Background

Björn Borg was born on June 6, 1956 in Sodertaljie, Sweden. He is the only child of Rune and Margaretha Borg, grocery store owners.

Education

Björn Borg spent his childhood in an industrial town of Sodertaljie, not far from Stockholm. Ice hockey was the first sports passion of the boy. A starting center in his town's junior hockey team, he dreamed of joining the national team as many of his teammates and peers.

Another sport captured his dreams in the summer of 1965 when his father, one of the country's leading table-tennis players, presented his son a tennis racquet that he had received as an award for his victory in the city's championship. Borg revealed a natural talent for the game since the very first attempts in it.

Although the beginners' course at the local tennis club was overcrowded, Björn Borg took up the new sport with all his diligence himself. He used his garage wall as a backboard till the vacancy occurred in the club. Since then, Borg spent the rest of the summer there, practicing his new skills from morning to night.

Borg's unusual manner of playing captured the attention of Percy Rosberg, the country's leading tennis coach at the time. Rosberg noted Borg's ability to return the ball consistently and took him as an apprentice at the SALK Tennis Club in Stockholm in 1966. Although Borg's regular travels to Stockholm for training negatively affected his studies, his parents encouraged their son in his way to a career of a tennis player.

The support was worth it, and in 1968 Björn Borg won his first tournament, defeating Lars Goran Nyman in the Sormland County championships. The success was followed by the victories in every junior championship in his age division over the next four years. At the age of fourteen, Borg debuted at an international tournament, a junior championship in Berlin, Germany. It was at the same time that he completely gave up ice hockey, left school and concentrated on his career in tennis.

Career

The start of Björn Borg's career as a professional tennis player can be counted from the 1972 Davis Cup, for which the fifteen-year-old boy had been qualified by winning Jan Erik Lundquist at the Madrid Grand Prix. Borg became the youngest player ever to win a Davis Cup match, beating New Zealand's top player, Onny Parun, on the courts in the seaside resort town of Bastaad.

In the summer of the next year, Borg debuted at Wimbledon. He won his first match against Indian player Prem Lall, then triumphed over Karl Meiler of Germany and Szabolcs Baranyi of Hungary, advancing to the quarterfinals. Borg exited after the quarters, however, losing to Roger Taylor in five sets.

Not a championships winner by the time, Borg was gaining experience and logging victories against highly ranked players in the championship circle. In the third round of the 1973 U.S. Open, he won Arthur Ashe at the peak of the latter's career. Two years later, Ashe took revenge with a win over Borg at Wimbledon. A turning point for Borg came in 1974, the year he turned pro at age 17. For the first time in his career, Borg participated in every major tournament. In May, he became the youngest player ever to win the Italian Championships, and a week later he became the youngest player ever to win the French Open.

Prize money for his sport and off-court activities, especially from product endorsements, reached enormous amounts by the end of the year. An American manager Mark McCormack was hired to cope with the increasing demand for Borg products. In order to avoid the 90 percent tax that Sweden took from his earnings, Borg relocated with his parents to Monaco. The move frustrated the sportsman's compatriots and pushed several Swedish periodicals to accuse him of being unpatriotic and greedy.

The year of 1975 became significant in the career of a Swedish player as he won streak of 19 singles matches and led Sweden to its first Cup win against Czechoslovakia (a state that existed from 1918 till 1993). It was at the time that Borg met Lennart Bergelin, who would later become his coach and one of his closest comrades. The next year, Borg developed a powerful new serve which probably helped him to occupy the second row in the world rankings and to have a victory at the Wimbledon, for the first of five consecutive times. The second position on ranking list changed for the first one after the second Wimbledon victory in August 1977, though the position was held for only two weeks, until the loss at the U.S. Open.

1979 was again Björn Borg's year. For the first time, he both began and ended the year with a number one ranking. He participated in a number of tournaments and became the first player ever to win the French Open and Wimbledon two years in a row. Yet rising-star McEnroe took the U.S. Open, with Borg losing in a quarterfinal night game to powerful server, Roscoe Tanner.

