Friday 20 April 2012

Bjorn Borg

Bjorn Borg Biography
The only player to have won five Wimbledon championships in a row and one of the world's first multi-million dollar sportsmen. His duels with John McEnroe are the stuff of legend...
At the age of 14, Borg left school to devote all his time to tennis. It paid off, and at 15 he was selected for the Swedish Davis Cup team; by 16 he was Wimbledon Junior Champion.
With such talent, it is unsurprising that, in 1976, he won the Wimbledon singles title. It was the first of a long run and he held this title from 1976 – 1980, winning it five consecutive times.
In 1980, he faced John McEnroe in the Wimbledon final, which many deem to be the best ever, due to the duel that occurred. After losing the first set, Borg managed to win the next two and had two Championship points during the fourth. McEnroe then managed to level the game, leading to a tie-break situation in which he stopped five match points. Borg finally won his fifth Wimbledon title.
The following year, the pair faced each other in the final again but Borg's passion was missing. He subsequently lost the match, recently saying: "Here I was, in another Wimbledon final, the biggest thing you can play in but I didn't have that sparkling feeling.
"Of all the Wimbledon finals I played, that is the one I should have won, yet it didn't bother me when I lost. So I decided it was time to go."
Borg also won the French Open a record six times (1974, 1975, 1978-1981).
Despite his Wimbledon and French success, Borg never won the US Open, losing in the final match four times, and he chose never to compete in the Australian Open.
However, he still managed to win 11 singles championships in grand slam events, second only to Roy Emerson's 12.
Borg is perhaps best known for his baseline play and for his almost imperturbable manner on the court, earning him the name 'ice man' from some of his opponents.
Borg chose not to follow the entire world-wide tour, insisting on a long vacation. This decision brought him into conflict with the men's tennis council in 1982, and some believe this was part of his decision to retire early, aged only 27 due to being exhausted.
He attempted a comeback in 1991, but he had little success, and decided to retire for good. He didn't win any matches until 1992 when he defeated John Lloyd at the Inglewood Forum Tennis Club. He took part in the Champions tour.
With 11 titles, Borg ranks fourth in the list of male tennis players who have won grand slams behind Roger Federer (16), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emmerson (12).

Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg Jimmy Connors Wimbledon 1977 Final
Björn Borg VS Jimmy Connors: Wimbledon SF 1981 [(Part 4 of 4) HD]

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