets?" "Can I grind, slow down the tempo, and get my opponent out of his rhythm before his lead is too large?" "How do I start making shots again? Where's my confidence so that I can start going for my shots again? Can I get going before his lead is too large?" Tennis is such a beautiful mental game.
He changed the game like so many of tennis luminaries and was certainly one of the greatest. His win/loss % should be seen thru the lens of leaving tennis at 26 yrs old though as he didn't compete in his 30's or even 40's (like Conners and Federer). I started playing tennis in 1984 so I missed the Borg era, but since my idol was McEnroe, I certainly have heard a great deal about him, his game and his rivalry with McEnroe. I only regret coming to tennis after their rivalry and also at the tail end of McEnroe's dominance (and Everett's as well). But the late 80's and 90's were also golden years for tennis, especially but not exclusively American tennis. The USA had the big 4 (Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Chang), but we tennis nuts also got to enjoy Becker, Edberg, Wilander, Lendl, Pioline, Forget, Tim Henman, Hewett, Cash and Rafter, etc.). The era of the BIG three (Federer, Nadal Djokovic) has been spectacular, but maybe the owner of the one statistic that always stuck in my head was Sampras (whose game I tried to emulate but wasn't my fav player). Sampras (and I believe now Nadal) won grand slam titles in his teens, 20's and 30's. Even Federer didn't do that.
There are factual errors. Author claims that Borg had two winning streaks of 46 and 48 matches. But this is not true, if you look at full official records. Probably author discounts some tournaments where Borg lost. Actual best winning streak of Bjorn is 41 match. He shares 5-6 place with Federer in Open Era. Vilas, Lendl, Djokovic and McEnroe had longer streaks. The longest is Vilas - 46 matches. Also IMO at least partially the reason for his retirement is a disrespect of the French Open officials, who claimed that he had to play qualification in 1982. Borg also suffered severely because US Open organizers knew about his less than ideal sight in the artificial light and exploited this with carefully planned scheduling - putting many of his decisive matches at night.
In Borg's final full year of playing on the Tour (1981), he played in 3 of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments - having not participated in the Australian Open for most of his career - and reached the finals in all 3 of them, winning the French Open. Borg's burn-out year of playing tennis would be most all other tennis Pros' definition of a career year on the Tour......
A the time he was quicker than the others, he had better ball control than the others, he was over all more fit than the others. And he looked better, I'm actually surprised that he never won the US and as far as I know, he never competed in the AO. Wilander made that tournament shine again.
He won the last 3 of the 5 Grand Slams he played and lost the other 2 to McEnroe in the finals. He could have played the Australian Open 6 times and won at least 4. Statistically I have to say Borg was the GOAT.
Borg were amazing. But I dont think he ever played to the best of his abillities. He resigned at 27? I think he got tired of being a teenage star idol. I dont think the idolizing off him matched what he felt. He could probably have won a lot more Grand Slams. But he chose retirement. Respect
You mentioned SIX unique records yet the photographs only showed three readable ones… What are the remaining three? THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPERB ANALYSIS OF THE GREAT ICEBORG 😊
All non-Swedish commentators miss a crucial aspect of the Björn Borg-mystery - the fact that he was from Södertälje, if you know that town you have the solution.
Many players skipped the Australian Open back then. Organizers had it at the end of the year, and players didn’t want to be away from their families at Christmas. Many of the draws were only 48 or 32 players fir men and women and there are some sketchy winners in that era.
@@streaming5332 Also because Borg was interested in the Grand Slam. But because he never won the US Open he never felt the need to travel to Australia.
McEnroe planted the seeds of doubt in his mind by beating him back to back at Wimbledon and US open in 1981. He felt he could never be #1 with him around. Similar to what Sampras did to Becker. Started beating him regularly and for some players it may be hard to swallow your pride and keep playing in the knowledge you’re no longer the best.
I think it was more of a mental issue with Borg who was quite a complex personality and who at times has suffered from depression. I watched the games you mention and actually Borg played quite poorly in both matches by his own high standards. Quite simply though I think he'd had enough by that time, he'd had years of competive tennis (even though he was still quite young), he'd been the best in the world, and he simply didn't want to do it anymore.
@@johngreenhalgh4428 sadly you are right; today Borg has returned mentally balanced and serene, it is a joy to see him and McEnroe who are friends, but when he retired he had paid the price of a concentration and of a series of sacrifices which in my opinion were superhuman, McEnroe let off some steam , Borg kept everything inside. According to the declarations of the Italian singer with whom he had a relationship (Loredana Bertè) he had fallen into the vortex of drugs and also had other vices; it is true that sometimes after a relationship everything is said, but I fear that at the basis there was his mental crisis, and I had seen the first symptoms in the match lost by McEnroe, played with unusual haste: he was no longer able to be him.
Borg was amazing if he hadn’t retired he may have one two-four more French and another 2 or more Wimbledon…I wish players of that era Connors Mac etc played the French and Australian-more often their total majors would have been in double figures
If his agent had not encouraged him to play World Team Tennis in 1977, which negatively impacted his conditioning and resulted in a shoulder injury, he would have almost certainly won the US Open on clay.
My idol growing up in the 70’s. I’m 60 now and still have great memories of my favourite tennis player. For me still the best. His demeanour, fashion sense and charisma. 🤩🙏🏾
Borg practically reinvented the game of tennis. Before him players were using serve volley, one handed back hands and mainly sliced backhands. Borg introduced severe topspin on both wings plus he had amazing movement and towards the end of his time he developed a very powerful serve. Jimmy Connors developed on similar lines although he hit his two handed backhand much flatter. The modern game owes much to these two greats.
It's interesting that he is known as a baseliner but watching old matches of Borg , not just on grass but even clay, he came to the net far more than any of the players today. He had pretty good hands at the net.
@@dansmith9724 He also had an excellent big first serve which was underrated. Nadal who is sort of his modern analogue has great hands at the net and developed into an excellent volleyer has never consistently served as well as Borg except for some years. Borgs serve was a factor on grass and indoor carpet.
This is the correct reply.
There little doubt ; he was one of the greats - for reasons highlighted here ....
The modern game owes more to Ivan Lendl, the father of modern tennis, whose style, forehand and power game would hold up today.
He's the reason I picked up a tennis racquet in my youth in the late 70's. While I emulated the playing styles of players like Sampras and Federer, I'm forever indebted to him for loving tennis very strongly to this day.
you must be very old now?
Me too! As were so many swedish kids back then! 😊
SAME! When he won his 5th consecutive Wimbledon in 1980, I was hooked! Obviously, I was crushed when he retired soon thereafter.
He was the Golden Nugget to tennis popularity and a Gentleman , with great style uniqueness
Even Fred Perry tennis wear was massive back then, and his tennis wear, and his was it donnay his tennis racket
My parents would gather the whole family for the Wimbledon final match when I was a kid. Even though, living in Canada the match match was pretty early, we'd have a special breakfast and all, and watch the match with 7 of us squeezed and on and around the sofa. At that young age, Borg defined for me what a real champion and sportsman was. Fought for every point, yet never winged or complained. The spectacle he provided was his skill and spirit, not outbursts of bad temper. Great memories!
I had a similar experince. Summer holidays in the south of Sweden. No TV but in our grandmothers house. Wibledon finals we're allowed to watch. Superstrong memories, even of rain intermissions....
Borg Was Always My Favorite A Outstanding Player ,A True Legendary Iconic Figure 💓🙏
He’s a game changer. Top 5 all time Quality over quantity. 11 slams in short time span. Won on slow clay and fast grass 3 years in a row in a short turnaround. This record will never be broken. Made topspin popular.
One of best players of all time. He won all those majors and retired at 25. He did it all with a wooden racquet which were much less forgiving than today’s equipment. Incredibly quick around the court, he could serve and volley and play from the baseline.
His achievement of the French Wimbledon double hat trick on vastly different slower high bouncing clay and low bouncing grass is unmatched even in today's homogenized conditions today (much faster clay and higher bouncing and overall slower grass). Only Nadal (2008,2010), Federer (2009) and Djokovic (2021) have even accomplished this. Absolutely stellar achievement. One of a kind
Laver in 1969 plus 2 more slams that year.
@@dansmith9724 I'm aware that laver has won 2 calender grand slams, but did he ever win the USO on hard? Borg reached slam finals on clay, grass and hard for 3 years if I'm not mistaken. Yes I agree I should have mentioned laver too
Djokavic won the French Open twice.
@@andrewgreener And? Did he win Wimbledon in 2016? Nope.
@@z1az285
Laver never really had a fair chance to win USO on Hard Court.
From 1968-1974 USO was played on Grass
From 1975-1977 it was played on Clay
From 1978 onwards it was played on Hard Court.
Laver retired in 1979 at the age of 41. He was 40 in 1978 when USO was played on Hard Court
But Laver played his last USO in 1975.
Interesting fact:
From 1975 to 1978, till R32 USO was Best of 3 sets and Best of 5 sets from R16 onwards.
In 1977, even R16 was Best of 3 sets
From 1973 to 1975, till R64 RG was Best of 3 sets and Best of 5 sets from R32 onwards.
It is entirely possible that he was the best player ever, but we'll never know how much more he would have achieved. I was crushed when he retired at age 26.
Borg learnt his way of play himself, no academy. Started against a garage door with a heavy racket made for adults. He fought everybody including trainers who wanted to change him.
The garage door / back alley wall was the only hitting partner most of us had growing up in the early 70’s and I was blessed to be able to save up for a second hand Dunlop Maxply from my paper round. Weighed 395 grams.., I weighed 9 stone, two handed forehand and backhand was the only way to wield the beast. These days I play with no more than a 320 gram bat.
What he did was something else, topspin. No one broke it down technically like Borg did, strung his rackets so tight some of them popped the frame in his bag on a hot day. At his best at the base line on a hard court, all most of us knew was gravelly dusty hard back then. Wimbledon grass! He worked out a way to play on the fast grass to make it a hard court.
First week he’d take risks, get to the net and play the fast court game against the lower ranked players, rely on his fitness and speed. Second week once the grass was dry and worn the surface got more like a soft clay court and he could play his baseline game again against the better players in the draw.
Total genius but a bit more to it than a garage door and battling his coach, changed tennis forever.
@@ianseaweed Yes, my point was to credit him for reaching that far very much due to his own will. His top spin forehand was influenced by table tennis (his father was a skilled player which won that first racket Borg used in a table tennis competition!- he selected between that racket and a fishing rod, he glanced at his son and took the racket instead) and his backhand on his background in hockey. He made the blueprint of play which we still find in top players of today as well.
His father also (jokingly) handed Borg the racket saying: "- Now you must promise me you win Wimbledon!". " -I promise, thank you!" Borg said. He kept that promise, 5 times over :))
Where tennis began for me. 11 titles at 25 - we'll never know what he could've accomplished. And all this without partaking in the Australian Open either (bar one time in 74, I think). Surprised not to see that mentioned.
We talk about the Big 3 nowadays but the Big 3 back then was Connors, McEnroe and Borg. It was the start of Superstar tennis imho...
Agreed! I have zero doubt that had he played the AO during the height of his success, he would have won it at least twice. Then again, I would have thought he would have won the USO at least twice, especially when it was on clay.
We do know what Borg accomplished. He was the best player of his time. Tilden was the best of the 20s, Gonzalez of the 50s, Laver of 60s.
Borg may be the best wood racket player ever.
But space age rackets killed the serve n volley big game and led to rocket servers and very tall men hitting winners from the baseline.
Borg against Mac, Laver vs Rosewall, Becker vs Agassi, and Sampras against Agassi, produced some great yin and yang tennis.
Borg won his 11th grand slam singles title one day after he turned 25 years old (winning the 1981 French Open on June 7th, 1981). No male player has won as many GS singles titles by that age. Rafa is the closest with 10 GS titles by that age, Roger had won 8 by that age, Sampras had won 7 and Novak had won just 5. The fact that Borg won more than anyone at that early age is enough for him to be seen as the best young men's player ever... but there is even more reason to consider Borg as a legitimate contender as the best men's player ever. Bjorn Borg only played at the Australian Open ONE time (back when he was just 17 years old). There were EIGHT Ausie Opens that he did not play in during his prime years... and he probably would have been the favorite to win the event in 6 of them. Plus he missed the French Open in 1977 which he also would have been the favorite to win. So Borg "could" have won 7 more GS titles by the time he had won his final GS title (the day after he turned 25 years old) which would have put him at EIGHTEEN GS singles titles. Imagine if Borg had won 18 GS singles titles by the time he just turned 25. That could have actually happened. THAT... is how good Borg was.
I think he was still aged 25 when he won his last slam. 26 when he announced his retirement a year later.
@@stuartcallaghan3285 - You are right, Stuart. Bjorn Borg was born on June 6th, 1956, He won his last grand slam singles title (the 1981 French Open) on June 7th, 1981. So he was still 24 throughout most of the 1981 French Open - and he turned 25 the day before he won his last GS title. Thanks for making me re-check his age when he won his last GS title. I have updated all the info in my original post above.
You are spot on. Unbelievable. He was barely 25 I remember when he won his 11th. Extraordinary 👍👍
& RETIRED YOUNG>>COULD HAVE WON SEVERAL MORE & THEN MARRIED A ROMANIAN VAMPIRE*
And he made the US open finals 4 times.
Amazing that Borg and Evert appeared in the same era and dominated with similar styles and temperaments. Icy composure blended with merciless killer instinct.
❤The man was a joy to watch a master of game and mind
He was LEGENDARY
My dad really enjoyed Borg's play style. He introduced me to him when I was a wee little boy.
He was and still is the greatest. No one can do the THE IMPOSSIBLE DOUBLE. I mean winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back...No one not even Rafa, Federer or even Djokovic...The abbility to do that ranks him into the greatest athletes of all time, together with Mohamed Ali
You fool.. Carlitos and Rafa weren't born yet.
Actually Federer 2009, Nadal 2010 and Djokovic 2021, once each.
I think after Borg until 2009 Agassi was the only player who even had both titles in his resume. Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras could only do one or the other.
You can't say enough good things about Borg. He was the best 'point against' player ever. Whenever he was 30-40 or advantage down he would invariably win that point. He could also spin a backhand from the back of the court and land it at his opponent's feet just over the net and I've never seen anyone else do that. He was also fitter and concentrated better than anyone else, but above all he 'played the game' and because he played the game we were all the better for it.
things like this would be done even more often if they weren't statistically fixing draws to favor fed or nadal vs djokovic in the tournament, or they weren't cancelling the tournament for questionable medical reasons
Alcaraz 2024 checking in😊😊
Now that's the real GOAT. 11 GS without even playing in AO by the age of 26 against legends like Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, etc. A player who also drastically changed the game (baseliner, 2-handed backhand, topspin, etc). Now that's what GOAT's are made of imho, not players who stick around the game in their late 30s trying to accumulate stats.
This is called consistency. Thats where goats were made from. Borg was a powerful guest but will never be the goat.
@@dmteternity5765 Longevity doesn't make one a GOAT especially during today's weakest era of all.
@my8osprive weakest era? Didnt Novak dominate last decade when Federer, Nadal, wawrinka, Murray were playing?
@@silentvoice59 Last I checked Federer was 32+ years old in the past decade.
Nadal was never dominated on clay. Plus both these guys were more injury plagued than Novak.
Also earlier when Novak was at his peak he never had any real young talent to fight against: Nishikori, Raonic, Dimitrov and the rest of the lostgen were very weak.
Novak accumulated his stats after 2018 when he got half his GS.
@my8osprive Lol you conveniently failed to mention Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, heck even Tsonga was pretty decent...so Djokovic faced Nadal, Federer (he was 29 when Novak peak started in 2011), Wawrinka, Murray, Del potro and its a weak era??? Are you saying Federer era was stronger at his peak?
Hands down one of the best players who ever lived. His relaxed and natural style is unique in all of tennis history.
Borg is the GOAT because he won 6 times on the SLOWEST surface (Paris) and 5 times on the FASTEST surface (Wimbledon). Noone else have done that.
And he made the US open finals 4 times.
totally lame! wimbledon was also slow....with those weak wooden racquets! actually it's just a different type of tennis game, but his massive failure when coming back playing against new racquets, stronger hitters, tells you his traditional game wasn't going to cut it. How much success did McEnroe have after conditions changed? A whole lot less. Neither of their games were a dominant force into the later 80s/early 90s.
2:22 this was A LOT more difficult back then, when the W grass was a lot faster. over the last 20 years, grass and hard have been slowed down.
Do u have any proof that grass was so faster those days??
totally lame! wimbledon was also slow....with those weak wooden racquets! actually it's just a different type of tennis game, but his massive failure when coming back playing against new racquets, stronger hitters, tells you his traditional game wasn't going to cut it. How much success did McEnroe have after conditions changed? A whole lot less. Neither of their games were a dominant force into the later 80s/early 90s.
Borg was beautiful as a player. He dominated through great strokes fantastic conditioning and tremendous footwork. Like his racquets Borg was strung too tight. He could have kept winning French Open titles at the very least for the foreseeable future in 1982 and 1983.
Today graphite racket cannot strung so tight likes Borg's wooden Donnay.
It's impossible to say who's best given the changes to everything from equipment to playing surfaces, but head-to-head sport is really defined by rivalries. We've been blessed to have the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic era, but Borg v McEnroe was a lot more, let's say, colourful, and such a massive contrast of styles both in play and personality. All of them have left a massive imprint on the history of the game.
Agreed. Borg vs Mac pitted two contrasting styles.
Laver vs Rosewall is another unique rivalry for the ages.
I really enjoyed your video. All those shorts you showed Borg wearing were the perfect length for him. He was so well-groomed and well-dressed in those days that he keeps those old film clips from looking dated, whereas McEnroe and some of the other players appear to be wearing their hair too long, even though that was the fashion in those days.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Borg was amazing! He made the whole country proud af ⭐⭐⭐
He retired because he was so wired up. It surprised me some years ago to learn about his regime and superstitions around playing at Wimbledon for example, it sounded surreal re his fanatical adherence to every little thing leading up to a match and being there, the car taking him to the courts, the driver etc etc etc, it was literally mind blowing the minute detail that he had to have 'just right'. During that '75-'81 period I was glued to the TV watching his results and his career, it was incredible, he was the 'good guy', what a majestic player and personality he was then.
