Yes. Won his last major at the 1981 French. Seems like yesterday. Until Sampras came along, no pro men's player had won more singles majors than Borg, who like Laver won 11 of them. Borg refused to play qualifying matches in 1982 majors. But did he regret it? His strange comeback close to a decade later was short lived. But an all time great for sure. Many all time great lists rank him right behind Sampras, who is often ranked below only the big 3 and Laver.
@@onthe4572 yes Emerson was winning majors until 1967, the year before the Open era began. He must have been quite a player though. Too bad Lendl only won Wimbledon as a junior, but what a career Ivan had in general
@Jerry L Emerson's record lasted 33 years till Sampras broke it at Wimbledon 2000. He got 1 more at the US Open 2002, but his record lasted just under 7 years until Federer got his 15th at Wimbledon 2009. But Sampras was a class act and wouldn't have minded too much I think..
@@onthe4572 Loved Sampras' game, that heavy heavy serve, helping him get through some tight tough matches and tiebreakers. He was number 1 like 7 years or so. Talent and power. Never won the French Open but won everything else. Awesome athlete. Rafter almost won Wimbledon in 200O and 2001, after 5 sets wins over Agassi in Semis classics. Yes Sampras had a lot of respect for the game. His personality was much lighter than that of some American men in the open era. He let his racket do the talking.
On their days both players were unbelievable and unbeatable. They played some outstanding and exhilarating tennis. Those games and those moments were golden moments in the history of the game. Tennis would not have been as popular as it is today but for these two superman. Kudos to them.
In 1981 all the knowledge of today did not exist to increase athletic performances, in fact there will never be more of such great tennis players, they were extraordinarily unrepeatable times I was 7 years old but I remember them very well
@@chrismanteris9093 I think she probably just means training, racquet technology...there weren't all the professional tennis academies where young pheenoms started at 12 or 13 years old training for hours a day when Mac, Borg and Connors came up.
Borg revolutionized the two-handed backhand. I know I modeled my game after him when I started playing tennis back in the late 70s. His groundstrokes were just a thing of beauty. Damn, he was a great player!
Not really. No one else after him played a double hander anything like him: flowing one-handed follow-through (Wilander slightly - but that was just mimicking). So your assertion sounds great - and got a handful of gormless upvotes - but couldn't be more incorrect.
@@danguee1 I think Lou just means that Borg made 2 hands acceptable. And actually, Lou *could* have been more incorrect. He could have said something completely absurd. But I'll grant you the cliche since those of limited writing ability rely on them.
@lou gee, actually Chris Evert revolutionized the two-handed backhand, not Borg. Hers was a simpler shot, more accurate, her take back more solid and everyone copied her, not Borg.
This was about to be a great match. Then, at 1:19:12, down 3-4 and a break in the third, McEnroe played one of the greatest games of his life. Or anyone's for that matter. This was still a good match to watch. But this game broke Borg's spirit and propelled Mac to his 3rd consecutive US Open title.
That game took the air out of Borgs tires so to speak, MAC hit 4 winners to break him then Borg misses 3 straight returns to go down 5-4 and it was ballgame after that
this is really the era of tennis that I watched. they used the small wooden rackets that required immense skill, and the game became fun serve and volley.
@@fundhund62 not true; the 90s were true skill. The only reason they did serve and volley is because the surfaces were uneven; it wasn’t a choice but the only thing they could do.
Am I the only one who feels like this is fast enough for the game of tennis to be played? You really had to see and hit the ball well to hit a crushing anything, and the pace of the ball allowed not only for both baseline and net play, but you actually needed a few shots to set up a point. I like that. My first racquet was a wooden one. They werent oversized heads where you could hit the ball anywhere on it and it would go where you wanted it to. You had to be a surgeon to play well with wood and small heads. These guys had amazing hand eye coordination to pull off some of these shots. A joy to watch, and thanks for the upload.
In hindsight, putting no limitations on the development of racket technology in the 1980´s was a big mistake. Imagine baseball being played with similar high tech bats.. In the words of McEnroe, "it was easier to determine the differences in talent with wooden rackets". Alas, it´s too late to do anything about it. We´ll have to live with the one-dimensional baseline bashing for the foreseeable future..
@ Chocolatetown Forever. You are not alone in your correct belief that the game of tennis as played with the wood and metal rackets was fast enough and that the sport never should have abandoned the wood racket in favor of the graphite equipment which have had so deleterious and terrible an impact on the appeal of the game. Tennis is sadly nowhere near as compelling to watch in the current era as it was back in the wood era when the wood and metal rackets kept the game from going all out of proportion. The graphite rackets, the copolyester- lubricated strings and the slowing down of the courts to favor baseline play over serve-and-volley play has resulted in the once beautiful, chess-like game of tennis to decline into a mindless, tediously boring, baseline war-of-attrition, slugfest!
thank you for showing this. loved it when it occurred live. love it now. it was such an uncharacteristic match for Bjorn Borg. who was a monster on all surfaces. how congenial McEnroe was this day!
@ Ben Jonson. Although the Borg-McEnroe rivalry was a great one, it is clearly not the greatest rivalry in the history of men's tennis because it was too short in duration--only 14 official matches. Connors-Lendl, Connors-Borg, Connors-McEnroe, Lendl-Edberg, etc., all lasted longer than the Borg-McEnroe rivalry. Probably the greatest rivalry in men's tennis history was Laver-Rosewall, but I don't think tennis historians have yet been able to determine exactly how many total singles matches Laver and Rosewall played against each other because after they turned pro , they played a huge number of matches against each other on the "barnstorming" pro tour in which pro players would play a match one night in one city , then travel to another city to play another match at night. Unfortunately precise records were not kept back then of those matches, including the statistics from those matches and the results of those matches. In many instances the local newspapers may not have even reported the results of those matches.
@@vadimm4308 Boris Becker, as great a player as he was on the men's pro tennis tour was not, even at his best in 1989, a better tennis player than John McEnroe (especially McEnroe at his absolute peak in 1984)! McEnroe had a greater diversity of shot-making skills than Becker. Becker had the advantage of a much more powerful serve and more powerful groundstrokes, but a more powerful serve and more powerful groundstrokes does not in and of themselves make a player better than another player! Becker was an excellent volleyer but did not possess the variety of volleys that McEnroe possessed and lacked McEnroe's touch/feel for the tennis ball on the racket strings! Becker, like so many other players with big serves, benefitted enormously from the regrettable abandonment of the wood and metal rackets (real tennis) in favor of the graphite rackets. Had the game of tennis stayed - as it should have - with the wood and metal rackets, Becker's game would have still been excellent but not as overpowering as it was not only in terms of his serve, but also in terms of his groundstrokes! McEnroe, to be fair, also benefitted tremendously from the change to the graphite rackets when he switched in 1983 from his Dunlop Maxply McEnroe wood racket to the Dunlop Max200G graphite midsize racket which elevated his game a full level above his actual ability and enabled him to have the best season in terms of singles watches won versus singles matches lost (82-3) of any male player in the Open Era in tennis history. But overall, McEnroe had a better overall game than Becker and was a much more naturally gifted player than Becker!
I think that in 1980 and 1981 Mac made Borg cry so much he retired in 1981. And I was glued to these matches back in the day and I totally wanted McEnroe to make Borg lose. And he often did.
@@gchomuk I didn’t say he did. I was replying to you using the same puerile language you used. However, Mac didn’t cry, he won. You might check out an ATP match where indeed, Borg had a meltdown.
1:19:06 Borg serving at 4-3 with a break 3rd set ,Mcenroe plays one of the best returning games of his career , two backhand passing shots & two forehand topspin lobs to break back . Borg wasn't the same after that game
In fact Borg had lost out to McEnroe in 'the' tie-break of the fourth set of the 1980 Wimbledon final. Though Borg won the match he was never the same again. The cool aura of his apparent invincibility simply faded away.
I learned to play using the old rackets in the early 80's. Once I got an oversized racket, my game really stepped up, but I probably would have been better using the small rackets. I really enjoyed the power and ease of the game with oversized rackets, but it's like using an oversized driver in golf; it's a little too easy. I have a lot of respect for the guys who dominated with these small rackets. It was more about precision and rhythm in those days which is probably why the smaller players succeeded.
Yes. John McEnroe as a multiple Majors champion, would not exist in this era of power technology. He got by through hand eye coordination, angles, volleys, drops and smarts. Today, those are not enough with everyone serving 120 mph, and getting them in.
It was nice tennis, but I think BOrg would not have any chance playing at present days, against the big servers. ON his days there was no big men like Del Potro, Isner, Karlovic, and other guys taller than 1.95, The serve by Borg would be a cake for all the current guys. Of course Borg with the new racquets would have a better serve, but not enough,. he would be destroyed by at least 15 players of present times. Even the serve by Nadal would be too fast for Borg.
@@martydav9475 See the statistics of his last 10 matches Borg played, 0 wins, 10 loss. , at 37 years old, like Federer in 2019, but Fed at 37 still is capable to beat the best players in the world and Borg at 37 could not beat players in rounds of 64 or 32. Mc Enroe in his last 10 matches of his life, won 5 and lost 5. Borg was great but not the best. Numbers speak.
Remember when there were 3 real tv stations. And Everyone watched and shared the same experiences? And Sports were so amazing because people played because they loved the sport, instead of the Sneaker Contracts and Social Media Monetization. Before athletes refered to themselves as products and brands. Before the 50 million dollar contracts for has been's and never will be's Mohammed Ali Fights being called by Howard Cosell Celtics vs Lakers Yankees vs Red Sox Yankees vs Dodgers McEnroe Vs Borg Good Coverage of the Olympics Watson vs Nicholas ABC's Wide World of Sports Wayne Gretzky vs Everyone Mike Tyson Young Michael Jordan The Athletes, Training Methods, Equipment, Sports Medicine, Skill Level, Athleticism, etc.. is so much higher today it's ridiculous. But the Games aren't fun anymore. Sports back in that ERA were so captivating... You couldn't miss it. it was everything. Now, I could care less about the NBA or NFL, or MLB... There's no Feeling... No Loyalty by the Players to the Cities or the teams. Sports are technically much better now. But they're not fun anymore. This Era was Amazing.
The moment Bjorn Borg's career pretty much came to an end? The game he served at 1 set all up a break serving at 4-3 in the 3rd set. McEnroe hit 4 brilliant winners to break back and Bjorn's spirit was broken once and for all right there. He had absolutely nothing left. It was as if he knew there was nothing he could do to stop this younger guy from overtaking him.
Bjorn Borg arrived at Us Open 81 without training, the last match he played was Wimbledon 81 final. During the tournament, he didn't sign the management between Players & ATP to play a minimum.number of tournaments. After the triumph at the Master 80, he told his parente & Bergeli his intention to retire. Since march 81 Begelin admitted that Bjorn needed long periodo 9f test, cause of his incomparable career. Everything has an explanation
@@MrLC1965 blah blah stop making excuses . Every professional athlete knows once you step on that Field all that other non sense doesn't matter . He lost fair and square
@ Ivan Lendl. Hello Ivan. First let me say what a pleasure it always was watching you play on the men's pro tour. I really believe that your phenomenal achievement of reaching 8 consecutive U.S. Open Finals is one of the greatest and most underappreciated accomplishments in tennis history. I also from time- to- time look back at that 1989 Wimbledon Semifinal you played against Becker and think to myself that if only it hadn't been for that damned rain delay in the third set when you had all the momentum in that match, you probably would have defeated Becker that day, although you would have had a very tough task trying to defeat the great grass court player Edberg in the finals. I have always wanted to ask you a question. When you were looking to switch to a midsize racket after your contract with Adidas expired in 1989, did you ever try in practice to play with the midsize version of the Adidas GTX Pro racket? I was amazed that I never saw you play with the GTX midsize in any official matches on the pro tour. Was that midsize racket not to your liking? I do remember that you played at Wimbledon one time with an all-black colored midsize racket. Was that an Adidas GTX midsize racket with the Adidas markings and logos simply painted over ? Another question that I have always wanted to ask you is about that point you played against Pat Cash in the 3rd set of the '84 U.S.Open Semifinal in which Cash pops-up a forehand volley which landed just in front of the service line mark at the center of your baseline and you were standing behind the baseline on the ad- court side and ,incredibly, instead of simply hitting a forehand , you decided to run around your forehand and hit an inside -out backhand crosscourt which was a half-drive/ half-lob that landed right in the corner of Cash's deuce court about 3-4 inches from the baseline and 3-4 inches from the singles sideline! I have always wondered why in that moment on that point did you run around your forehand to hit a backhand when it would have been the natural thing to do to simply hit a forehand?
Is really you here Lendl?If is really you had the pleasure to see you playing in a small tournament at Newport beach club south of L A. Was only eight players,you,M Wilander, Y Noah , T Mayote,Jimbo can't remember the 3 others.Was a big fan and still remember how the writers kept criticizing you for not winning a major . It took a while until you finally beat Big Mac in 85 winning The US Open,after that GS tour victories became an usual thing.also how hard you worked to win Wimbledon but there always hit the post.Now I remember that Borg had an injury,had a surgery and tried to come back,than decide to retire saying he would never be the same player after. The injury never healed ,he was 27 at the time.
die Zeit wo Tennis noch was ganz Grosses war und es auch tatsächlich nur um Tennis ging. Hat immer noch so einen Spirit wenn man die alten Videos sieht
Watching these matches years later McEnroe had improved noticeably from 1980. Volleying - his timing coming to the net is improved; his approach shots are deeper; and he is volleying at angles no one had ever seen. His baseline game however is the biggest improvement - he makes far fewer errors; he's hitting harder and just crushing some returns - and placing and angling shots better. Still Borg stays right with him until the 8th game of the third set - then it was like he knew I can't beat him anymore - his best is better than mine. Still Borg was a better player on clay; and the Wimbledon match had been very close (Borg had 4 set pts in the third set and outplayed McEnroe the first 3 sets accepting the tie breakers). The announcers show that Borg only won 4 tournaments all year - and yet he went 19-2 at the Grand Slams. He was clearly burning out and I think he would have quit even if he had won. I thought he should have won in 80. McEnroe got some good calls down 5-6 in the first set; and on the awful call in the 5th set - on the first point of game 7 (the only break). And down 2-1 and Love-30 he had the volley that hit the net chord and dropped over to avoid triple break. I was sure at that point Borg would win. I always wonder what would have happened if Borg had won in 80. Having won the 3 most important Majors if he could go on seeing when anyone would beat him at Rolland Garos and being okay w 1 US Open and 5 Wimbledons. I still think he'd have burned out - but not until the mid 80s
At the time, I was an ardent Borg obsessive and was gutted when he lost this, as I was desperate for him to get a US Open title under his belt.....weirdly though, I started to love and appreciate Johnny Mac around 81/82 and he's now probably my second favourite male player of all time (marginally behind Federer).......The McEnroe documentary on Prime is fascinating. It broke Mac's heart that Borg retired when he did. He had hoped that the rivalry would go on for years. For their own records, I wish Borg had won this match and I wish Johnny Mac had won Roland Garros in 1984......
I miss this tennis. Watching this you realize how powerful today's players are. A lot of McEnroe's groundstrokes don't have much on them in terms of pace. Players today all have the same technically perfect groundstrokes, they are all extremely fit, everyone hits with power. Tennis used to have different personalities, different styles etc. I guess that's true to some extent today too but everyone seems to play the same type of game now. Serve and volley tennis was a joy to watch. I love tennis today too but 1970s and 1980s tennis was beautiful.
One of the reasons I have McEnroe so high in my GOAT rankings (#3 behind Federer and Djokivic) is that, for about 6 years, he was virtually unbeatable--without training, without fitness, without nutrition, without mental health. All the things that give modern players their edge, McEnroe had none of it--and still he was unbeatable. Historic, one-of-a-kind player...
We could reduce the racket frame size to bring back some old style plays. The surfaces shall be more different in terms of rebound speed as well. Federer again complained about the grass in 2019.
This match saddens me, because it signalled the end of Bjorn Borg’s brilliant career. Roger Federer has proved that you can still come back after losing your number 1 spot. But I think John McEnroe didn’t just take Bjorn’s Wimbledon title and World number one spot, I feel he may have taken his soul as well. Though, to this day no player has ever had a significant on tennis than Bjorn Borg. His rivalry with John McEnroe took the sport to a whole new level.
I was a 15 -year-old kid at this time that always looked up to Borg, so It saddens me too. I think Borg could've regained his number 1 spot, but I think he just got tired of the grind. Of course, Bjorn never used that as an excuse, so my hats off to Mac for finally breaking through with back to victories against Borg at Wimbledon & US Open in the same year. One thing for sure though, those were some damn great times in the tennis world.
Agreed. Every documentary I have seen of Borg suggest that being not just number one but being the GOAt was everything to him. Once he got into his head that McEnroe had the better of him and that his ambition was no longer possible then he lost motivation to continue. Whatever he thinks of himself though. I say that his 5 consecutive Wimbledon wins (which has never been surpassed) is a greater achievement than Federer 5 conecutive wins since federer was a natural grass court player while Borg was a clay court specialist. Those 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles make Borg a freak of nature in the world of tennis. Just as ilie Nastase said. "The rest of us play Tennis...Borg plays something else".
Dam Bjorn left tennis after this Season.. Only 26..: Serena and Roger 39 Still playing.. Venus 40 Still going.. Amazing the great John Patrick McEnroe never won A slam after 1984.. ( 26 years old )..
Never understood how he could never win the US Open. Definitely all in his head. He owned Wimbledon & the French, no question he should've got at least one US Open title.
Connors got in his way, the us open was played on grass, clay and hard court in the middle to late 70s, connors won on all 3 surfaces, defeating borg on clay, roswall on grass(borg didn't reach final). After connors stepped up his game in late 81 and the stong play of McEnroe, borg retired, connors won 82 Wimbledon and 82 and 83 us opens. Borg cited burn out for retirement while connors couldn't get enough of tennis playing professionally from 72 through 1996, connors is 4 years older than borg. Bobby jones said you fight to get into the cage, then you have to try and stay there. Bobby won golf's only grand slam and retired
@@ag358 You assisted in making my point even more. The clay and grass were even more the reason he should've captured an open tile. But when he was in his prime, ('76-'80) correct me if I'm wrong, but the US was on hard court. Connors was such a grinder, even though not as beloved as he was towards the latter half of his career, still had the homecourt edge. Love Borg and all, but his stoic on court demeanor may've really been a shield for what was an empathic individual who couldn't maintain against the hostile NYC crowds pullin' for one of their own...Lacked the mental toughness; skill set was there..
They really need to remaster the videotape of the Borg-McEnroe 1981 U.S. Open final to sharpen the picture image. It obviously has deteriorated over the years.
When Wilander won French Open 1982, he trained against Borg. He said Borg was superior and probably would have won the tournament if he'd been allowed to play.
An interesting thing about the audio of this 1981 U.S. Open Men's Singles Final Borg vs. McEnroe is that even back in 1981, the quality of microphones were so good that you can actually hear crickets chirping outside (or perhaps inside) the Louis Armstrong Stadium just as the players are about to hit a serve!
Borg did not like playing at the US Open due to its floodlit night sessions and the fast, high bounce and positive foothold of the courts, particularly at Flushing Meadow. He preferred the afternoon daylight at Wimbledon and Roland Garros where he could slide into his shots on the grass and clay. At the US Open he also stood further back to take the ball on a low bounce to produce his trademark topspin but that meant he had to run farther and his opponent had more time to see the ball coming. Against an opponent of McEnroe’s quality, you can’t afford to do that; John would often knock off Bjorn’s returns with easy volley winners. The fact that he reached the final four times though was a tribute to his competitiveness, and the fact that he was fitter and concentrated better than anyone else.
Johnny Mac was a magician on the court...I am just a bit younger than Mac and he was my boyhood tennis hero. I styled my game after his and even had a clone serve (unfortunately I was a rightie) and was very quick and athletic got to be a very good A level Club player...always enjoyed watching John play.
@Roger B His groundstrokes were actually perfect for his game. You seem to have very superficial judgement based on how a stroke looks.. but in reality, the fundamentals of his game were inherently sound!
@Roger B What is so horrible about it? As I already pointed out, his fundamentals are perfectly sound. His balance, his contact point, also his use of the non racket hand, are pretty perfect, to be honest.
A couple of months before this Borg had finally lost his Wimbledon crown to Mac. Borg was shot by this point. In his autobiography he states that he knew he was done with tennis after the Wimbledon '81 final when the defeat didn't bother him that much. He should've felt incensed at losing given his intensely competitive nature, but he said it was all rather "meh". He only didn't quit tennis right there and then because he wanted one last shot at winning the US Open, but he was pretty much phoning it in after that point. Same thing happened to Pete Sampras in 2001.
Indeed, and I firmly believe it hurt Mac's career as well. He was not able to keep his motivation up for long after that. He did not feel the same fire going against Lendl. He admits that in his book. Of course, the change of technologies and emergence of younger generation have a lot to do with his premature decline, but his mental game was based on that fierce competitiveness that was taken away considerably after Borg's retirement. He might have not been able to be that dominant up to '84 had Borg been around, but that inner fire was a such a big part of Mac's virtuosity.
@@ssaski800 Totally agree with you. When Borg quit, Mac felt like Ginger without Fred. He looked up to Borg big time. He was his hero whom he wanted to show what he could do with a racket. And when that was gone Mac was never really the same. And the rivalry between Mac and Lendl was nothing like it had been that short time between Mac and Borg. What might have been.....
@ S Saski. McEnroe a number of years after Borg retired from the men's pro tennis tour stated that for him (McEnroe) Borg's premature retirement from pro tennis was like if Kareem Abdul Jabbar's LA Lakers teams quit pro basketball at the height of their great rivalry with Larry Bird's Boston Celtics teams. McEnroe stated that his motivation to play tennis declined when Borg quit pro tennis.
@@michaelbarlow6610 Yes, I believe it was like that for McEnroe. When your greatest opponent retires, then what? I just think: what a waste. Borg was only 26 when he quit. He suffered from burn-out as we now call it. He couldn t go on. He always had tennis, he never had a life. And he wanted out. Who can blame him. But what a waste. Imagine what kind of matches these 2 could have played!
@ norma desmond. I completely agree that it is so sad that the Borg-McEnroe rivalry only lasted 14 official matches. It should have lasted much longer. As John McEnroe stated a number of years after Borg quit pro tennis, "The thought never occurred to Bjorn that I could screw up!". The thing about Borg that is absolutely baffling is the unanswered question of why did Borg allegedly attempt to commit suicide in Milan, Italy in 1989? There is a book written by a man who was an advisor to Borg when he helped Borg to form the Bjorn Borg Design Group to manufacture men's sports and casual wear clothes endorsed by Borg , who talked about Borg's alleged suicide attempt by taking an overdose of sleeping pills back in 1989 in Milan, Italy, but the book doesn't satisfactorily address the question of why Borg was so unhappy with his life back then that he allegedly became despondent. According to the book, when the author of the book heard about Borg's alleged suicide attempt , the author called Borg's parents and spoke on the phone to Borg's mother and aked her, "Doesn't Bjorn want to live?" and Borg's mother supposedly responded, "No". But the author doesn't answer the question of why was Borg allegedly despondent. The official explanation was that he accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills, but you really have to wonder if it was just accidental? Borg's relationship with or marriage to an Italian female pop music singer was breaking up and he may have lost some money through bad business deals but he was never financially broke. He did eventually have to sell his jet boat and the island he owned and he eventually sold the Bjorn Borg Design Group to an Italian corporation. But he was never financially destitute. It is interesting that a number of years ago he was going to auction off his replicas of his 5 Wimbledon trophies, and when McEnroe heard about it, McEnroe called Connors, and McEnroe and Connors and Agassi talked Borg out of selling his replica Wimbledon trophies. Borg supposedly bought the replica trophies back before they could be auctioned off. When McEnroe called Borg about Borg's plan to auction off his 5 Wimbledon replica trophies, McEnroe allegedly said to Borg, "Have you gone mad?".
Tactical adaptations of serve, rallies and, reaching to nets scoring by John Macnroe and stylesome positioning, volleying by Bjorn Borg. The beauty of yesteryears tennis
@ Annette Roper. Borg had his Donnay wood rackets strung at 80 lbs. tension. When the ball hit his racket strings it sounded like he was hitting the tennis ball with a cast-iron pan!
your opinion on the clothing and the game itself is subjective, so I'll pass on that. But there's absolutely no way the rackets were better back then. BTW, do you still use a Sony Walkman?
@ hofifut. Patrick Kelly is not alone in his opinion that the tennis rackets of the 1970's--1980's were better than the rackets manufactured since then, as evidenced by John McEnroe's statement during the widebody racket era (i.e., the 1990's) that, "They stopped making all the good rackets and now they're just making crummy ones".
Thierry Carral Le plus gros potentiel de tous les temps ! En terme de tennis d’attaque on n’a toujours pas vu mieux (sauf Stefan Edberg en ce qui concerne la volley de revers et la seconde balle de service), ni même égal. Coup d’œil. Touché. Volley. Sens de l’anticipation et du déplacement. Service placé. Ce type de jeu nous manque. Federer a un jeu parfait, mais même lui ne compense pas le manque.
Who knew that this would be last match that Borg ever played of any significance? All we can say is that Borg's style of play quickly became a relic of the past after he left the game... by the early 80s, there was new baseline sheriff in town named Lendl, and it is Lendl's model of tennis - not Borg's or McEnroe's or Connors' - that has endured for 3 decades.
I am not sure Ivan gets as much credit as he deserves. He made a steady climb to the top and once there was able to hold back the likes of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander etc, etc for 160 weeks. Wilander briefly overtook him but, he soon reclaimed it and went a while longer.
McEnroe is the only player in the world that when he serves, you can actually hear the powerful spin on the ball, hear it when he hits the ball and just after it passes the net and before Borg hits it, a good example is in minute 37:36, you will hear it in this serve, the next and many other times, if you close your eyes it is more noticeable, I discovered this when in 1980 I was at the U.S. Open watching him play.
For me ,the mcenroe of 1980-81 was one of the more greatests players of all the Times ! Only federer and djokovic they can to winner vs this mc enroe!!!
Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe played each other a total of 14 times on the ATP Tour with their H2H standing at 7 wins each (7-7) by the end of their playing careers. The last Borg vs McEnroe match was at the US Open in 1981, which McEnroe won in four sets (4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3).
This has to be the most important match in tennis history. Had Borg won (and was in a good position to win), he would have played a couple of more years at least (as he was 25 here) and who knows how tennis history would have been written. Surely Borg would have won 3 additional Grand Slams easy in the next 3 years and would have passed the 14 Emerson mark with 15 and it would be Roger Federer to finally eclipse that 30 years later. Unreal.
Bjorn is the reason I started and continue to play tennis just about every day..I am 52....He has never admitted it but Mac drove him out of the game.....Without question Borg is my fav player,,...and arguably the most important athlete to play tennis....I mean ...even here...look at the guy.....so cool..The Viking God
I disagree that McEnroe “drove” him out of the game. By this time, Borg was burnt out on the constant travel and training. He knew that he’d have to re-dedicate himself to regain the number one ranking and wasn’t prepared to do so. I believe he beat McEnroe at the Masters in early 1981, so he was still capable.
Borg, mcenroe and connors. Early on connors had both then borg dominated him for years then mcenroe took from Borg then connors came back in 1982. Great matches. Mcenroe dominated 83 84 then Lendl took over
The tighter the racquet strings the more control, the looser the strings, the less control but more power. Borg's were super tight. You could clearly hear the ‘ping’ when he hit the ball.
80 lbs. of pressure, according to the legend. Unheard of in those days with wood racquets and the string patterns. I did some stringing back in the day for extra money, and could never even get the machine tight enough for 75 lbs, much less 80! No idea how he did that if its true. Mac played with the opposite- somewhere in the mid 50s I think on his racquet, that better suited his game of feel and touch. Ocassionally he would hit that forehand waaay long with the loose stringing.
that tight stringing allowed him to hit it with the high arc and still stay in the court. Those shots worked really well against Jimmy Connors- they totally threw him off of his game of flat, low, hard returns. Somehow, Mac was dextrous enough to not be as affected. He took the balls much earlier than Jimmy and blunted Borg's massive topspin. I know Borg sensed that. But he knew no other way to play.
Perhaps Borg should have stood in closer on returns. Getting aced a few times is OK if he could reduce McEnroe's time to get to the net. Cranking a few really hard returns at or around McEnroe would be the way to break serve.
Sanjay, good thoughts but the problem is that Borg's strokes on either side were dependent on a relatively long backswing...he simply wouldn't have time to hit an effective return if had moved in closer for the returns. Borg's long, looping backswings were actually his big achilles heel against a guy like Mac. Mac simply had a game that transcended and blunted what guys like Borg and Vilas had perfected for several years before he came along. I think thats a big part of why Borg hung it up after this match in 1981....he had come to realization in that 3rd set that Mac was going to beat him 7 out of 10 times....his game really had very few answers to the more refined serve and volley game and motor skills of Mac. Today, with the speed of the game, no one could possibly hit with that time of a looping backswing and survive in the top tier of the game. You have to be very versatile with all your strokes today to be a top player. Borg was a great player back then because- he was the best conditioned athlete out there, maybe the fastest player on the circuit, best footwork, and of course due to the wood racquets and relative slow speed of the ball coming off the strings.
Interesting thing is that when serving at 4-4, 3rd set against Borg in the 1981 U.S. Open final, McEnroe spoke briefly to a photographer who was behind the courtside scoreboard behind him but didn't ask the chair umpire to have the photographer move to the sidelines where the still photographers were supposed to be. And yet 3 years later in the semifinals of the U.S.Open against Connors, McEnroe had the chair umpire call out the tournament referee to have a photographer moved to the sidelines from behind the courtside scoreboard since the area behind the courtside scoreboard was not an official photographic position at Louis Armstrong Stadium back then.
@timothy chung No - it's the exact opposite: low tension gives power. As you would know if you played tennis. But thanks for taking the time to offer your opinion - the world so needs uninformed opinion delivered with certainty, telling us the opposite of the truth. Here's a quote from the "Most players are familiar with the general principle that low tension gives more power and high tension gives more control" [www.tennisindustrymag.com/articles/2005/01/does_higher_string_tension_giv.html]
Oui avec un programme d'environ 18 à 20 tournoi, avec une motivation à tte épreuve et une excellente préparation physique,Borg pouvait remporter un 7eme titre à Roland Garros et un 6eme succès à Wimbledon.. à 26ans, Bjorn aurait peut être joué le meilleur tennis de sa vie
He actually played at Monte Carlo in 1982 and 1983 and Stuttgart in 1984. Then he had a failed comeback between 1991 and 1993 on some atp tournaments but failed to win a single game. He has never played on a major after this USO final tho, so y basically his career was over at just 25 y old.
Borg didn't even stick.around for The presentations. He had had enough of tennis. This without doubt was the best era of men's tennis and Borg was the main reason. He was fantastic.
BEAUTIFUL AND NICE GAME....... BOTH PLAYERS IS ENERGY FULL, PRACTICE FULL, TECHNICAL FULL, POWERFUL FULL, PRACTICE FULL AND STRONG FULL....... ON THE HOL WINER IS WONDERFUL..........
In 1981 the US open had one linesman at the back of the the court ,what a joke.In early 1981 Bjorn Borg had already decided to quit tennis,as he said when he lost at Wimbledon that year he was not that disappointed. In this match, he served badly, unlike the way he served in the semi-final against Jimmy Connors. He was to say later on after this match he was not too disappointed to lose as he knew he was leaving the game. What has to be said though is that Bjorn Borg really made tennis attractive to the masses.He was the man who brought in the sponsors and the television companies .He was unique and he started the tennis revolution.The players of today owe him a lot as he was the game's first global superstar.I know this because I lived through his period of dominance from 1974 to 1981. When he left the game it really was a tragedy for the sport.He must wonder today if he made the right decision.
I don't know if people realize how miraculous it was hitting the ball with such accuracy and such velocity with ţhose racquets' strings and their small surface area. McEnroe was an absolute genius when it came down to psychological warfare with his opponents and the umpires. He put fear in the chair umpire and the line judges to call his shots out. A line judge is thinking- I'm not calling his shot out, he might come after me with that racquet. Brilliant strategy and it has been said that overall in his career, he won 90-100 points that were out because of his strategy. I bet that's a total of 2-3 extra grand slams he won in his career.
McEnroe didn't win because he put fear into the umpires. Nearly every time he questioned a decision he lost the point anyway. Mac won simply because he was the best at the time. He was a tennis genius. Stop undervaluing he brilliance as a tennis player. Also, if you care to watch the matches, McEnroe never blew up in any match against Borg. He won fair and square.
Most of the players have close relationships today. And there’s a lot of camaraderie between the players that’s non existent on the WTA. I kind of like it.
Borgs plays like a machine he doesent like the game mcenroe lives the game it is such a pleasure to watch him playing he is the best player of all time
Borg did love the game but he concealed his emotions on court so as not to give his opponent and advantage to notice when Borg was angry or frustrated. It was very intimidating for opponents to play against Borg because he seemed to be mentally unbreakable.
The tennis gear in the 80's was really expensive. Bjorn Borg fila shirt was like $90 in 81 his diadora sneakers were $70, his fila sweet suit was $ 280.
Even my 12th std class mate Krishnamurthy told when I was watching TV in his house told let MacAndrew to win because Borg after winning 5 title now world required new championship like Jhon MacAndrew. Same like Gary Kasprove and Magnus Carlson
Could not believe Borg retired so young and still winning at the time. He had no health problems. Most players that quit the game now have money and come back because they miss the game. Like Agassi.
He "retired" in 1983 because of politics. He was going to be required to play a certain number of tournaments(like everyone else). He didn't want to, and then chose to leave the game.It's sort of the same reason why Jim Brown quit football when he was still a top running back. I actually agree with the ATP's stance because they have to look out for the welfare of the whole tour over that of one player.
Björn borg recived a message that someone in the audience was planning to shoot him. Borg said this didnt affected him. John was outstandin this day. Borg and McEnroe=legends
One of the most interesting things about the current era of great male tennis players (i.e., Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) is that from a realistic, practical standpoint, you can't really compare those three players to the other great players of the graphite- era (i.e., McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, Wilander, Lendl, Sampras and Agassi) because those 7 earlier graphite -era great players did not have the enormous advantage of (1) playing with the copolyester, lubricated strings that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have benefited significantly from which allow those three current great players to flail on the ball , which makes it too easy for them to avoid making unforced errors and artificially inflates their first and second serve percentages and (2) playing with the Type3 larger tennis ball in some tournaments (which is similar to the Wilson Rally ball which Wilson Corporation introduced back in 1983 or 1986 and fortunately was wisely never adopted for utilization on either the men's or women's pro tennis tours), which makes it easier for the current pro players to avoid making unforced errors and artificially inflates first and second serve percentages. In other words, those two things the lubricated strings (which immediately spring back into perfect vertical alignment after the ball leaves the racket face) and the larger Type3 tennis ball have made Federer, Djokovic and Nadal appear to be greater than they actually are! Yes they are great players but they are clearly not as great as their grossly inflated achievements have made them appear to be! Has those 7 earlier graphite-era great players had the opportunity to play with the copolyester, lubricated strings and the larger Type3 tennis ball, then their tennis play would have been elevated a full notch just as those two changes in technology in tennis have unquestionably elevated Federer, Djokovic and Nadal's level of play above their real abilities.
@@liamrees1106 .The point is that modern tennis pros have benefitted enormously and unfairly from the deplorable changes in the game of tennis, including the lubricated co-polyestor strings, the larger Type3 tennis ball, the harder rubber core Type1 tennis ball, the slowed down courts, the abandonment of the lightening fast, indoor supreme court carpet surface, all of which unfairly favor baseline play over serve-and-volley/net play! In addition, even natural gut strings can be lubricated! It would not be the least bit surprising at all if Djokovic's racket strings are lubricated even if they are natural gut strings! Even Federer has noted (whether intentionally or unintentionally/inadvertently) the cheapening of the game of tennis when he referred to his, Nadal and Djokovic's era as the "string generation" or "string era"! Federer, Djokovic and Nadal, although great players, are definitely not as great as their grossly inflated statistical achievements make them appear to be!
It is a certain indication of just how great a first serve Borg had , that he could hit a 115 mph first serve with a 65-70 square inch head-size wood racket! It is also very impressive that McEnroe could hit a second serve at 91 mph with a wood racket which was as good as many players' best first serves in the wood era of tennis! It is amazing that when he fell behind 2 sets to 1 to McEnroe in the 1981 U.S. Open final, that Borg didn't say to himself, "I might as well try returning serve from right at or just behind the baseline against McEnroe. I've got nothing to lose since this very fast Deco-Turf surface favors his game over mine and since I have never won the U.S.Open".
Remember a interesting article on McEnroe, back when he won the junior Orange Bowl, who ever wrote the article, said that McEnroe, would be a decent player, however..didn't have the skill set to probably win any grand slams..!
@ Jim le reveiller. Nadal's strength is not twice Borg's! Keep dreaming! Borg is the only pro tennis player to ever win the Superstars Competition (specifically the European version) in which the participating athletes are not permitted to play their specialty if it is one of the events in the competition. Borg had to win that competition by competing against the best European athletes in events such as cycling, track and field, swimming and weightlifting.
i watch at the third set ! borg leaded 4/2 ! and miss totally the rest of the set, by playing an agressive game that helped mc enroe to come back ! i don't understand his tactic, it was a very bad choice
@Emmanuel : En effet après avoir vaincu Connors en 3 set dans la ronde préliminaire c'est plus une question du style de McEnroe qui était efficace contre Borg. Il aurait du défendre son titre en France où il avait l'avantage, puis essayer de reconquérir Wimbledon.
