A true superstar and icon of his generation, Björn Borg was a textbook child prodigy. At the age of 9, he attended a table tennis tournament in which his father was competing near Stockholm, Sweden. Borg senior won a tennis racquet and gave it to his son. The very next day, Björn started playing tennis and fell madly in love with the sport! This was the first day of the rest of his life and marked the beginning of an illustrious career.
In 1974, a year after reaching the Round of 16 in his debut appearance, he became the youngest-ever Roland-Garros champion at just 18 years of age.
With a playing style that combined power with concentration, this exceptional player possessed two particularly remarkable qualities: the first was his mindset. Björn Borg was the first player to display unfaltering focus on the court: nothing could distract him. This earned him the nickname “Iceborg”.
Because of this, he was unbeatable, and his opponents often felt like they were playing against a brick wall. His second exceptional quality was his technique. Far from adopting a conventional playing style, he produced incomparable topspin from his two-handed backhand and boasted a formidable forehand.
Björn Borg’s career was scattered with records. Between 1978 and 1980, he won every Roland-Garros and every Wimbledon tournament. From 1976 to 1980, the Swede won the London tournament five consecutive times. His victory against John McEnroe in 1980, after 3 hour 53 minutes of play and five sets, went down in history.
