Borg vs. McEnroe: The Greatest Tennis Rivalry of All Time?

bog could do on a tennis court was more than precocious Talent it was pure genius seen before and changed the way tennis was played forever unbelievable would you believe me if I told you that one of the greatest rivalries to ever happen in men's tennis with 14 matches happened in the span of only 3 years I was as surprised as you are right now when I found out that Bjorn Borg and John mackenro two of the best tennis players ever and certainly two reference of their era only shared that little time on tour and still managed to build a rivalry that is still remembered to this day Bjorn Borg on the one hand was born in 1956 and turned professional in 1973 at the age of 17 Mack androe on the other hand is almost 3 years younger he was born in 1959 and turned professional in 1978 at the age of 18 before ma androe entered the professional tour Borg was already a star he had six grand slam titles to his name three of which he had won at Roland garos 1974 1975 197 8 and the other three at Wimbledon 1976 1977 1978 in addition to that he had already been crowned a year-end championships winner in 1976 and had achieved Glory with his country winning the Davis Cup in 1975 from the moment mackenro became a top professional player seeing him in the final stages of big tournaments became normal and him facing Borg slowly turned into a matchup that nobody wanted to miss their first meeting happened in November 1978 at Borg's home it was at the Stockholm open semi-finals that 19-year-old mackenro had the opportunity to play the swed living legend for the first time in his career by that time mackenro had already won three titles that season in Hartford Tokyo and Wembley these were the first three of his career and the fourth one would come in no other place than Stockholm in their first meeting mackenro beat Borg in straight sets by 63 64 stunning The Home favorite later he went on to beat Tim glixon by 62 62 to lift the title there were no other Borg mackenro matches until the following season 1979 when they met for the first time in February once again it was in the semi-final stage but this time it was on Mcenroe's home soil they were playing the Richmond world championship tennis which was the professional men's tennis tour back in that time like it happened in Sweden the away player won this time being Borg who beat Johnny Mack in a tight three Setter with a score of 46 7663 unlike the previous time it wouldn't be too long until there was a new chapter of this rivalry in the making in fact the following week Borg and mackenro met once again in the semifinals of a wct tournament in New Orleans it was another very tight three Setter which went the Americans way in a third set tie break 57 61 76 was the score crazily there would be a match between these two for a third week in a row in Rotterdam for the rdam wct unlike their previous three meetings where they had played in the semi-finals this time they met in the final this would be the first of many finals to be disputed between these to as part of their rivalry Borg won easily 6264 winning his Maiden title in reram the 49th of his career and leveling the head-to-head against mackenro at two wins all since they played their first final against each other they would rarely meet in other stages besides finals the following match they played was indeed another final at the wct finals held in the month of May in Dallas it was a best of five sets match which mackenro won in four 75 46 62 76 the last time these two would play during that year was in Toronto for the title once more that time out Borg beat ma androe in straight sets 63 63 however even though it may sound weird that was not the last time the two played in that season back then the Masters was played in January therefore in January 1980 as part of the 1979 season the pair played in the semi-finals of the 1979 Masters the tournament was played in New York and Incredibly Borg managed to take the win after a very tight three set match 67 63 7-6 was the score in favor of the swed just like that at the end of the 1979 season the head-to-head was 4 to3 in favor of bjor Borg but as you can see it was an incredibly even rivalry this was mainly because of the contrast in their game styles Borg was a very solid Baseline player with impressive footwork and an enviable physical condition besides that he possessed an incredibly tough mentality he carried himself on court very passively earning the nickname of the Iceman instead mackenro was more of a flashy player who played very aggressive tennis he served and voled and was very creative with his shots definitely a very talented guy mentally he was completely opposite to Borg his mind was all over the place more often than not but he still managed to keep concentration his fiery temperament and onc Court Antics often unsettled his opponents making him a very tricky player to face 1980 was the year these two finally played their first Grand Slam match against each other and what better way to do it than in a final right it was at Wimbledon one of Borg's favorite tournaments where he had won the title the previous four years this match happened to be one of the most iconic of their rivalry and was considered by many as one of the greatest matches of all time it featured an epic fourth set tie break which Mac Andro won by 18 to 16 but that was not enough to win the title Borg ended up taking the fifth set in dramatic fashion winning by 16 75 63 67 86 and lifting his fifth consecutive Wimbledon Title mro's First Title at the all England would have to wait just 2 months after that memorable match came their second Grand Slam encounter and yet another final at the US Open this happened to be another incredible match which also went to a deciding fifth set that time mackenro came out Victorious winning by 76 6167 5764 to defend his title from the previous year this was his second Grand Slam title even though it might sound weird these two grand slam finals and the way they panned out say a lot about the two players in their rivalry Bjorn Borg known as the ican was known for his incredibly calm demeanor on court meanwhile Johnny Mack was the opposite a rockstar one one could say he loved playing in Rowdy environments therefore it makes a lot of sense that Borg won at Wimbledon where there's such a big tennis tradition and respect for the players while mackenro won in New York where the crowd has always been loud and messy in fact Borg's career numbers speak for themselves he never won the US Open as he never felt quite comfortable in that environment in the remainder of the 1980 season Borg and mackenro played two more matches the Stockholm open Final in the place where they had met for the first time and a round robin match at the Masters which to be precise was in January 1981 the winner of those two matches was the same and it was the swed he won the Stockholm open for the first time in his career beating mackenro by 63 64 and then beat him again in New York in a tighter match by 64 6776 1981 would be the last season these two legends played against each other in an official match throughout That season they played three times in three different finals the first one was in Milan at the wct event final in March Mack and row won in straight sets by 7664 later on the pair would repeat the two grand slam finals they played the previous year first in July they played for the Wimbledon title in London Borg was coming into the match having won the last five editions of the tournament with a 41 match streak in wimbledon's Grass therefore not considering him the favorite would have been a mistake however it had to be mackenro the one to end that dominance in a fouret match he beat the Iceman by 4676 7664 to win his Maiden Wimbledon title and en Borg's Reign at the all England's grass courts finally chapter number 14 of the Rivalry which would would eventually be the last one happened at that Year's US Open final in September Borg was going for his first US Open while ma androe was going for his third straight title in New York it happened to be a four Setter again of which mackenro emerged Victorious winning 4 6 62 64 63 and impeding Borg adding a new trophy to his tally even though Borg wouldn't retire until 1983 the pair never ever played an official match again their head-to-head finished tied in seven match wins all which is a clue of how even their rivalry was throughout the 3 years that they competed against each other apart from the 14 official matches they played a further eight unofficial ones at different exhibition events and challenges believe it or not they won four of those each so even if you take into account non-official matches their head-to-head remains tied that apart from all the drama contrast in Styles and great tennis is one of the reasons why this is considered one of the best rivalries tennis has ever seen also it is no coincidence that many years later these two were selected to Captain team Europe and team World at the labor cup it can be understood as a way of extending their rivalry from another position if you enjoyed today's video don't hesitate to leave a like And subscribe to the channel so as not to miss any of the future uploads stay tuned for more