Roger Federer recently recalled when Bjorn Borg thanked him for beating Pete Sampras at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships and protecting his record. The Swiss, still in the early stage of his career at the time, defeated the American tennis legend 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5 in the fourth round to reach the first Wimbledon quarterfinals of his career.
Bjorn Borg was the first man in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon Championships for five consecutive years between 1976 and 1980. Pete Sampras, who had won Wimbledon for four straight years between 1997 and 2000, was on the verge of equalling Borg’s record at the 2001 edition, which did not sit well with the Swede.
In the recently released documentary, “Federer: Twelve Final Days,” which details the events leading up to his retirement at the 2022 Laver Cup, the 20-time Grand Slam champion recounted how Bjorn Borg thanked him after the 2001 Wimbledon fourth-round match for preventing Sampras from going on to equal his record, saying:
