Björn Borg
Swedish tennis champion with 11 major titles, retired at 25.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Björn Rune Borg was a Swedish professional tennis player who held the world No. 1 ranking for 109 weeks. Over his career, he won 66 singles titles, including 11 majors: six French Open titles and five straight Wimbledon championships. He was named ATP Player of the Year from 1976 through 1980, finished as the year-end No. 1 in 1979 and 1980, and was the ITF World Champion from 1978 to 1980. A teenage prodigy, Borg’s fame and consistent success helped drive tennis’s growing popularity in the 1970s.
Born on 6 June 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden, Borg was the only child of Rune, an electrician, and Margaretha Borg. He grew up in Södertälje. His fascination with tennis began when his father won a golden racket at a table-tennis tournament and gave it to him. Borg was bowlegged, exceptionally fast, and muscular, using heavy topspin on his forehand and two-handed backhand—a shot he adopted after Jimmy Connors. By age 13, he was beating Sweden’s best under-18 players, and Davis Cup captain Lennart Bergelin, who later became his primary coach, warned against altering Borg’s rough, jerky strokes.
At 15, Borg made his Davis Cup debut for Sweden in 1972, winning his first singles rubber in five sets against Onny Parun. That year, he also won the Wimbledon junior singles title, coming back from a 5–2 deficit in the final set against Buster Mottram, and the Orange Bowl Junior Championship for boys 18 and under, beating Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets. He turned professional in 1973, reaching his first singles final in April at Monte Carlo, where he lost to Ilie Năstase. At his first French Open, unseeded, he reached the fourth round before losing to eighth-seeded Adriano Panatta. Seeded sixth at his first Wimbledon—largely due to an ATP boycott—he reached the quarterfinals, losing a five-set match to Roger Taylor. Later in 1973, he was runner-up in San Francisco, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, finishing the year ranked No. 18.
In 1974, at age 17, Borg made his only Australian Open appearance, reaching the third round before losing in straight sets to eventual finalist Phil Dent. He won his first career singles title in January at the New Zealand Open, followed by titles in London and São Paulo. Just before his 18th birthday, he won the Italian Open, beating top-seeded defending champion Ilie Năstase to become its youngest winner. Two weeks later, he won his first Grand Sla
- born
- 6 June 1956
- field
- Tennis
- nationality
- Swedish
- known_for
- Eleven major singles titles, including six French Open and five consecutive Wimbledon titles; rivalries with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe
Lore & Background
Björn Borg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 6 June 1956, the only child of Rune, an electrician, and Margaretha Borg. He grew up in Södertälje and began his tennis career after his father gave him a golden tennis racket won at a table-tennis tournament. By age 13, he was beating Sweden's best under-18 players. Borg represented Sweden in the 1972 Davis Cup at age 15, winning his debut singles rubber. He won the Wimbledon junior singles title later that year and joined the professional circuit in 1973. In 1974, at age 17, he won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open, becoming the youngest male champion at that tournament up to that point. He retained the French Open title in 1975 and won his first Wimbledon title in 1976 without losing a set. Borg won four consecutive French Open titles from 1978 to 1981 and was undefeated in six French Open finals. He is the only man to achieve the Channel Slam three times. His rivalry with John McEnroe peaked at the 1980 Wimbledon final, considered one of the greatest matches ever played. After defeats to McEnroe in the 1981 Wimbledon and US Open finals, Borg unexpectedly retired at age 25. He made a brief and unsuccessful comeback in 1991.
Reader's Guide
Björn Borg is widely considered one of the all-time greats of tennis. Between 1974 and 1981, he claimed 11 major singles titles, the most by any man in the Open Era up to that point. He won three major titles without losing a set and set numerous records, some of which still stand. Borg never won the US Open despite four runner-up finishes. He also won three year-end championships and 16 Grand Prix Super Series titles. In 1979, he became the first player to earn more than US$1 million in prize money in a single season. His rivalries with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe became cultural touchstones beyond tennis. Borg was ranked by Tennis magazine as the sixth-greatest male player of the Open Era. His distinctive style—bowlegged, very fast, with heavy topspin on both forehand and two-handed backhand—and his unprecedented stardom helped popularize tennis globally in the 1970s.
Did You Know?
- Borg won 19 consecutive Davis Cup singles rubbers from 1973, a record at the time, and stretched that streak to 33 by the end of his career.
- He is the only player to defeat Rod Laver in a five-set match at the 1975 WCT finals in Dallas.
- Borg skipped the 1977 French Open because he was under contract with WTT.
- He never lost to a player younger than himself through 1977.
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