@@borgtennis oui à la condition que Borg ait retrouvé sa détermination légendaire, pour la saison 1982..si il avait considérablement étoffé son programme de tournois en 1982,avec une vraie volonté d'être à nouveau compétitif, alors oui,Bjorn aurait survolé Roland garros cette année là...ce n'est pas Wilander, Vilas,Higueras,ou Clerc qui l'auraient inquiété...seuls,à la rigueur, un lendl ou un Noah,peut être...sur gazon, en revanche, McEnroe était devenu un adversaire très dur pour le suédois...quand à Connors, même à son meilleur niveau, il ne parvenait plus à battre le suédois...oui,franchement, 1982 aurait pu être tellement passionnant avec un Borg, redevenu lui lui-même...
This isn’t the one he should be thinking about before he falls asleep. The closest he ever came to winning the US Open was the year before in 1980. He took Mac to 5 sets in the final before losing the final set in a close one 6-4. In the ‘81 final Mac was the better player. It was 1 set all with Borg up a service break in the 3rd set but Mac broke back with 4 vicious winners and he never looked back from that point on.
As John Newcombe in the CBS-TV broadcast booth during the 1981 U.S.Open men's singles final accurately stated, Borg played really sloppy in that 4th set against McEnroe when normally he would be rock solid at that stage in a match! Of course, McEnroe was putting enormous pressure on Borg to keep the ball deep to try to keep McEnroe away from the net, which resulted in Borg making numerous unforced errors!
Best part was Mac receiving the runner up trophy. And then, oh, here John, this is actually your trophy. But to top that off, he's then awarded the first (and probably the last) sweater any champion has ever received. Was this the tennis version of the green jacket?. And then after all that, he works on getting a few fans to quiet down NY style. "Hey!!!"
Just imagine Murray Djokovic Nadal Federer etc etc walking away and not collecting Runners award and not giving a speech.. Unthinkable.. Anyhow Great Champions Borg and Mac..
Borg had a death threat against him. I think I would have left immediately as well. He had made millions of dollars, felt frustrated by the inability to beat Mac, but more importantly, broke from the pressure of his life the past 15 years. He went back to his rental house after this match and sat in the pool for an hour thinking about his life. He was the fastest player of all time according to Mac who has seen them all in the last 50 years. Same defensive ability as Djokovic, same clay court ability as Nadal, subpar net play, but a VERY underrated serve. Watch his semi final against Connors the day before and witness his greatest serving match ever. I was there in the 4th row, and Borg was serving absolute rockets to Jimmy. Sad that this was the end of the big rivalry, but such is life. He and Mac remain lifelong friends, and maybe thats the most important thing. We were able to witness about 2 years of the greatest rivalry of all time, and I am thankful.
@@Arturo-sm1tb Sorry, I remember Mac and Borg, but the greatest rivalry of all time is Djoker vs. Federer vs. Rafa. It confirm a number of GS: 17-20-19 against 11 (Borg) and 7 (Mac) only.
McEnroe didn’t have a really big serve, but it had so much variety, like a rocket shooting right in the air. His serve and volley game was kind of like Laver’s game, and the sensational. And touch of McEnroe it’s like he never really hit the ball on the volley, just putting the racket straight forward and letting the placement go.
He was an all time great McEnroe. In 1984 he won something like 90% of his matches but he saw Becker come along in 1985 and he also fell out of love with tennis. also think the Lendl French open defeat in 1984 had a huge effect on him. With Borg its incredible this was the last major he played in. He walked off this court and had had enough...aged 25
Interesting that McEnroe when serving at 4-4 in the 3rd set after the superb game he played to break Borg's serve, complained to a photographer at the back of the court (probably because the photographer was changing film in his camera, making noise which bothered McEnroe) and yet failed to complain to the chair umpire to have the photographer moved to the side of the court which is the area where the photographers are permitted. During his 1984 U.S. Open semifinal match against Connors, he complained to the chair umpire about the photographer behind the scoreboard at Connors' end of the court just as Connors was about to serve.
@ ed. The great Jack Kramer called serve-and-volleying on both first and second serves, "The Big Game". Kramer was the first player to successfully serve-and-volley on both first and second serves in a singles tennis match. Prior to Kramer, serve-and-volley players like Maurice McLoughlin ("The California Comet") would only serve-and-volley on the first serve.
In Due e & Ice, Bjorn Borg said that after His triumph at the Masters, He talked to Vis parents and Bergeli about His decision to retire from tennis. Since March 81 He started to decline, motivations were gone. It explains His victory at RG hearing Lendl in V sets, the Wimbledon semifinal don against Connors in B sets, the loss stai at McEnenroe and what happened at the Us Open 81. He was mentally off. McEnroe became ATP no 1 cause of Borg's decl8ne. Infact, in 1981 He lost three times in a row by Lendl, and in 1982 Connors returned no 1 again for the first time since 1978. Bjorn Borg is the greatest tennis player of all time by far
@@Martrex296 McEnroe became no 2 for the first time in 1979, and the distance from Borg increased in 1980 in tema of ATP Points. This is an hard fact. Without the incredible umpire's mistake in the V set - 15/15 3/3 - during the Us Open 80 final, Bjorn Borg would have won that match and the Grand Slam. Master 80 docet. The H2H wouls have been 8/3 instead 7/4 in Jan 1981. At their best, Bjorn Borg was stronger than McEnroe. End of duscussions
@ Luka unonoveseisinque. In reality, according to Borg's former wife Mariana Simonescu, Borg first started talking about retiring from pro tennis during the summer of 1979, which was Borg's most dominant season on the pro tennis tour in terms of match wins and tournaments won. So Borg at his peak in 1979 was starting to experience mental burnout from all the things that are required of a pro tennis player other than match play such as traveling from hotel to hotel unendingly, living out of a suitcase for many months of the year, practice sessions and off-court workouts to maintain top physical condition. Borg wasn't tired of playing the actual matches. He was fed up with all the pre- tournament preparation work that he had to do. In addition although Borg is without any question one of the top ten greatest male tennis players of all-time he is definitely not the GOAT male tennis player and in no way is he the GOAT "by far" as you erroneously assert. Tilden, Budge, Kramer, Laver, McEnroe, Sampras, Becker and Edberg were all better players at their best than Borg even though Becker and Edberg and Tilden and Budge and Kramer won less major titles ( i.e., not counting pro titles during the amateur era). It is hard to judge whether or not Federer is a better player than Borg because Federer foolishly all but abandoned the serve-and-volley aspect of his game soon after he won the 2003 Wimbledon title. Becker and Edberg and Kramer's serve-and-volley games at their best was better than Borg's baseline play at his best because the geometry of the tennis court favors the net player over the baseline player. Regarding your comment that Borg was a better player than McEnroe because he was stronger, Borg was stronger than McEnroe in terms if physical fitness because McEnroe never liked to work off the court on his physical conditioning which is a required element for every pro athlete in order to attain and maintain top performance in any sport. McEnroe would substitute a lot of doubles play to keep himself fit, but playing a lot of tennis is no substitute for the necessary off-court workouts. It wasn't until 1986 that McEnroe hired Paul Cohen as his fitness trainer and although McEnroe got into excellent cardiovascular condition , he lost the muscular definition in his legs which enabled him to get to the net as fast as possible when he was at his best in 1984. But there is no question whatsoever that McEnroe was a better tennis player than Borg in that he had a much greater diversity of shot- making skills than Borg.
@@michaelbarlow6610 I was a huge fan of Borg, but your sentence in the end "McEnroe was a better tennis player than Borg in that he had a much greater diversity of shot- making skills than Borg." is very truthful. The play of Borg was (mostly) monotone without a moment of a surprise.
Apparently, Borg walked off the court after this, left the stadium and went straight to the airport. Didn't even stay for the presentations. (He later apologised to McEnroe)
Incredibly even though he was only 25 this was Borg's last ever Grand Slam match
Yes. Won his last major at the 1981 French. Seems like yesterday. Until Sampras came along, no pro men's player had won more singles majors than Borg, who like Laver won 11 of them. Borg refused to play qualifying matches in 1982 majors. But did he regret it? His strange comeback close to a decade later was short lived. But an all time great for sure. Many all time great lists rank him right behind Sampras, who is often ranked below only the big 3 and Laver.
@Jerry L Roy Emerson did of course win 12 Slams but they were in the amateur era..
@@onthe4572 yes Emerson was winning majors until 1967, the year before the Open era began. He must have been quite a player though. Too bad Lendl only won Wimbledon as a junior, but what a career Ivan had in general
@Jerry L Emerson's record lasted 33 years till Sampras broke it at Wimbledon 2000. He got 1 more at the US Open 2002, but his record lasted just under 7 years until Federer got his 15th at Wimbledon 2009. But Sampras was a class act and wouldn't have minded too much I think..
@@onthe4572 Loved Sampras' game, that heavy heavy serve, helping him get through some tight tough matches and tiebreakers. He was number 1 like 7 years or so. Talent and power. Never won the French Open but won everything else. Awesome athlete. Rafter almost won Wimbledon in 200O and 2001, after 5 sets wins over Agassi in Semis classics. Yes Sampras had a lot of respect for the game. His personality was much lighter than that of some American men in the open era. He let his racket do the talking.
On their days both players were unbelievable and unbeatable.
They played some outstanding and exhilarating tennis.
Those games and those moments were golden moments in the history of the game.
Tennis would not have been as popular as it is today but for these two superman.
Kudos to them.
In 1981 all the knowledge of today did not exist to increase athletic performances, in fact there will never be more of such great tennis players, they were extraordinarily unrepeatable times I was 7 years old but I remember them very well
You look too young to have been 7 years old at that time. Perhaps 7 months old.
Moi j’avais 14 ans…… j’ai vu le match à la tv … et le lendemain l’ecole. J.etais pour borg.
Agreed
what would be some of the knowledge we have now that didnt exist 1981?
@@chrismanteris9093 I think she probably just means training, racquet technology...there weren't all the professional tennis academies where young pheenoms started at 12 or 13 years old training for hours a day when Mac, Borg and Connors came up.
Borg revolutionized the two-handed backhand. I know I modeled my game after him when I started playing tennis back in the late 70s. His groundstrokes were just a thing of beauty. Damn, he was a great player!
Not really. No one else after him played a double hander anything like him: flowing one-handed follow-through (Wilander slightly - but that was just mimicking). So your assertion sounds great - and got a handful of gormless upvotes - but couldn't be more incorrect.
@@danguee1 I think Lou just means that Borg made 2 hands acceptable. And actually, Lou *could* have been more incorrect. He could have said something completely absurd. But I'll grant you the cliche since those of limited writing ability rely on them.
@lou gee, actually Chris Evert revolutionized the two-handed backhand, not Borg. Hers was a simpler shot, more accurate, her take back more solid and everyone copied her, not Borg.
There were two versions of it: the Borg and Connors versions.
Choose the one which suits you.
@@danguee1 don't be that guy.
This was about to be a great match. Then, at 1:19:12, down 3-4 and a break in the third, McEnroe played one of the greatest games of his life. Or anyone's for that matter. This was still a good match to watch. But this game broke Borg's spirit and propelled Mac to his 3rd consecutive US Open title.
That game took the air out of Borgs tires so to speak, MAC hit 4 winners to break him then Borg misses 3 straight returns to go down 5-4 and it was ballgame after that
this is really the era of tennis that I watched. they used the small wooden rackets that required immense skill, and the game became fun serve and volley.
It was much more skillful than today.
@@fundhund62 Yeah but this was McEnroes last year, with wooden!
@@fundhund62 not true; the 90s were true skill. The only reason they did serve and volley is because the surfaces were uneven; it wasn’t a choice but the only thing they could do.
@@fundhund62 much more skill than today 🙈never herd shit like it
it was though, fall smaller racks@@liamrees1106
i was tied to the telly as they were my favourites as a young boy....best of their times
Am I the only one who feels like this is fast enough for the game of tennis to be played?
You really had to see and hit the ball well to hit a crushing anything, and the pace of the ball allowed not only for both baseline and net play, but you actually needed a few shots to set up a point. I like that.
My first racquet was a wooden one. They werent oversized heads where you could hit the ball anywhere on it and it would go where you wanted it to. You had to be a surgeon to play well with wood and small heads. These guys had amazing hand eye coordination to pull off some of these shots.
A joy to watch, and thanks for the upload.
In hindsight, putting no limitations on the development of racket technology in the 1980´s was a big mistake. Imagine baseball being played with similar high tech bats..
In the words of McEnroe, "it was easier to determine the differences in talent with wooden rackets".