One year later, Borg faced McEnroe at Wimbledon, where he successfully defended his title in a classic final match, adding the fifth straight Wimbledon win to his credit. Just a few weeks later, the rivals faced each other again in the finals of the 1980 U.S. Open, and this time McEnroe fared better. In 1981, Borg was soundly defeated by McEnroe in the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The last loss, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, effectively ended the Swede's career according to many experts.

After the loss to McEnroe, the Swedish tennis star would win only two more matches, reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo in 1982. Later that same year, the 26-year-old star avowed his intention to retire from the sport to his family, coach, and friends. A public announcement of his decision made in February 1983 plunged his fans and fellow tennis players in shock and disappointment as many of them believed that he could remain on top for several years to come.

Borg took up business after his retirement. He began from promotion of the Swedish tourist board, then turned to his own ventures in real estate and other areas, under the umbrella group of Björn Borg Enterprises. In 1987, the former sportsman Borg created his own sports-apparel venture, Björn Borg Design Group, but only two years later the business faced major financial difficulties.

Borg decided to resume tennis in 1990. He recommenced trainings in diverse locations, including Milan, Buenos Aires, and London. Yet his new coach, 79-year-old Welshman Ron Thatcher, also known as Tia Honsa, was a strange candidate as he described himself as a guru in martial arts and mind-body fitness, not in tennis at all.

Björn Borg lost his first match after return, being straightly defeated by Jordi Arrese of Spain at the 1991 Monte Carlo Open. The same, unsatisfactory, result followed the next year. In his last professional game, at 1993 Moscow's Kremlin Cup, Björn Borg was defeated by Aleksandr Volkov. From 1993 to late 2000, Borg played within so-called senior circuit, including the new Nuveen Tour, created by Jimmy Connors. He then tried himslef as a trainer for a group of promising young Swedish players aged 14 to 17.

The Team Europe captained by Borg from 22-24 September 2017 won the Team World under the captainship of John McEnroe during the first Laver Cup. Borg led the Team Europe to the victory again at the Laver Cup of the next year.

Nowadays, only Calvin Klein exceeds The Björn Borg fashion label established by the tennis legend.

Achievements

• 

  Björn Borg is considered one of the best tennis players in the history of the game. The contribution that he made to the game along with his contemporaries McEnroe and Connors, cemented his status as one of most inspirational and larger-than-life heroes.
  
  The world No. 1 tennis player in six stretches between 1977 and 1981, Borg managed to win major singles championships 11 times in just seven years over the course of his extremely short but incredibly bright career. Six victorious French Open championships (four in a row) and five consecutive Wimbledon titles, third only to Roger Federer (eight titles) and Pete Sampras (seven titles), are to his credit.
  
  Borg is a holder of a half dozen all-time best tennis records, the major of which, still unbeaten, are 89.8% of victories in his main matches, 92.73% winning percentage at Wimbledon with a 51–4 record, 41 consecutive match wins, three consecutive channel slams (French Open and Wimbledon), and 14 consecutive victories in major semifinals.
  
  Borg's victorious five-set match with John McEnroe, his major competitor, in 1980 is regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the game. A biopic based on the legendary rivalry between Borg and McEnroe, Borg vs McEnroe, was issued in 2017.
  
  Borg was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. The Swedish daily periodical Dagens Nyheter named him Sweden's top sportsperson of all time in December 2014.

Works

More photos

• book

  • My Life and Game

    (The book profiles the top world tennis player, from his l...)

    1980
  • The Bjorn Borg Story 1975

Views

Quotations: "When I was eight or nine years old, I had two dreams. One to be part of the Swedish Davis Cup team and the second to play on Wimbledon Centre Court."

"My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories."

"If you're afraid of losing, then you daren't win."

"It's not easy to part with the trophies. However, I do need to have some long-term financial security for those close to me."

"The ball is round, the game is long."

"Tennis is a traditional game. A big sport like tennis does not need too many changes. The game has become too fast, there are hardly any long, interesting rallies these days. So maybe slowing down the courts could help. But you can't really stop a sport from evolving."

"I had a great tennis career. I have no regrets. But to find peace with yourself, and to finally be with your family – I'm probably the happiest guy in the world."

"McEnroe was more aggressive than any other player I have ever played, the greatest fighter on a tennis court."

Personality

Björn Borg was nicknamed Ice Man for his self-restraint and coolness on and out of court. Instead of arguing with referees on received bad calls as many of his rivals often did, Borg let the calls pass and concentrated instead on the next point. On the one hand, the press blamed the sportsman for being so emotionless, on the other hand, it praised him for his good sportsmanship.

Björn Borg's childish habit to hold the racquet with both hands because of its heavy weight, even when he hit forehand shots, remained with him for his entire tennis career.

Physical Characteristics: A right-hander Björn Borg is 1.80 meters tall.

Quotes from others about the person

• Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer, Swedish former tennis player: "He was like the Beatles for God's sake."

Interests

• fishing

Connections

A Romanian tennis player Mariana Simionescu became Björn Borg's first wife. They married after four years of courtship, on July 24, 1980. Borg and Simionescu broke up in 1984. A year later, Swedish model Jannike Björling gave birth to Björn Borg's child, Robin.

From 1989 to 1993, the tennis player was married to an Italian singer Loredana Bertè. On June 8, 2002, Borg formed family with a real estate broker, Patricia Östfeld, who bore him a son Leo.

Father:

Rune Borg

(born July 14, 1932 – died March 23, 2008)

Mother:

Margaretha Borg

(née Andersson; born December 24, 1934)

coach:

Lennart Bergelin

(June 10, 1925 – November 4, 2008)

Bergelin was a nine time winner of Swedish championship singles titles between 1945 and 1955 and the French Open doubles title in 1948 as a tennis player for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (AIK) club.

He trained Borg from 1971 to 1983, leading his ward to 11 victories at Grand Slam tournaments.

Friend:

Ingrid Lofdahl Bentzer

(née Löfdahl; born December 6, 1943)

Bentzer's career of a tennis player lasted over the 1960s and the 1970s. She was the No. 1 ranked Swedish player from 1973 to 1975.

Son:

Robin Borg

(born 1985)

ex-wife:

Loredana Bertè

(born September 20, 1950)

An Italian singer Loredana Bertè is best known not only for her musical experiments, including rock, reggae, funk and pop but also for the eccentric image she creates onstage. Bertè has collaborated with many famous songwriters from Italy, such as Pino Daniele, Ivano Fossati, Mario Lavezzi, Mango and Enrico Ruggeri.

Son:

Leo Borg

(born 2003)

Leo Borg followed in his father's footsteps and became tennis player. He even played a young Björn Borg in the 2017 movie Borg vs McEnroe.

ex-wife:

Mariana Simionescu

(born November 27, 1956)

Active on the WTA Tour from 1973 to 1980, Simionescu had her first victory at the 1974 French Junior Championships. Her best career-high singles rank was 36 in 1978.

Wife:

Patricia Östfeld

(born November 17, 1969)

Partner:

Jannike Björling

(born October 12, 1966)

A granddaughter of an actor and circus performer John E. Björling, Jannike Björling was a covergirl for a monthly Swedish men's magazine Café. She has also appeared in some TV projects.

References

• Björn Borg and the Super-Swedes Written by Mats Holm and Ulf Roosvald, the book explains how a small country with eight million inhabitants like Sweden could become the leading nation in tennis and an example to imitate worldwide.
  2018
• Love Match Björn Borg's first wife, Mariana Simionescu, recounts their courtship and marriage and describes their life at the top of the tennis world, with an inside look at some of the court's champions, including John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase, and Jimmy Connors.
  1981