Most of the tour players are superstitious, just look at Nadal and his routine after every point and his water bottle positioning. Borg was a superstar at age 16. I think he just got tired of the game when he retired.
@@jerseyneil1 Have to agree, he just didn't want to play with the lifestyle that goes with it I guess also. Fed, Rafa and Novak are exceptions to that however, and that's amazing to me.
Lucky enough to see him play in Toronto when I was a teen. My idol.
I'd love to see a similar video on Monica Seles if there isn't one (or see a link if there is one). For a different reason her career was cut short, but her impact on the game and her dominance at the height of her career is incredibly admirable even to this day. Seles came along when women's tennis had a new massively dominant player (Graf) and unceremoniously dethroned her. It is both a shame and a loss to both women that Seles had to leave the game robbing herself of GS titles and Graf the opportunity to adapt and potentially become an even better player to counter Seles' dominance.
Monica Seles won a staggering 7 of the last 8 grand slam tournaments that she played in... before she was stabbed. SEVEN of eight!! That's an unreal 88% winning percentage. And the one time she didn't win... she finished second. She won SEVEN grand slam singles titles... AS A TEENAGER - and won her 8th at age 20 and 2 months. When she was stabbed... she had won the last three Australian Opens, the last three French Opens and the last two US Opens. She was DOMINATING the women's game. It's hard to understand just how GREAT she was at such a young age. She was the 3 time defending champ at both the Australian Open and the French Open... plus the 2 time defending champion at the US Open - and had just turned 20 - before some lunatic derailed her career.
Moreover, I used to resent that Graf got more titles because Seles was robbed so young, but in a real sense Graf was robbed of her greatest rival. Who knows how amazing Graf might have become if Seles had dominated her much longer. How the rise of Navrtilova pushed Everett, how Everett pushed Billie-Jean. How Agassi pushed Sampras, how Edberg pushed Becker. Tennis is replete with examples of an extremely dominate player who has to become that much better just to stay with a rival that just comes along and attempts to dethrone him/her..
@@steinbockguy Evert
totally off, she came back from her tragedy, won majors after her tragedy. When she fully grew into her woman's body, she was significantly less athletic than Graf. Lots of females have peak performance in many sporting events as teens vs 20s 30s. Wake up and smell the coffee
@@aBeatleFan4ever totally off, she came back from her tragedy, won majors after her tragedy. When she fully grew into her woman's body, she was significantly less athletic than Graf. Lots of females have peak performance in many sporting events as teens vs 20s 30s. Wake up and smell the coffee
An incredible legend probably hardly known by the youth today, especially regarding his outstanding records, especially presented in the manner in this video.
Thanks a million Tennis Plus for this superb video.
Cheers!
M
Others might have more majors and better stats but for coolness and swagger BORG will always be my all time fave...tennis' first rock star !
I saw him playing tennis in Rio de Janeiro - must have been good at his time. Greetings to all from one of the most beautiful places in the world 🌞🎾🤗👍
Borg at ages 22-23 was unbeatable. He ran down everything, never made an error, and the more you pressured him, the better he played. But that was all in the era of wooden rackets.
Borg was and still remain the GOAT. Roger is the only one who have the same amount of class
Borg was and still mysterious figure great best tennis player
pretty certain he is the #1 reason I have always held tennis in such high esteem. Turned 13 in 1978 and he was the coolest dude. His matches with Connors were spellbinding. AND I saw him pictured with Cheryl Tiegs so obviously he was a role model.
Bjorn Borg was my favorite tennis player. I became so anxious when he played vs McEnroe. Their rivalry was epic. They are 7-7 in official matches but I remember Borg won in Anversa/Antwerp (Belgium) a golden racket beating up John 3 matches to 1 or something like that. My cousin is called Bjorn in his honor 😂
11 grand slams by the time he was 26yrs old I think that puts him up there with anyone when you consider the top 3 although Roger has just retired are playing into their late 30’s
Simply the best!
One of the greatest enigmas of the game. Effectively really retired at 25, cos that's when he played his last Slam, the 81 US Open
Simply, there is a before and after a Bjorn Borg in tennis. He had a great impact on mi in life and tennis. Superb player and athlete!