Alas, it´s too late to do anything about it. We´ll have to live with the one-dimensional baseline bashing for the foreseeable future..
MUFC soccer is boring.
@ Chocolatetown Forever. You are not alone in your correct belief that the game of tennis as played with the wood and metal rackets was fast enough and that the sport never should have abandoned the wood racket in favor of the graphite equipment which have had so deleterious and terrible an impact on the appeal of the game. Tennis is sadly nowhere near as compelling to watch in the current era as it was back in the wood era when the wood and metal rackets kept the game from going all out of proportion. The graphite rackets, the copolyester- lubricated strings and the slowing down of the courts to favor baseline play over serve-and-volley play has resulted in the once beautiful, chess-like game of tennis to decline into a mindless, tediously boring, baseline war-of-attrition, slugfest!
@@michaelbarlow6610 Love the post.
agreed... in the pursuit of 'better' everything we lost sight of balance.. in the sport of tennis as well as many other things..
Gosh I miss this era of tennis. McEnroe,Borg,Connors and so many more. Let’s not forget the women too!🎾
thank you for showing this. loved it when it occurred live. love it now. it was such an uncharacteristic match for Bjorn Borg. who was a monster on all surfaces. how congenial McEnroe was this day!
Borg--McEnroe...great tennis...great rivalry...best ever....
@ Ben Jonson. Although the Borg-McEnroe rivalry was a great one, it is clearly not the greatest rivalry in the history of men's tennis because it was too short in duration--only 14 official matches. Connors-Lendl, Connors-Borg, Connors-McEnroe, Lendl-Edberg, etc., all lasted longer than the Borg-McEnroe rivalry. Probably the greatest rivalry in men's tennis history was Laver-Rosewall, but I don't think tennis historians have yet been able to determine exactly how many total singles matches Laver and Rosewall played against each other because after they turned pro , they played a huge number of matches against each other on the "barnstorming" pro tour in which pro players would play a match one night in one city , then travel to another city to play another match at night. Unfortunately precise records were not kept back then of those matches, including the statistics from those matches and the results of those matches. In many instances the local newspapers may not have even reported the results of those matches.
私のなかではエドバーグのライバルはレンドルではなくベッカーでした。二人のウィンブルドンでの3年連続の決勝での対決は素晴らしかった。
1981 -1984 John Mc Enroe was the best
Не ври. Борис Беккер лучше.
Then Tatum O’Neal came into his life and started the downhill slide.
1982, Connors was clearly better. 1983, they were about equal.
@@vadimm4308 Boris Becker, as great a player as he was on the men's pro tennis tour was not, even at his best in 1989, a better tennis player than John McEnroe (especially McEnroe at his absolute peak in 1984)! McEnroe had a greater diversity of shot-making skills than Becker. Becker had the advantage of a much more powerful serve and more powerful groundstrokes, but a more powerful serve and more powerful groundstrokes does not in and of themselves make a player better than another player! Becker was an excellent volleyer but did not possess the variety of volleys that McEnroe possessed and lacked McEnroe's touch/feel for the tennis ball on the racket strings! Becker, like so many other players with big serves, benefitted enormously from the regrettable abandonment of the wood and metal rackets (real tennis) in favor of the graphite rackets. Had the game of tennis stayed - as it should have - with the wood and metal rackets, Becker's game would have still been excellent but not as overpowering as it was not only in terms of his serve, but also in terms of his groundstrokes! McEnroe, to be fair, also benefitted tremendously from the change to the graphite rackets when he switched in 1983 from his Dunlop Maxply McEnroe wood racket to the Dunlop Max200G graphite midsize racket which elevated his game a full level above his actual ability and enabled him to have the best season in terms of singles watches won versus singles matches lost (82-3) of any male player in the Open Era in tennis history. But overall, McEnroe had a better overall game than Becker and was a much more naturally gifted player than Becker!
@@michaelbarlow6610 The player who approached the closest the modern tennis players is Lendl thought he has never won Wimbledon
I was glued to these matches back in the day. I totally wanted Borg to make McEnroe cry. And he often did.
I think that in 1980 and 1981 Mac made Borg cry so much he retired in 1981. And I was glued to these matches back in the day and I totally wanted McEnroe to make Borg lose. And he often did.
@@siouzsie you have a pretty bad memory, I'm afraid. Borg never complained about calls during a game. McEnroe cried like a baby.
czcams.com/video/ransFQVzf6c/video.html
@@gchomuk I didn’t say he did. I was replying to you using the same puerile language you used. However, Mac didn’t cry, he won. You might check out an ATP match where indeed, Borg had a meltdown.
Merci beaucoup ! Et ces commentaires de direct à Flushing seront toujours un régal pour ces deux plus grands champions inséparables...
John was one of the only players who had a 2nd serve more deadly than his 1st serve. That 2nd kick serve was so deadly!
1:19:06 Borg serving at 4-3 with a break 3rd set ,Mcenroe plays one of the best returning games of his career , two backhand passing shots & two forehand topspin lobs to break back . Borg wasn't the same after that game
Good call, that was an incredible game by Mac.
That’s the game that ended the rivalry and Borgs career.
In fact Borg had lost out to McEnroe in 'the' tie-break of the fourth set of the 1980 Wimbledon final. Though Borg won the match he was never the same again. The cool aura of his apparent invincibility simply faded away.
I learned to play using the old rackets in the early 80's. Once I got an oversized racket, my game really stepped up, but I probably would have been better using the small rackets. I really enjoyed the power and ease of the game with oversized rackets, but it's like using an oversized driver in golf; it's a little too easy. I have a lot of respect for the guys who dominated with these small rackets. It was more about precision and rhythm in those days which is probably why the smaller players succeeded.
Garcia Cragin Pro 240
Yes. John McEnroe as a multiple Majors champion, would not exist in this era of power technology. He got by through hand eye coordination, angles, volleys, drops and smarts. Today, those are not enough with everyone serving 120 mph, and getting them in.
@@Arturo-sm1tbIdk he would easily be able to do what he did if he was using a big rackett
So crazy Borg retires right after this match if I recall correct
I like this tennis better than today's. Now it's just HULK SMASH!!! on every point.
I agree. I take a match like this over today´s one-dimensional baseline bashing any day of the week!
Tom Smith Pretty sure the sport is still called tennis, halfwit.
It was nice tennis, but I think BOrg would not have any chance playing at present days, against the big servers. ON his days there was no big men like Del Potro, Isner, Karlovic, and other guys taller than 1.95, The serve by Borg would be a cake for all the current guys. Of course Borg with the new racquets would have a better serve, but not enough,. he would be destroyed by at least 15 players of present times. Even the serve by Nadal would be too fast for Borg.
@@phantomaq I saw the whole of Borg's career. You are utterly wrong, I'm afraid.
@@martydav9475 See the statistics of his last 10 matches Borg played, 0 wins, 10 loss. , at 37 years old, like Federer in 2019, but Fed at 37 still is capable to beat the best players in the world and Borg at 37 could not beat players in rounds of 64 or 32. Mc Enroe in his last 10 matches of his life, won 5 and lost 5. Borg was great but not the best. Numbers speak.
Remember when there were 3 real tv stations. And Everyone watched and shared the same experiences?
And Sports were so amazing because people played because they loved the sport, instead of the Sneaker Contracts and Social Media Monetization. Before athletes refered to themselves as products and brands. Before the 50 million dollar contracts for has been's and never will be's
Mohammed Ali Fights being called by Howard Cosell
Celtics vs Lakers
Yankees vs Red Sox
Yankees vs Dodgers
McEnroe Vs Borg
Good Coverage of the Olympics
Watson vs Nicholas
ABC's Wide World of Sports
Wayne Gretzky vs Everyone
Mike Tyson
Young Michael Jordan
The Athletes, Training Methods, Equipment, Sports Medicine, Skill Level, Athleticism, etc.. is so much higher today it's ridiculous. But the Games aren't fun anymore.
Sports back in that ERA were so captivating... You couldn't miss it. it was everything.
Now, I could care less about the NBA or NFL, or MLB...
There's no Feeling... No Loyalty by the Players to the Cities or the teams.
Sports are technically much better now. But they're not fun anymore.
This Era was Amazing.
Yeah things really went downhill in general for most sports across the World after the 2000’s.
The Sport was pure...and the people were real
The moment Bjorn Borg's career pretty much came to an end? The game he served at 1 set all up a break serving at 4-3 in the 3rd set. McEnroe hit 4 brilliant winners to break back and Bjorn's spirit was broken once and for all right there. He had absolutely nothing left. It was as if he knew there was nothing he could do to stop this younger guy from overtaking him.
Ivan Lendl Great insight: Borg’s reign ended around 1:18:48 here!
Bjorn Borg arrived at Us Open 81 without training, the last match he played was Wimbledon 81 final. During the tournament, he didn't sign the management between Players & ATP to play a minimum.number of tournaments. After the triumph at the Master 80, he told his parente & Bergeli his intention to retire. Since march 81 Begelin admitted that Bjorn needed long periodo 9f test, cause of his incomparable career. Everything has an explanation
@@MrLC1965 blah blah stop making excuses . Every professional athlete knows once you step on that Field all that other non sense doesn't matter . He lost fair and square
@ Ivan Lendl. Hello Ivan. First let me say what a pleasure it always was watching you play on the men's pro tour. I really believe that your phenomenal achievement of reaching 8 consecutive U.S. Open Finals is one of the greatest and most underappreciated accomplishments in tennis history. I also from time- to- time look back at that 1989 Wimbledon Semifinal you played against Becker and think to myself that if only it hadn't been for that damned rain delay in the third set when you had all the momentum in that match, you probably would have defeated Becker that day, although you would have had a very tough task trying to defeat the great grass court player Edberg in the finals. I have always wanted to ask you a question. When you were looking to switch to a midsize racket after your contract with Adidas expired in 1989, did you ever try in practice to play with the midsize version of the Adidas GTX Pro racket? I was amazed that I never saw you play with the GTX midsize in any official matches on the pro tour. Was that midsize racket not to your liking? I do remember that you played at Wimbledon one time with an all-black colored midsize racket. Was that an Adidas GTX midsize racket with the Adidas markings and logos simply painted over ? Another question that I have always wanted to ask you is about that point you played against Pat Cash in the 3rd set of the '84 U.S.Open Semifinal in which Cash pops-up a forehand volley which landed just in front of the service line mark at the center of your baseline and you were standing behind the baseline on the ad- court side and ,incredibly, instead of simply hitting a forehand , you decided to run around your forehand and hit an inside -out backhand crosscourt which was a half-drive/ half-lob that landed right in the corner of Cash's deuce court about 3-4 inches from the baseline and 3-4 inches from the singles sideline! I have always wondered why in that moment on that point did you run around your forehand to hit a backhand when it would have been the natural thing to do to simply hit a forehand?
Is really you here Lendl?If is really you had the pleasure to see you playing in a small tournament at Newport beach club south of L A. Was only eight players,you,M Wilander, Y Noah , T Mayote,Jimbo can't remember the 3 others.Was a big fan and still remember how the writers kept criticizing you for not winning a major . It took a while until you finally beat Big Mac in 85 winning The US Open,after that GS tour victories became an usual thing.also how hard you worked to win Wimbledon but there always hit the post.Now I remember that Borg had an injury,had a surgery and tried to come back,than decide to retire saying he would never be the same player after. The injury never healed ,he was 27 at the time.
Check out the game McEnroe has at 1:18:44 in the the 3rd set with Borg up 4-3 and serving. Unbelievable!
Thanks for that. Great shot making by Mac!
@@splendidteaching 👍
die Zeit wo Tennis noch was ganz Grosses war und es auch tatsächlich nur um Tennis ging. Hat immer noch so einen Spirit wenn man die alten Videos sieht
Watching these matches years later McEnroe had improved noticeably from 1980. Volleying - his timing coming to the net is improved; his approach shots are deeper; and he is volleying at angles no one had ever seen. His baseline game however is the biggest improvement - he makes far fewer errors; he's hitting harder and just crushing some returns - and placing and angling shots better. Still Borg stays right with him until the 8th game of the third set - then it was like he knew I can't beat him anymore - his best is better than mine. Still Borg was a better player on clay; and the Wimbledon match had been very close (Borg had 4 set pts in the third set and outplayed McEnroe the first 3 sets accepting the tie breakers). The announcers show that Borg only won 4 tournaments all year - and yet he went 19-2 at the Grand Slams. He was clearly burning out and I think he would have quit even if he had won. I thought he should have won in 80. McEnroe got some good calls down 5-6 in the first set; and on the awful call in the 5th set - on the first point of game 7 (the only break). And down 2-1 and Love-30 he had the volley that hit the net chord and dropped over to avoid triple break. I was sure at that point Borg would win. I always wonder what would have happened if Borg had won in 80. Having won the 3 most important Majors if he could go on seeing when anyone would beat him at Rolland Garos and being okay w 1 US Open and 5 Wimbledons. I still think he'd have burned out - but not until the mid 80s
it was sad to see borg walk away after this match. i wish he had won.
