Tennis Legends - Bjorn Borg: The first global superstar of the TV age who dominated the 1970's

Bjorn Borg ushered in a level of fan hysteria previously unseen in tennis. He was the sport's first global superstar of the TV age and dominated the second half of the 1970s before stunning the sporting world with an immediate retirement, aged just 26, when still a major force in the game.

Born on June 6th 1956, Borg was the only child of parents Rune (died in 2008) and Margaretha. He was born in the Swedish capital Stockholm, albeit grew up in nearby Sodertajle. Father Rune triggered Bjorn's interest in tennis through presenting him with a racket he'd won at a table tennis event. He was junior Wimbledon champion in 1972.

Borg turned professional in 1973, at a time where Sweden had never produced a leading figure in tennis. Under the guidance of compatriot Lennart Bergelin, success came quickly with Borg winning his first title in 1974 at a tournament in Auckland. It proved to be one of eight titles he won that season, including a maiden Grand Slam success at the French Open. Borg fashioned a brutal comeback in the Roland Garros final, overturning a two set deficit by winning the next three sets, for the loss of just two games, against Spaniard Manuel Orantes.

A further quintet of titles followed in 1975, including retention of his French Open title with a straight sets victory over Guillermo Vilas in the final.

The 1976 season saw him win four titles before he failed in his attempt to win a hat-trick of French Open titles, losing to eventual champion Adriano Panatta in the quarter-finals. This represented one of just two defeats for Borg at the clay court major. Atonement soon followed when Borg claimed his first Wimbledon title a month later, beating the gnarly Ilie Nastase in the showpiece contest.

His strike rate of success reached a new benchmark in 1977, when Borg accumulated twelve titles in a campaign highlighted by defending his Wimbledon title. The final saw him defeat Jimmy Connors in a five set thriller. 

The first of his three successive French Open/Wimbledon doubles materialised in 1978. He was the first to achieve the Channel Slam in the Open Era. This feat was all the more difficult back then as the transition from clay to grass was considered starker than the current situation where the uniformity of playing surfaces has led to the adjustment being easier to navigate. He won both finals without dropping a set against Vilas and Connors respectively.

In 1979, Borg matched his seasonal high of 12 titles. The Channel Slam proved tougher to win, though, with four sets required to best Victor Pecci in the French Open final, before he edged Roscoe Tanner, 6-4 in the fifth set, at the Wimbledon final. This meant he'd won each of the Slams based in Europe on four occasions. This season would mark the first time a player had passed a million dollars for prizemoney in a season.

The 1980s began with Borg celebrating success at the lucrative and elite Masters tournament in New York. A third title at Monte Carlo honed Borg’s clay court game heading into the French Open. He went onto win a fifth title in Paris with a comfortable victory over Vitas Gerulaitis. The following month saw Borg involved in the greatest match of his career.

The Swede’s encounter with John McEnroe was the apex of a rivalry which transcended the sport, and the match is often in the conversation as the greatest match ever played. Tennis journalist Christopher Clarey still regards it as number one. The match is best recalled for a marathon tiebreak in the fourth set where the younger McEnroe prevailed 18-16 to force a decider. Wisdom suggested McEnroe had broken the ice cool Swedish superstar mentally. However, Borg had a different reaction than expected and held his nerve to win 8-6 in the fifth set. This was Borg's greatest hour as a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title clinched a third straight Channel Slam. No man has ever completed the French/Wimbledon double more times.

The 1981 season would prove to be Borg's last full season. A fourth consecutive French Open crown would be the standout moment of a season that numbered four titles. The last win of his career came, in September 1981, in Geneva. Defeats to McEnroe in the Wimbledon and the US Open finals signalled the baton of power had passed to the American serve and volleyer.

The decision to retire at just 26 stunned the sporting world. He'd lost his status as the game's premier force but his success in Paris clearly underlined his game was still in fantastic shape. Borg’s choice to exit in his pomp came down to a disillusionment with life in the spotlight. No tennis player had ever experienced the fan hysteria that greeted Borg worldwide. It drew parallels with Beatlemania. Any person would have potentially found it suffocating but Borg was a reserved man that yearned for a life of greater bliss and anonymity.

His final tally of 11 Grand Slams, from 16 finals, places him joint sixth (with Rod Laver) for Grand Slams won. He retired with an Open Era record six French Open titles. This was eventually surpassed in 2012 by Rafael Nadal. Borg amassed 66 career titles from 93 singles finals appearances. This included 15 wins in Super Series (a forerunner of today's 1000 tournaments) events. Borg only ever played in one Australian Open and lost four finals in the US Open.

Borg holds the record for the longest winning streaks in the Open Era of the men's game. He produced a 49 match-winning streak in 1978 and then embarked on a stretch of 48 matches won in succession overlapping the 1979 and 1980 seasons. He also set the record for most 6-0 sets won on the ATP Tour, a total of 131, bettering second placed Roger Federer by 38.

In honour of his country Sweden, he was part of the Davis Cup winning squad in 1975, winning both of his singles rubbers during the final with the then Czechoslovakia. He was victorious in 33 consecutive singles rubbers at one stage. Borg first played for Sweden when he was 15. 

Borg was one of the first leading players to focus almost entirely on singles competition. He did pick up four doubles titles but none of these were Slams. Borg first reached the summit of the world rankings in 1977. He totalled 109 weeks in all at number one (8th all-time) and finished year-end number one in 1979 and 1980. 

His game was centered around his baseline game, relentlessly breaking opponents down with his consistent groundstrokes. His temperament was outstanding. He never lost his cool and handled pressure moments with remarkable clarity. His physical conditioning was also regarded to be the best of his generation. Something which served him well for the longer rallies on his favoured clay court surface. He finished with a 96.08 win percentage at Roland Garros.

Borg has been married three times. His first marriage was to fellow pro Mariana Simonescu. It lasted four years. He was married from 1989 to 1993 to singer Loredana Berte. His current wife has proved his longest. He married Patricia Ostfeld in 2002. They have a son together called Leo, who is a current pro, but has never been ranked higher than 334. Borg has a much older son Robin from another relationship.

Following his initial retirement in 1981, Borg stayed away from tennis and led a relaxed existence away from the celebrity world. He made a comeback for a short period in the early 1990s. Bizarrely, Borg attempted to take on a younger generation, now playing with graphite rackets, with a wooden racket. He never won a match and after not winning a set in any matches played in 1991 and 1992, Borg did manage to win a set in each of his three losses in 1993.

Borg’s rivalry with McEnroe was immortalised in a Borg vs McEnroe film that was released in 2017. He also discussed their rivalry in a number of tennis documentaries such as Gods of Tennis.

Sweden’s finest was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. Borg has garnered many awards such as the 1979 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. The corporation also honoured him with their Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter elected him Sweden's greatest sportsperson in 2014.

From its inception in 2017 to 2024, Borg was captain of Team Europe in the Laver Cup. It was an opportunity to renew his old rivalry with McEnroe who was captain of the opposing Team World side. Borg's team were champions of the first four editions.

Earlier this year, Borg released an autobiography that included a final chapter explaining he was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of prostate cancer. He's been in remission since 2024 but acknowledged there's a high chance of it recurring.

Borg is regularly placed in many tennis observers' top ten players of all time. Any assessment of his career needs to compute how relatively short his career was in comparison to many other greats. However, Borg’s strike rate in the Slams compares favourably with any in the pantheon of greats. He basically only played three of the four Slams and still won more than most. The first rockstar of tennis produced a body of work featuring a vast collection of greatest hits.