Probably the fastest player ever.Amazing court coverage. With todays technology he would’ve impossible to beat on clay, except against Nadal.When he retired I quit watching pro tennis until I discovered Rafa.With todays technology that would have been a match I’d pay to see.
Rat face is a goof and so annoying to watch. No grace at all.
He was an artist
Borg, Connors and McEnroe. Must watch tennis.
Although he “officially“ retired at 26, he actually walked away mentally at 25. He fulfilled a couple of contractual obligations that following year only because he had to. It was a different time back then for sure but as super talented as he was he did not seem to have a love for the game and the competition that subsequent stars have had such as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. If he had, just think about the number of slams he would have won.
I agree, but maybe he initially had the love of the game and got disgusted by the stress to incarnate "iceman". Maybe it was a role for him, that he learnt to become because it was the best way to win but was not natural, and being this guy was mentally exhausting. Agassi talks about how you can become fed up with tennis, while still being deeply in love with the game in his book.
I believe that the enormous difference between the 3 GOATs and other legends (Sampras, Borg, Mac etc) is that these 3 aliens do not have to play a role, they are purely natural champions in their mindsets and they love this lifestyle. That is why they last(ed) so long, much longer than others.
Well said he retired after losing to Mcenroe at the 81 US open.
💯👍
I don't care about records or statistics. Borg and Federer will be my two GOATs forever.
bc you're a fanboy vs an objective tennis fan
@@johncraftenworth7847 aw someone’s mad. GTFOOH
If he played past 26, he could have been the all time GOAT
Who asked him not to play 😂😂😂 He ran away fearing Mcenroe. LoL 😢😢😢😢
Chrissie was ahead of Borg in using 2 handed bh. The ice maiden and iceberg. Both my idols in quietness and proper decorum. Borg is d 1 who i 1st saw using d topspin lob. Now, i see carlos as part of his arsenal.
I remember growing up it was always a big deal when Bjorn Borg was playing dad would always have the tv on.
Nadal's uncle Toni said Borg was his favorite player growing up and he coached Nadal to do a lot of the same things Borg did. I consider Nadal to be a modern day version of Borg, if Borg had been born 30 years later and been left handed. Interesting that they have almost the exact same birthday, 30 years apart, and that Borg won 11 slams and Nadal 22, which is a double 11. I consider Borg the best player ever with the wood and Nadal the best ever with the modern equipment. But still give my respect to Laver, Djokovic, Federer, Lendl and McEnroe. All super great players and worthy of GOAT consideration. Novak especially.
Nadal was less dominative on grass court ( Wimbledon) grass and I think if iam not wrong his wins were not consecutive but anyways good comparison statistically and above all Bjorg retired early and there were competitors in the game of tennis in that era
Reading through the comments here it is obvious that Borg was dearly loved by people everywhere, he was larger than the sport.
Borg was such a stark contrast to the other top players he dethroned - prickly, combative, dudes like Nastase and Connors and then McEnroe - so cool, so unflappable, such an admirable on-court demeanor and the guy just looked amazing. He NEVER showed any emotion, and he NEVER got tired or disheartened in the least - he was all business like a machine but so elegant at the same time, he was like a king on the court, above it all but without and hint of hubris, and the way he floated over the court was beautiful to see, so effortlessly fast, nobody could hit past him.
I was about 18 when he exploded onto the pro scene. I had heard about the Swedish golden boy and his army of groupies and the first time I watched him I was expecting to hate-watch this pretty boy but as soon as he walked onto the court my attitude changed 180 degrees - he had that kind of impact, just to see the guy walk out there and start hitting! and he instantly became my sport idol.
I got serious about tennis (if you could find an open court in the mid-seventies. Tennis was THAT hot thanks to Borg and Connors.) and changed to the extreme western grip to get that high, topspin ball that gave you so much net clearance. This is routine today but not then - the "continental" grip and a flat ball was the norm. I would have gone to the two-handed backhand too but it was too late for me to change.
I watched each one of his Wimbledon wins and thanks to his popularity, NBC (US TV) finally started showing Wimby live at 9 am on Sunday mornings (Breakfast at Wimbledon) and this was SO much fun. Getting up early on Sunday to watch Bjorn on center court was such a novel experience, magical. Live sports at its best. Seeing him finally get the upper hand over Connors and take the #1 ranking was so gratifying and that 5-set win in 1980 over McEnroe, with the famous tiebreaker 4th set, was EPIC. That was the talk of the sport's world - everybody was talking about it - tennis was HOT.