He would have walked away anyways... he wasn't in the game w his heart any more!
Go Johnnie Mac i love him.
At the time, I was an ardent Borg obsessive and was gutted when he lost this, as I was desperate for him to get a US Open title under his belt.....weirdly though, I started to love and appreciate Johnny Mac around 81/82 and he's now probably my second favourite male player of all time (marginally behind Federer).......The McEnroe documentary on Prime is fascinating. It broke Mac's heart that Borg retired when he did. He had hoped that the rivalry would go on for years. For their own records, I wish Borg had won this match and I wish Johnny Mac had won Roland Garros in 1984......
bring back the 80s...................................
I miss this tennis. Watching this you realize how powerful today's players are. A lot of McEnroe's groundstrokes don't have much on them in terms of pace. Players today all have the same technically perfect groundstrokes, they are all extremely fit, everyone hits with power. Tennis used to have different personalities, different styles etc. I guess that's true to some extent today too but everyone seems to play the same type of game now. Serve and volley tennis was a joy to watch. I love tennis today too but 1970s and 1980s tennis was beautiful.
One of the reasons I have McEnroe so high in my GOAT rankings (#3 behind Federer and Djokivic) is that, for about 6 years, he was virtually unbeatable--without training, without fitness, without nutrition, without mental health. All the things that give modern players their edge, McEnroe had none of it--and still he was unbeatable. Historic, one-of-a-kind player...
We could reduce the racket frame size to bring back some old style plays. The surfaces shall be more different in terms of rebound speed as well. Federer again complained about the grass in 2019.
Miguel Vazquez Agree, is not the wood, the spin comes from the head size (and Strings). There is a study about this.
Carlo Santin that’s why at least in Europe female tennis is admired (that and the ridiculous outfits they think they have to wear.)
This match saddens me, because it signalled the end of Bjorn Borg’s brilliant career. Roger Federer has proved that you can still come back after losing your number 1 spot. But I think John McEnroe didn’t just take Bjorn’s Wimbledon title and World number one spot, I feel he may have taken his soul as well. Though, to this day no player has ever had a significant on tennis than Bjorn Borg. His rivalry with John McEnroe took the sport to a whole new level.
I was a 15 -year-old kid at this time that always looked up to Borg, so It saddens me too. I think Borg could've regained his number 1 spot, but I think he just got tired of the grind. Of course, Bjorn never used that as an excuse, so my hats off to Mac for finally breaking through with back to victories against Borg at Wimbledon & US Open in the same year. One thing for sure though, those were some damn great times in the tennis world.
Agreed. Every documentary I have seen of Borg suggest that being not just number one but being the GOAt was everything to him.
Once he got into his head that McEnroe had the better of him and that his ambition was no longer possible then he lost motivation to continue.
Whatever he thinks of himself though. I say that his 5 consecutive Wimbledon wins (which has never been surpassed) is a greater achievement than Federer 5 conecutive wins since federer was a natural grass court player while Borg was a clay court specialist.
Those 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles make Borg a freak of nature in the world of tennis.
Just as ilie Nastase said. "The rest of us play Tennis...Borg plays something else".
MUFC watching soccer is like watching paint dry.
Correct.
@@adrianboyddodd8007 This is correct.
Dam Bjorn left tennis after this Season.. Only 26..: Serena and Roger 39 Still playing..
Venus 40 Still going..
Amazing the great John Patrick McEnroe never won A slam after 1984.. ( 26 years old )..
Never understood how he could never win the US Open. Definitely all in his head. He owned Wimbledon & the French, no question he should've got at least one US Open title.
Connors got in his way, the us open was played on grass, clay and hard court in the middle to late 70s, connors won on all 3 surfaces, defeating borg on clay, roswall on grass(borg didn't reach final). After connors stepped up his game in late 81 and the stong play of McEnroe, borg retired, connors won 82 Wimbledon and 82 and 83 us opens. Borg cited burn out for retirement while connors couldn't get enough of tennis playing professionally from 72 through 1996, connors is 4 years older than borg. Bobby jones said you fight to get into the cage, then you have to try and stay there. Bobby won golf's only grand slam and retired
@@ag358 You assisted in making my point even more. The clay and grass were even more the reason he should've captured an open tile. But when he was in his prime, ('76-'80) correct me if I'm wrong, but the US was on hard court. Connors was such a grinder, even though not as beloved as he was towards the latter half of his career, still had the homecourt edge. Love Borg and all, but his stoic on court demeanor may've really been a shield for what was an empathic individual who couldn't maintain against the hostile NYC crowds pullin' for one of their own...Lacked the mental toughness; skill set was there..
I was born a day before the tournament started. Interesting to see the most important match that was happening during my first weeks of life.
The best tennis announcing tandem of all time, Summerall, Traber, and Newcombe.
...absolutely..
Excellent commentary
They really need to remaster the videotape of the Borg-McEnroe 1981 U.S. Open final to sharpen the picture image. It obviously has deteriorated over the years.
When Wilander won French Open 1982, he trained against Borg. He said Borg was superior and probably would have won the tournament if he'd been allowed to play.
Wilander sayes always stupids things!
siberian tiger why is it stupid? He retired a few months earlier and won the FO the year before
Oui sincèrement Borg à son meilleur niveau aurait remporté sans aucun problème Roland garros en 1982,c'est tellement évident
tourbillon is one thing to pracrise, another playing best of five for two weeks
Andreas Schulz so instead of beating guys 1,1,1 he would win 3,3,3...his game didn’t disappear in the 6 months while hitting with Wilander
An interesting thing about the audio of this 1981 U.S. Open Men's Singles Final Borg vs. McEnroe is that even back in 1981, the quality of microphones were so good that you can actually hear crickets chirping outside (or perhaps inside) the Louis Armstrong Stadium just as the players are about to hit a serve!
Borg did not like playing at the US Open due to its floodlit night sessions and the fast, high bounce and positive foothold of the courts, particularly at Flushing Meadow. He preferred the afternoon daylight at Wimbledon and Roland Garros where he could slide into his shots on the grass and clay. At the US Open he also stood further back to take the ball on a low bounce to produce his trademark topspin but that meant he had to run farther and his opponent had more time to see the ball coming. Against an opponent of McEnroe’s quality, you can’t afford to do that; John would often knock off Bjorn’s returns with easy volley winners. The fact that he reached the final four times though was a tribute to his competitiveness, and the fact that he was fitter and concentrated better than anyone else.
That game in the third set where McEnroe breaks Borg with the 2 passing shots, and then the two lobs was flat out beauty.
It ruined my day, but I never forgot it. September 13th 1981
Johnny Mac was a magician on the court...I am just a bit younger than Mac and he was my boyhood tennis hero. I styled my game after his and even had a clone serve (unfortunately I was a rightie) and was very quick and athletic got to be a very good A level Club player...always enjoyed watching John play.
@Roger B His groundstrokes were actually perfect for his game. You seem to have very superficial judgement based on how a stroke looks.. but in reality, the fundamentals of his game were inherently sound!
@Roger B What is so horrible about it? As I already pointed out, his fundamentals are perfectly sound. His balance, his contact point, also his use of the non racket hand, are pretty perfect, to be honest.
Fourty years ago, time flies😯
Dig the top that Mac generates at the point starting 37:00. Nice.
A couple of months before this Borg had finally lost his Wimbledon crown to Mac. Borg was shot by this point. In his autobiography he states that he knew he was done with tennis after the Wimbledon '81 final when the defeat didn't bother him that much. He should've felt incensed at losing given his intensely competitive nature, but he said it was all rather "meh". He only didn't quit tennis right there and then because he wanted one last shot at winning the US Open, but he was pretty much phoning it in after that point. Same thing happened to Pete Sampras in 2001.
Except in 2001, Pete Sampras continued tennis and won his final major at the 2002 US open.
Why did Borg not participate in the trophy presentation?
and that was pretty much the end. Borg quit at 26 and one of the most magical rivalries in tennis ended way soon. what could have been....
Indeed, and I firmly believe it hurt Mac's career as well. He was not able to keep his motivation up for long after that. He did not feel the same fire going against Lendl. He admits that in his book.
Of course, the change of technologies and emergence of younger generation have a lot to do with his premature decline, but his mental game was based on that fierce competitiveness that was taken away considerably after Borg's retirement. He might have not been able to be that dominant up to '84 had Borg been around, but that inner fire was a such a big part of Mac's virtuosity.
@@ssaski800 Totally agree with you. When Borg quit, Mac felt like Ginger without Fred. He looked up to Borg big time. He was his hero whom he wanted to show what he could do with a racket. And when that was gone Mac was never really the same. And the rivalry between Mac and Lendl was nothing like it had been that short time between Mac and Borg. What might have been.....
@ S Saski. McEnroe a number of years after Borg retired from the men's pro tennis tour stated that for him (McEnroe) Borg's premature retirement from pro tennis was like if Kareem Abdul Jabbar's LA Lakers teams quit pro basketball at the height of their great rivalry with Larry Bird's Boston Celtics teams. McEnroe stated that his motivation to play tennis declined when Borg quit pro tennis.
@@michaelbarlow6610 Yes, I believe it was like that for McEnroe. When your greatest opponent retires, then what? I just think: what a waste. Borg was only 26 when he quit. He suffered from burn-out as we now call it. He couldn t go on. He always had tennis, he never had a life. And he wanted out. Who can blame him. But what a waste. Imagine what kind of matches these 2 could have played!
@ norma desmond. I completely agree that it is so sad that the Borg-McEnroe rivalry only lasted 14 official matches. It should have lasted much longer. As John McEnroe stated a number of years after Borg quit pro tennis, "The thought never occurred to Bjorn that I could screw up!". The thing about Borg that is absolutely baffling is the unanswered question of why did Borg allegedly attempt to commit suicide in Milan, Italy in 1989? There is a book written by a man who was an advisor to Borg when he helped Borg to form the Bjorn Borg Design Group to manufacture men's sports and casual wear clothes endorsed by Borg , who talked about Borg's alleged suicide attempt by taking an overdose of sleeping pills back in 1989 in Milan, Italy, but the book doesn't satisfactorily address the question of why Borg was so unhappy with his life back then that he allegedly became despondent. According to the book, when the author of the book heard about Borg's alleged suicide attempt , the author called Borg's parents and spoke on the phone to Borg's mother and aked her, "Doesn't Bjorn want to live?" and Borg's mother supposedly responded, "No". But the author doesn't answer the question of why was Borg allegedly despondent. The official explanation was that he accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills, but you really have to wonder if it was just accidental? Borg's relationship with or marriage to an Italian female pop music singer was breaking up and he may have lost some money through bad business deals but he was never financially broke. He did eventually have to sell his jet boat and the island he owned and he eventually sold the Bjorn Borg Design Group to an Italian corporation. But he was never financially destitute. It is interesting that a number of years ago he was going to auction off his replicas of his 5 Wimbledon trophies, and when McEnroe heard about it, McEnroe called Connors, and McEnroe and Connors and Agassi talked Borg out of selling his replica Wimbledon trophies. Borg supposedly bought the replica trophies back before they could be auctioned off. When McEnroe called Borg about Borg's plan to auction off his 5 Wimbledon replica trophies, McEnroe allegedly said to Borg, "Have you gone mad?".
Tactical adaptations of serve, rallies and, reaching to nets scoring by John Macnroe and stylesome positioning, volleying by Bjorn Borg. The beauty of yesteryears tennis
The pop sound off Borg's racquet must be because he has it strung so tight. 85 lbs?? Something like that. Wow.
@ Annette Roper. Borg had his Donnay wood rackets strung at 80 lbs. tension. When the ball hit his racket strings it sounded like he was hitting the tennis ball with a cast-iron pan!
Actually 88 lbs according to Trabert at 4:00. Incredly tight!
A great upload, thanks ...the clothes were bette, the rackets were better, the game was better
your opinion on the clothing and the game itself is subjective, so I'll pass on that. But there's absolutely no way the rackets were better back then. BTW, do you still use a Sony Walkman?
hofifut the racquets are definitely better for the level of athletes...MLB did it the right way by never allowing aluminum bats
Nothing was better,heavy rackets,sweet spot smaller,tennis shoes would not hold your feet. Also all very expensive
@ hofifut. Patrick Kelly is not alone in his opinion that the tennis rackets of the 1970's--1980's were better than the rackets manufactured since then, as evidenced by John McEnroe's statement during the widebody racket era (i.e., the 1990's) that, "They stopped making all the good rackets and now they're just making crummy ones".
