Bjorn Borg, in full Björn Rune Borg, (born June 6, 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden). Swedish tennis player who was one of the finest competitors of the modern era and still has lots of records that not even the likes of Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer can ever match. He was the first man to win the Wimbledon singles championship five successive times (1976–80) since Laurie Doherty (1902–06). He won the French Open men’s singles championship an unprecedented four times in a row and six times in all (1974–75, 1978–81).
Borg learned to play tennis at a very early age, and, by the time he was 13, he was beating Sweden’s top junior players. Noted for his powerful serve and two-handed backhand, Borg joined the professional circuit at age 14 and went on to win the Italian Open at 17 and the French Open at 18. In 1975 he helped Sweden win its first Davis Cup, and by that time he had won 16 consecutive cup singles, passing Bill Tilden’s record of 12. By the spring of 1981, when he finally lost at Wimbledon to John McEnroe, Borg had won 41 singles matches and 5 championships in a row, a record never previously set. Borg, however, proved unable to ever win two of the four Grand Slam events, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. In the US Open he reached 4 finals (lost to rivals Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe) and in Australian Open he only played one time. Borg didn’t bother to go to Australia when he couldn’t win a calendar year Grand Slam.
Bjorn Borg records
- 41 straight matches won in Wimbledon (Roger Federer also won 5 straight titles before losing to Nadal in the final of 2008 but had one walk over and only reached 40 match wins in a row)
- Highest winning percentage in matches going to 5 sets – 81.8% (27-6)
- Career win/lose record all matches – 83.1% (639-130)
- Won 3 Grand Slams without losing a set (shared with Rafael Nadal, Richard Sears and Tony Trabert)
- 89.81% win/lose record in Grand Slams (141-16)
- Grand Slam Tournament won with less games lost – 32 games in French Open 1978
- 3 consecutive Channel Slams (French Open + Wimbledon) 1978-1980
- 92.73% win/lose record at Wimbledon (51-4)
- 88.9% match record in Grand Slam five set matches (24-3)
Borg held the record for most consecutive match wins in Davis Cup (33) until 2016 when Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis reached 36 straight match wins in Davis Cup singles matches. Borg also held the record as the youngest Grand Slam champion after his win at the French Open 1974. Seven years later fellow Swede Mats Wilander broke that record winning his first French Open and 1986 Boris Becker won Wimbledon and broke Wilanders record.
Bjorn Borg Titles
- 64 ATP Titles won
- 100 Titles won in total
- 1 Davis Cup
- 11 Grand Slams (16 finals)
- 5 Wimbledon titles
- 6 French Open titles
Borg was awarded ATP Player of the year 5 years between 1976-1980. He was ranked number one 109 weeks. A number that would have been higher, probably over 300 weeks if he had played more official events. Borg combined the regular ATP Tour with a lot of WCT and WTT Tournaments and other exhibitions and therefore was not ranked number one as many weeks as he would have been.
Bjorn Borg as a junior
Bjorn Borg was an outstanding junior player both in Sweden winning everything from age 11 and internationally. He won both the Orange bowl and the Wimbledon titles two years young in 1972. The same year he made his debut in Davis Cup beating Onny Parun in five sets. Parun had been in the QF of Wimbledon 1971 and 1972 and reached the finals of Australian Open 1973. In 1973, the year he turned 17 he reached the quarter final in the men’s singles in Wimbledon causing a world wide hype around his name.
- Won the Orange Bowl in 1972
- Won Wimbledon 1972
There has never been a more successful 16 year old tennis player in the world and no player has the same level of success as a 25 year old as Bjorn Borg (Nadal was at 10 Slams and 43 ATP Titles the year he turned 25). Bjorn Borg was a rock ‘n roll star draped in tennis clothes.
His massive appeal, based not only on his extraordinary tennis ability, but on his good looks and shy manner, made him a worldwide tennis teen idol.
“He was like the Beatles for God’s sake,” said Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer, a close Borg friend.
Today Bjorn Borg’s 15 year old son Leo Borg is one of the best 15-year old tennis players in Europe. This year he won the Swedish Junior Championships for 16-year olds and he is aiming to become a professional player as his dad.
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