And then . . .he lost to Mac at the next Wimby final, and again at the US open and just quit. Retired, at 26. 26! WTF? Talk about a let-down. I was so disappointed. It made no sense! He seemed like the last guy you would expect to burn out. And of all people to cede #1 to but effing Johnny Mac, the biggest a-hole to ever swing a racket. (he's cool now but THEN he was insufferably selfish and disagreeable. I would have paid good money to punch his face a few times). That was it. The dream was over. There was a brief glimmer of hope when he tried to make a comeback some years later, with his precious wood racket, LOL, but he could hardly win a set.
It's a pity that Björn retired so young. He the hero of my early tennis-years and truly the godfather of moderern tennis. But his style was completly adepted on the then-material, wheras Mac and Jimbo managed the change to modern rackets he did not. When Björn tried a comeback in the 90ies, he still played his wooden racket and had no chance even against low-level players.
One of the best of the era.....the girls were crazy about him❤❤❤❤❤❤
Best because girls were crazy 😂😂😂😂😂
My all time favorite player. IMO he invented the modern game.
Borg and McEnroe is the best rivalry of all time. Yes there have been a lot of rivalries over the decades but nothing topped these 2. They fought wars on the court.
I picked up a racket because of him and love tennis 40 years later
He was and remain a living legend!
It's difficult to overstate how big Borg was back in the late 70's, which is when I started to play tennis. He was like Federer, Nadal and the Beatles rolled into one guy.
Borg & Vilas invented heavy topspin. Borg did not have a western grip on his forehand. He had same grip as Federer. The role model for Nadals heavy extreme topspin was former No 6 Kent Carlsson. 😉🎾🎾🎾
I remember one journalist asking him after winning a five-setter: "Were you ever nervous?" Borg replied: "No, no-one can play that good for five sets". For me, this incarnates the beauty of tennis styles, where we have had shot-making geniuses like Federer, Sampras, McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, and Kyrgios who can win any point at any time. If they play at their best, they usually win. Nadal, after being bagled by Federer simply concluded "When he's like that, all you can do is hit a winning first serve". However, it is very hard to play at high level for an extended period of time. Enter the defensive, mentally tough grinders like Borg, Agassi, Nadal, Djokovic, Hewitt, Wilander, and Ruud. The rivalry against each other becomes the best entertainment tennis can offer. Combined with the elegant scoring system in tennis, eternal questions arise: "Can he play at that level in four sets?" "Can I grind, slow down the tempo, and get my opponent out of his rhythm before his lead is too large?" "How do I start making shots again? Where's my confidence so that I can start going for my shots again? Can I get going before his lead is too large?" Tennis is such a beautiful mental game.
He is a legend
il restera toujours le plus grand joueur
He changed the game like so many of tennis luminaries and was certainly one of the greatest. His win/loss % should be seen thru the lens of leaving tennis at 26 yrs old though as he didn't compete in his 30's or even 40's (like Conners and Federer). I started playing tennis in 1984 so I missed the Borg era, but since my idol was McEnroe, I certainly have heard a great deal about him, his game and his rivalry with McEnroe. I only regret coming to tennis after their rivalry and also at the tail end of McEnroe's dominance (and Everett's as well). But the late 80's and 90's were also golden years for tennis, especially but not exclusively American tennis. The USA had the big 4 (Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Chang), but we tennis nuts also got to enjoy Becker, Edberg, Wilander, Lendl, Pioline, Forget, Tim Henman, Hewett, Cash and Rafter, etc.). The era of the BIG three (Federer, Nadal Djokovic) has been spectacular, but maybe the owner of the one statistic that always stuck in my head was Sampras (whose game I tried to emulate but wasn't my fav player). Sampras (and I believe now Nadal) won grand slam titles in his teens, 20's and 30's. Even Federer didn't do that.
There are factual errors. Author claims that Borg had two winning streaks of 46 and 48 matches. But this is not true, if you look at full official records. Probably author discounts some tournaments where Borg lost. Actual best winning streak of Bjorn is 41 match. He shares 5-6 place with Federer in Open Era. Vilas, Lendl, Djokovic and McEnroe had longer streaks. The longest is Vilas - 46 matches. Also IMO at least partially the reason for his retirement is a disrespect of the French Open officials, who claimed that he had to play qualification in 1982. Borg also suffered severely because US Open organizers knew about his less than ideal sight in the artificial light and exploited this with carefully planned scheduling - putting many of his decisive matches at night.
One of the 3 men with insane tennis dominance feat (other two being Federer and Nadal) who in his prime won 5x wimbledon crowns in a row, legend.
In Borg's final full year of playing on the Tour (1981), he played in 3 of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments - having not participated in the Australian Open for most of his career - and reached the finals in all 3 of them, winning the French Open. Borg's burn-out year of playing tennis would be most all other tennis Pros' definition of a career year on the Tour......
simply the best ever, he is THE GOAT.