John Mc Enroe le plus grand de tous . Le plus beau tennis le plus beau toucher le plus quoi ....!!!
Non! Borg le moins spectaculaire sans doute mais le génie le plus précoce, donc comparable à Federer (10 grands chelems à 24 ans)
Thierry Carral Le plus gros potentiel de tous les temps ! En terme de tennis d’attaque on n’a toujours pas vu mieux (sauf Stefan Edberg en ce qui concerne la volley de revers et la seconde balle de service), ni même égal. Coup d’œil. Touché. Volley. Sens de l’anticipation et du déplacement. Service placé. Ce type de jeu nous manque. Federer a un jeu parfait, mais même lui ne compense pas le manque.
Who knew that this would be last match that Borg ever played of any significance? All we can say is that Borg's style of play quickly became a relic of the past after he left the game... by the early 80s, there was new baseline sheriff in town named Lendl, and it is Lendl's model of tennis - not Borg's or McEnroe's or Connors' - that has endured for 3 decades.
I am not sure Ivan gets as much credit as he deserves. He made a steady climb to the top and once there was able to hold back the likes of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander etc, etc for 160 weeks. Wilander briefly overtook him but, he soon reclaimed it and went a while longer.
McEnroe never played up when playing Borg because he knew it was a waste of time.
True.
I'm not sure. But you seem to be correct. If Mac got a bad call playing Borg, I think he'd act out. Maybe the calls were always good.
He respected Borg more than any other player. He would have felt he was disrespecting him to act up.
McEnroe is the only player in the world that when he serves, you can actually hear the powerful spin on the ball, hear it when he hits the ball and just after it passes the net and before Borg hits it, a good example is in minute 37:36, you will hear it in this serve, the next and many other times, if you close your eyes it is more noticeable, I discovered this when in 1980 I was at the U.S. Open watching him play.
For me ,the mcenroe of 1980-81 was one of the more greatests players of all the Times ! Only federer and djokovic they can to winner vs this mc enroe!!!
@@siberiantiger8553 For me, Mac would had no chance against Fedex and Djoker.
sorry for my bad english
@@mtgne5351 i say the same thinghs ! Probabilly you haven'T understand my words
Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe played each other a total of 14 times on the ATP Tour with their H2H standing at 7 wins each (7-7) by the end of their playing careers.
The last Borg vs McEnroe match was at the US Open in 1981, which McEnroe won in four sets (4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3).
Definitely was entertaining by these legend's...best rival clash to have watched...
This has to be the most important match in tennis history. Had Borg won (and was in a good position to win), he would have played a couple of more years at least (as he was 25 here) and who knows how tennis history would have been written. Surely Borg would have won 3 additional Grand Slams easy in the next 3 years and would have passed the 14 Emerson mark with 15 and it would be Roger Federer to finally eclipse that 30 years later. Unreal.
don't forget Borg only played the Australian once in 73
that sound BB strings makes...high tension
Bjorn is the reason I started and continue to play tennis just about every day..I am 52....He has never admitted it but Mac drove him out of the game.....Without question Borg is my fav player,,...and arguably the most important athlete to play tennis....I mean ...even here...look at the guy.....so cool..The Viking God
I disagree that McEnroe “drove” him out of the game. By this time, Borg was burnt out on the constant travel and training. He knew that he’d have to re-dedicate himself to regain the number one ranking and wasn’t prepared to do so. I believe he beat McEnroe at the Masters in early 1981, so he was still capable.
Borg, mcenroe and connors. Early on connors had both then borg dominated him for years then mcenroe took from Borg then connors came back in 1982. Great matches. Mcenroe dominated 83 84 then Lendl took over
The tighter the racquet strings the more control, the looser the strings, the less control but more power. Borg's were super tight. You could clearly hear the ‘ping’ when he hit the ball.
Borg’s returns are usually way too high.
80 lbs. of pressure, according to the legend. Unheard of in those days with wood racquets and the string patterns. I did some stringing back in the day for extra money, and could never even get the machine tight enough for 75 lbs, much less 80! No idea how he did that if its true. Mac played with the opposite- somewhere in the mid 50s I think on his racquet, that better suited his game of feel and touch. Ocassionally he would hit that forehand waaay long with the loose stringing.
that tight stringing allowed him to hit it with the high arc and still stay in the court. Those shots worked really well against Jimmy Connors- they totally threw him off of his game of flat, low, hard returns. Somehow, Mac was dextrous enough to not be as affected. He took the balls much earlier than Jimmy and blunted Borg's massive topspin. I know Borg sensed that. But he knew no other way to play.
Perhaps Borg should have stood in closer on returns. Getting aced a few times is OK if he could reduce McEnroe's time to get to the net. Cranking a few really hard returns at or around McEnroe would be the way to break serve.
Sanjay, good thoughts but the problem is that Borg's strokes on either side were dependent on a relatively long backswing...he simply wouldn't have time to hit an effective return if had moved in closer for the returns. Borg's long, looping backswings were actually his big achilles heel against a guy like Mac. Mac simply had a game that transcended and blunted what guys like Borg and Vilas had perfected for several years before he came along. I think thats a big part of why Borg hung it up after this match in 1981....he had come to realization in that 3rd set that Mac was going to beat him 7 out of 10 times....his game really had very few answers to the more refined serve and volley game and motor skills of Mac. Today, with the speed of the game, no one could possibly hit with that time of a looping backswing and survive in the top tier of the game. You have to be very versatile with all your strokes today to be a top player. Borg was a great player back then because- he was the best conditioned athlete out there, maybe the fastest player on the circuit, best footwork, and of course due to the wood racquets and relative slow speed of the ball coming off the strings.
Juan Nuñez... gran valor! 👏🎾🇨🇱R1
Interesting thing is that when serving at 4-4, 3rd set against Borg in the 1981 U.S. Open final, McEnroe spoke briefly to a photographer who was behind the courtside scoreboard behind him but didn't ask the chair umpire to have the photographer move to the sidelines where the still photographers were supposed to be. And yet 3 years later in the semifinals of the U.S.Open against Connors, McEnroe had the chair umpire call out the tournament referee to have a photographer moved to the sidelines from behind the courtside scoreboard since the area behind the courtside scoreboard was not an official photographic position at Louis Armstrong Stadium back then.
Wow, Borg bombed a serve 120 mph w a wooden stick
@timothy chung No - it's the exact opposite: low tension gives power. As you would know if you played tennis. But thanks for taking the time to offer your opinion - the world so needs uninformed opinion delivered with certainty, telling us the opposite of the truth. Here's a quote from the "Most players are familiar with the general principle that low tension gives more power and high tension gives more control" [www.tennisindustrymag.com/articles/2005/01/does_higher_string_tension_giv.html]
Low tension- high power and less control
luvdasitar huh, Borg did for that era w wooden racquets. McEnroe strung his racquets pretty low.
He strung his rackets at 90....
Dave Drust 90lbs? What strings did he use?
I don't even want to watch past the first set LOL. Both players were amazing, but it's so sad this was Bjorn Borg last ever real match.
Oui avec un programme d'environ 18 à 20 tournoi, avec une motivation à tte épreuve et une excellente préparation physique,Borg pouvait remporter un 7eme titre à Roland Garros et un 6eme succès à Wimbledon.. à 26ans, Bjorn aurait peut être joué le meilleur tennis de sa vie
Classic tennis ; love it 🤗💛
Wooden rackets folks, smaller frames, precision and accuracy.
Blue&Orange exactement ce que je me disais😂😂. Exactly what i thought.
Those rackets are actually easier to hit with, the ball always stays in
@@willnill7946 I know, I played with them in the 80's as a kid, (dating myself).
will Nill But they are so much heavier and harder to generate heavy top spin. many modern players that rely on heavy spin wouldn't survive with woods.
I cut my tennis teeth with my dad's Wright-Ditson. l was horrified by Connors' metal Wilson.
Jimbo, McEnroe and Edberg are. probably the best volleyers in the Open Era.
Borg walked off this court and never played a tournament again. Incredible.
Is that true? Wow.
Couldnt handle not being number one amymore.
didn't play another U.S. Open,but did play ATP tournaments when he made an ill fated comeback years later.
He actually played at Monte Carlo in 1982 and 1983 and Stuttgart in 1984. Then he had a failed comeback between 1991 and 1993 on some atp tournaments but failed to win a single game. He has never played on a major after this USO final tho, so y basically his career was over at just 25 y old.
Borg didn't even stick.around for The presentations. He had had enough of tennis. This without doubt was the best era of men's tennis and Borg was the main reason. He was fantastic.
BEAUTIFUL AND NICE GAME.......
BOTH PLAYERS IS ENERGY FULL, PRACTICE FULL, TECHNICAL FULL, POWERFUL FULL, PRACTICE FULL AND STRONG FULL.......
ON THE HOL WINER IS WONDERFUL..........
Dam how we wished there was Hawk-Eye back then esp during McEnroe prime days!!
and Nastase
In 1981 the US open had one linesman at the back of the the court ,what a joke.In early 1981 Bjorn Borg had already decided to quit tennis,as he said when he lost at Wimbledon that year he was not that disappointed. In this match, he served badly, unlike the way he served in the semi-final against Jimmy Connors. He was to say later on after this match he was not too disappointed to lose as he knew he was leaving the game.
What has to be said though is that Bjorn Borg really made tennis attractive to the masses.He was the man who brought in the sponsors and the television companies .He was unique and he started the tennis revolution.The players of today owe him a lot as he was the game's first global superstar.I know this because I lived through his period of dominance from 1974 to 1981. When he left the game it really was a tragedy for the sport.He must wonder today if he made the right decision.
I don't know if people realize how miraculous it was hitting the ball with such accuracy and such velocity with ţhose racquets' strings and their small surface area. McEnroe was an absolute genius when it came down to psychological warfare with his opponents and the umpires. He put fear in the chair umpire and the line judges to call his shots out. A line judge is thinking- I'm not calling his shot out, he might come after me with that racquet. Brilliant strategy and it has been said that overall in his career, he won 90-100 points that were out because of his strategy. I bet that's a total of 2-3 extra grand slams he won in his career.
McEnroe didn't win because he put fear into the umpires. Nearly every time he questioned a decision he lost the point anyway. Mac won simply because he was the best at the time. He was a tennis genius. Stop undervaluing he brilliance as a tennis player. Also, if you care to watch the matches, McEnroe never blew up in any match against Borg. He won fair and square.
I liked the old handshake. Quick firm and manly. Now everyone has to hug.
Most of the players have close relationships today. And there’s a lot of camaraderie between the players that’s non existent on the WTA. I kind of like it.
It's amazing that no one ever stepped in to help McEnroe manage his Mental Health crises and disturbances!
Borgs plays like a machine he doesent like the game mcenroe lives the game it is such a pleasure to watch him playing he is the best player of all time
Borg did love the game but he concealed his emotions on court so as not to give his opponent and advantage to notice when Borg was angry or frustrated. It was very intimidating for opponents to play against Borg because he seemed to be mentally unbreakable.
I wish I could go back then with about $10k and buy up all that vintage sportswear. I would make a fortune on ebay lol.
The tennis gear in the 80's was really expensive. Bjorn Borg fila shirt was like $90 in 81 his diadora sneakers were $70, his fila sweet suit was $ 280.
10:08 a SABR by McEnroe
Even my 12th std class mate Krishnamurthy told when I was watching TV in his house told let MacAndrew to win because Borg after winning 5 title now world required new championship like Jhon MacAndrew. Same like Gary Kasprove and Magnus Carlson
Borg missed too much ! That Day was a sad day
Could not believe Borg retired so young and still winning at the time. He had no health problems. Most players that quit the game now have money and come back because they miss the game. Like Agassi.
He "retired" in 1983 because of politics. He was going to be required to play a certain number of tournaments(like everyone else). He didn't want to, and then chose to leave the game.It's sort of the same reason why Jim Brown quit football when he was still a top running back. I actually agree with the ATP's stance because they have to look out for the welfare of the whole tour over that of one player.
Björn borg recived a message that someone in the audience was planning to shoot him. Borg said this didnt affected him. John was outstandin this day. Borg and McEnroe=legends
You can always here how much tension was on Borgs racket!