Player of the Century! No doubt!
Great analysis.
Yes best of his era for sure 💯
It's too bad he retired way early as Borg possibly could have won 15 majors instead of 11..
The GOAT
A the time he was quicker than the others, he had better ball control than the others, he was over all more fit than the others. And he looked better, I'm actually surprised that he never won the US and as far as I know, he never competed in the AO. Wilander made that tournament shine again.
Borg was the first tennisplayer to exersice hours after hours. Players before just played matches... like nastase.rod laver .stan Smith etc etc
He won the last 3 of the 5 Grand Slams he played and lost the other 2 to McEnroe in the finals. He could have played the Australian Open 6 times and won at least 4. Statistically I have to say Borg was the GOAT.
Borg were amazing. But I dont think he ever played to the best of his abillities. He resigned at 27? I think he got tired of being a teenage star idol. I dont think the idolizing off him matched what he felt. He could probably have won a lot more Grand Slams. But he chose retirement. Respect
Fed also won W 2017 without dropping a set.
You mentioned SIX unique records yet the photographs only showed three readable ones… What are the remaining three? THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPERB ANALYSIS OF THE GREAT ICEBORG 😊
been a second since we made this video but my best guess is that we didnt have the other photos
@@Courtside_Tennis Roger that… Thanks for your response and keep up your great work!
thank you!@@LeadershipAlliance
J'ai aimé le tennis en regardant un match Borg contre Mc Enroe en 1982. Extraordinaire Borg.
Enjoyed the still from the movie 🎾
All non-Swedish commentators miss a crucial aspect of the Björn Borg-mystery - the fact that he was from Södertälje, if you know that town you have the solution.
Really good video, but how did you forget Novak winning the channel slam last year?
Three consecutive times?
look at the size of the racquets during his era
Thanks for explaining
THE GOAT!
And he didn’t even bother with the Australian Open.
Why?
Many players skipped the Australian Open back then. Organizers had it at the end of the year, and players didn’t want to be away from their families at Christmas. Many of the draws were only 48 or 32 players fir men and women and there are some sketchy winners in that era.
@@streaming5332 Also because Borg was interested in the Grand Slam. But because he never
won the US Open he never felt the need to travel to Australia.
McEnroe planted the seeds of doubt in his mind by beating him back to back at Wimbledon and US open in 1981. He felt he could never be #1 with him around. Similar to what Sampras did to Becker. Started beating him regularly and for some players it may be hard to swallow your pride and keep playing in the knowledge you’re no longer the best.
I think it was more of a mental issue with Borg who was quite a complex personality and who at times has suffered from depression. I watched the games you mention and actually Borg played quite poorly in both matches by his own high standards. Quite simply though I think he'd had enough by that time, he'd had years of competive tennis (even though he was still quite young), he'd been the best in the world, and he simply didn't want to do it anymore.
@@johngreenhalgh4428 sadly you are right; today Borg has returned mentally balanced and serene, it is a joy to see him and McEnroe who are friends, but when he retired he had paid the price of a concentration and of a series of sacrifices which in my opinion were superhuman, McEnroe let off some steam , Borg kept everything inside.
According to the declarations of the Italian singer with whom he had a relationship (Loredana Bertè) he had fallen into the vortex of drugs and also had other vices; it is true that sometimes after a relationship everything is said, but I fear that at the basis there was his mental crisis, and I had seen the first symptoms in the match lost by McEnroe, played with unusual haste: he was no longer able to be him.
One of the Greatest players of all time..Bjorn Borg
He was a better athlete and had better stamina than 99% of his rivals. He made few mistakes and beat you down with his cardio..
He was very very good. Versatile, ultra-fit, calm and with wooden racquets.
he was the best. A shame he retired so young.
Regarding his records you can say something without a doubt, he was the most dominant player ever.....
This post title is for those that didn’t witness the Borg era.
Borg was underrated at the net.
What makes the best tennis player? Grand Slams? H2h? Years nr 1? Overall winning percentage?
H2H make it difficult unless their career overlap neatly.
Borg's backhand is the best in the business.
Borg was amazing if he hadn’t retired he may have one two-four more French and another 2 or more Wimbledon…I wish players of that era Connors Mac etc played the French and Australian-more often their total majors would have been in double figures
The greatest
HIs forehand came from ping pong. He won a tournament at ten years old in that sport.
If his agent had not encouraged him to play World Team Tennis in 1977, which negatively impacted his conditioning and resulted in a shoulder injury, he would have almost certainly won the US Open on clay.