Great players
One of the most interesting things about the current era of great male tennis players (i.e., Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) is that from a realistic, practical standpoint, you can't really compare those three players to the other great players of the graphite- era (i.e., McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, Wilander, Lendl, Sampras and Agassi) because those 7 earlier graphite -era great players did not have the enormous advantage of (1) playing with the copolyester, lubricated strings that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have benefited significantly from which allow those three current great players to flail on the ball , which makes it too easy for them to avoid making unforced errors and artificially inflates their first and second serve percentages and (2) playing with the Type3 larger tennis ball in some tournaments (which is similar to the Wilson Rally ball which Wilson Corporation introduced back in 1983 or 1986 and fortunately was wisely never adopted for utilization on either the men's or women's pro tennis tours), which makes it easier for the current pro players to avoid making unforced errors and artificially inflates first and second serve percentages. In other words, those two things the lubricated strings (which immediately spring back into perfect vertical alignment after the ball leaves the racket face) and the larger Type3 tennis ball have made Federer, Djokovic and Nadal appear to be greater than they actually are! Yes they are great players but they are clearly not as great as their grossly inflated achievements have made them appear to be! Has those 7 earlier graphite-era great players had the opportunity to play with the copolyester, lubricated strings and the larger Type3 tennis ball, then their tennis play would have been elevated a full notch just as those two changes in technology in tennis have unquestionably elevated Federer, Djokovic and Nadal's level of play above their real abilities.
I mistyped the word "Had" as "Has" in the sentence, "Had those 7 earlier graphite-era great players......" in my previously posted comment.
I think your should do some research because Novak used natural gut 🙈
@@liamrees1106 .The point is that modern tennis pros have benefitted enormously and unfairly from the deplorable changes in the game of tennis, including the lubricated co-polyestor strings, the larger Type3 tennis ball, the harder rubber core Type1 tennis ball, the slowed down courts, the abandonment of the lightening fast, indoor supreme court carpet surface, all of which unfairly favor baseline play over serve-and-volley/net play! In addition, even natural gut strings can be lubricated! It would not be the least bit surprising at all if Djokovic's racket strings are lubricated even if they are natural gut strings! Even Federer has noted (whether intentionally or unintentionally/inadvertently) the cheapening of the game of tennis when he referred to his, Nadal and Djokovic's era as the "string generation" or "string era"! Federer, Djokovic and Nadal, although great players, are definitely not as great as their grossly inflated statistical achievements make them appear to be!
It is a certain indication of just how great a first serve Borg had , that he could hit a 115 mph first serve with a 65-70 square inch head-size wood racket! It is also very impressive that McEnroe could hit a second serve at 91 mph with a wood racket which was as good as many players' best first serves in the wood era of tennis! It is amazing that when he fell behind 2 sets to 1 to McEnroe in the 1981 U.S. Open final, that Borg didn't say to himself, "I might as well try returning serve from right at or just behind the baseline against McEnroe. I've got nothing to lose since this very fast Deco-Turf surface favors his game over mine and since I have never won the U.S.Open".
Remember a interesting article on McEnroe, back when he won the junior Orange Bowl, who ever wrote the article, said that McEnroe, would be a decent player, however..didn't have the skill set to probably win any grand slams..!
If Borg had played with modern racquets n strings, his topspin would be like Nadal’s
No way !! Nadal’s strength is twice et borg’s
jim le reveilleur nope
@ Jim le reveiller. Nadal's strength is not twice Borg's! Keep dreaming! Borg is the only pro tennis player to ever win the Superstars Competition (specifically the European version) in which the participating athletes are not permitted to play their specialty if it is one of the events in the competition. Borg had to win that competition by competing against the best European athletes in events such as cycling, track and field, swimming and weightlifting.
@@michaelbarlow6610 yup, as McEnroe described him Borg was like a Viking God lolz
@@michaelbarlow6610 nadal is 100% stronger than borg by a mile he’s 6,2 not 5,10 lol
i watch at the third set ! borg leaded 4/2 ! and miss totally the rest of the set, by playing an agressive game that helped mc enroe to come back ! i don't understand his tactic, it was a very bad choice
Little did they know that some newborn in Switzerland would 36 years later create an event with two teams that these two would be captains of.
Il pouvait gagner d'autres tournois après celui là.
Connors en est le parfait exemple.
@Emmanuel : En effet après avoir vaincu Connors en 3 set dans la ronde préliminaire c'est plus une question du style de McEnroe qui était efficace contre Borg. Il aurait du défendre son titre en France où il avait l'avantage, puis essayer de reconquérir Wimbledon.
@@borgtennis oui à la condition que Borg ait retrouvé sa détermination légendaire, pour la saison 1982..si il avait considérablement étoffé son programme de tournois en 1982,avec une vraie volonté d'être à nouveau compétitif, alors oui,Bjorn aurait survolé Roland garros cette année là...ce n'est pas Wilander, Vilas,Higueras,ou Clerc qui l'auraient inquiété...seuls,à la rigueur, un lendl ou un Noah,peut être...sur gazon, en revanche, McEnroe était devenu un adversaire très dur pour le suédois...quand à Connors, même à son meilleur niveau, il ne parvenait plus à battre le suédois...oui,franchement, 1982 aurait pu être tellement passionnant avec un Borg, redevenu lui lui-même...
@@leliondescavernes1747 et paradoxalement aucun grand chlem pour Mac en 1982
This must be the one that Borg thinks about before he falls asleep. So many chances to win.
He was under a death threat this weekend. I think that caused him more loss of sleep than what he has now.
This isn’t the one he should be thinking about before he falls asleep. The closest he ever came to winning the US Open was the year before in 1980. He took Mac to 5 sets in the final before losing the final set in a close one 6-4. In the ‘81 final Mac was the better player. It was 1 set all with Borg up a service break in the 3rd set but Mac broke back with 4 vicious winners and he never looked back from that point on.
As John Newcombe in the CBS-TV broadcast booth during the 1981 U.S.Open men's singles final accurately stated, Borg played really sloppy in that 4th set against McEnroe when normally he would be rock solid at that stage in a match! Of course, McEnroe was putting enormous pressure on Borg to keep the ball deep to try to keep McEnroe away from the net, which resulted in Borg making numerous unforced errors!
Best part was Mac receiving the runner up trophy. And then, oh, here John, this is actually your trophy. But to top that off, he's then awarded the first (and probably the last) sweater any champion has ever received. Was this the tennis version of the green jacket?. And then after all that, he works on getting a few fans to quiet down NY style. "Hey!!!"
I tried using the same racket Borg used back in the day, but I hated it. Stiffest racket in the world, but it was cool looking.
Just imagine Murray Djokovic Nadal Federer etc etc walking away and not collecting Runners award and not giving a speech.. Unthinkable.. Anyhow Great Champions Borg and Mac..
Borg had a death threat against him. I think I would have left immediately as well. He had made millions of dollars, felt frustrated by the inability to beat Mac, but more importantly, broke from the pressure of his life the past 15 years. He went back to his rental house after this match and sat in the pool for an hour thinking about his life. He was the fastest player of all time according to Mac who has seen them all in the last 50 years. Same defensive ability as Djokovic, same clay court ability as Nadal, subpar net play, but a VERY underrated serve. Watch his semi final against Connors the day before and witness his greatest serving match ever. I was there in the 4th row, and Borg was serving absolute rockets to Jimmy. Sad that this was the end of the big rivalry, but such is life. He and Mac remain lifelong friends, and maybe thats the most important thing. We were able to witness about 2 years of the greatest rivalry of all time, and I am thankful.
@@Arturo-sm1tb Sorry, I remember Mac and Borg, but the greatest rivalry of all time is Djoker vs. Federer vs. Rafa.
It confirm a number of GS: 17-20-19
against 11 (Borg) and 7 (Mac) only.
McEnroe didn’t have a really big serve, but it had so much variety, like a rocket shooting right in the air. His serve and volley game was kind of like Laver’s game, and the sensational. And touch of McEnroe it’s like he never really hit the ball on the volley, just putting the racket straight forward and letting the placement go.
He was an all time great McEnroe. In 1984 he won something like 90% of his matches but he saw Becker come along in 1985 and he also fell out of love with tennis. also think the Lendl French open defeat in 1984 had a huge effect on him. With Borg its incredible this was the last major he played in. He walked off this court and had had enough...aged 25
Interesting that McEnroe when serving at 4-4 in the 3rd set after the superb game he played to break Borg's serve, complained to a photographer at the back of the court (probably because the photographer was changing film in his camera, making noise which bothered McEnroe) and yet failed to complain to the chair umpire to have the photographer moved to the side of the court which is the area where the photographers are permitted. During his 1984 U.S. Open semifinal match against Connors, he complained to the chair umpire about the photographer behind the scoreboard at Connors' end of the court just as Connors was about to serve.
Oh this is the one where Borg walked right outta the stadium and never looked back.
Yes. Asshole move too. The fans deserved better.
serve and volley on the second serve? relentless
@ ed. The great Jack Kramer called serve-and-volleying on both first and second serves, "The Big Game". Kramer was the first player to successfully serve-and-volley on both first and second serves in a singles tennis match. Prior to Kramer, serve-and-volley players like Maurice McLoughlin ("The California Comet") would only serve-and-volley on the first serve.
In Due e & Ice, Bjorn Borg said that after His triumph at the Masters, He talked to Vis parents and Bergeli about His decision to retire from tennis.
Since March 81 He started to decline, motivations were gone. It explains His victory at RG hearing Lendl in V sets, the Wimbledon semifinal don against Connors in B sets, the loss stai at McEnenroe and what happened at the Us Open 81. He was mentally off. McEnroe became ATP no 1 cause of Borg's decl8ne. Infact, in 1981 He lost three times in a row by Lendl, and in 1982 Connors returned no 1 again for the first time since 1978.
Bjorn Borg is the greatest tennis player of all time by far
No, McEnroe was still 3 years away from his peak. He had every shot in
the book and was a superior player to Borg.
@@Martrex296 McEnroe became no 2 for the first time in 1979, and the distance from Borg increased in 1980 in tema of ATP Points. This is an hard fact. Without the incredible umpire's mistake in the V set - 15/15 3/3 - during the Us Open 80 final, Bjorn Borg would have won that match and the Grand Slam. Master 80 docet. The H2H wouls have been 8/3 instead 7/4 in Jan 1981. At their best, Bjorn Borg was stronger than McEnroe.
End of duscussions
@ Luka unonoveseisinque. In reality, according to Borg's former wife Mariana Simonescu, Borg first started talking about retiring from pro tennis during the summer of 1979, which was Borg's most dominant season on the pro tennis tour in terms of match wins and tournaments won. So Borg at his peak in 1979 was starting to experience mental burnout from all the things that are required of a pro tennis player other than match play such as traveling from hotel to hotel unendingly, living out of a suitcase for many months of the year, practice sessions and off-court workouts to maintain top physical condition. Borg wasn't tired of playing the actual matches. He was fed up with all the pre- tournament preparation work that he had to do. In addition although Borg is without any question one of the top ten greatest male tennis players of all-time he is definitely not the GOAT male tennis player and in no way is he the GOAT "by far" as you erroneously assert. Tilden, Budge, Kramer, Laver, McEnroe, Sampras, Becker and Edberg were all better players at their best than Borg even though Becker and Edberg and Tilden and Budge and Kramer won less major titles ( i.e., not counting pro titles during the amateur era). It is hard to judge whether or not Federer is a better player than Borg because Federer foolishly all but abandoned the serve-and-volley aspect of his game soon after he won the 2003 Wimbledon title. Becker and Edberg and Kramer's serve-and-volley games at their best was better than Borg's baseline play at his best because the geometry of the tennis court favors the net player over the baseline player. Regarding your comment that Borg was a better player than McEnroe because he was stronger, Borg was stronger than McEnroe in terms if physical fitness because McEnroe never liked to work off the court on his physical conditioning which is a required element for every pro athlete in order to attain and maintain top performance in any sport. McEnroe would substitute a lot of doubles play to keep himself fit, but playing a lot of tennis is no substitute for the necessary off-court workouts. It wasn't until 1986 that McEnroe hired Paul Cohen as his fitness trainer and although McEnroe got into excellent cardiovascular condition , he lost the muscular definition in his legs which enabled him to get to the net as fast as possible when he was at his best in 1984. But there is no question whatsoever that McEnroe was a better tennis player than Borg in that he had a much greater diversity of shot- making skills than Borg.
@@michaelbarlow6610 I was a huge fan of Borg, but your sentence in the end
"McEnroe was a better tennis player than Borg in that he had a much greater diversity of shot- making skills than Borg."
is very truthful.
The play of Borg was (mostly) monotone without a moment of a surprise.
Apparently, Borg walked off the court after this, left the stadium and went straight to the airport. Didn't even stay for the presentations. (He later apologised to McEnroe)
John has such a unique way to stroke the ball. velvet touch. Mecir had it a bit as well.
he had very loose strings to "cup" and then sling the ball a bit.
You nailed it. Also, Ramesh Krishnan, if you remember him.
@@bh5606 most certainly do!