By Michael Karjavine

“Tennis uses the language of life, advantage, service, fault, break, love… every match is a life in miniature.” –Andre Agassi 

Every sport is full of rivalries. In some sports, it’s derbies—long-standing rivalries between close competitors—and in some, the rivalry is based on success in recent years. Fans of any sport usually tend to pick a side in each rivalry, even if their favorite team or athlete is not participating. 

Tennis has had many rivalries over the years: recent ones, like Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer, and some that happened a long time ago, but are a part of tennis history, like Arthur Ashe vs. Rod Laver. Some rivalries last a long time, like Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic, while others end quickly, like Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe. 

Borg (left) and McEnroe at a Dutch tennis tournament in 1979. Photo credit: Rob C. Croes/Anefo.

The rivalry between Borg and McEnroe changed the tennis world and the two men forever. The way both of them acted made the rivalry even more intense. Borg, always calm, reminded people of ice, while McEnroe represented fire in the eyes of the fans, showing constant emotion. Borg and McEnroe played each other 14 times between 1978 and 1981, and each won seven matches. Their rivalry lasted for only three years, but is still regarded as one of the fiercest rivalries ever in tennis, or in any sport.

As Borg was chasing his 5th consecutive Wimbledon title in 1980, he knew that it would be incredibly difficult to win, because McEnroe, a young American star ranked second in the world after Borg, was hungry for his first ever Wimbledon title. 

The 2017 movie Borg vs McEnroe, directed by Janus Metz Pedersen and produced by Jon Nohrstedt, contains flashbacks from the memories of both players and their journey to the top. It has both the journeys and the reactions of the players to the events before, during, and after the 1980 Wimbledon final. Shia LaBeouf plays McEnroe, and Sverrir Gudnason plays Borg. 

Varsity tennis captain George Simonton (‘24) commented on the film, “Tennis is obviously the premise of the whole movie, but I think that all the outbursts and stuff in the movie shows the mental struggle at the highest levels of tennis, and just how strenuous it can be on and off the court… Even at the level I play, there are obviously the mental struggles, but at tournaments like Wimbledon, all the pressure, fans, and the press conferences multiply the magnitude of that effect, like shown by the movie.” 

Borg started playing tennis at an early age. When he was around 12, he got banned from playing tennis by the Swedish tennis association because of his poor behavior. He would shout at referees and hit his racquet on the floor. But the Swedish national team’s coach, Lennart Bergelin, played by Stellan Skarsgård in the film, saw him play and later took him to the Swedish Davis Cup team, where he beat a player ranked #20 in the world at the age of 13. In a scene from the film, Bergelin talks to one of the coaches at the club where Borg used to train. They tell him, “Just look at that backand, two hands… What does he think he’s swinging, a bat?” Bergelin saw something special in Borg: the will to do anything to win. Borg couldn’t bear losing. Bergelin taught him how to keep emotions inside, and that’s when he started winning. The coach would intentionally call his shots out, and Borg would get extremely mad, but eventually he got used to Bergelin’s method and stopped reacting to it. 

McEnroe’s idol growing up was Borg, but instead he turned out to be the complete opposite in everything but his desire to win. McEnroe stole an ankle brace from one of his friends, Peter Fleming, before a quarter-final match against him in Wimbledon just to make sure he would win. McEnroe was an excellent student as a child, and his mother would pressure him into getting the best grades possible, never thinking that tennis would lead to success. McEnroe tended to show a great deal, sometimes too much emotion, on the court.

Each had different coping mechanisms. While Borg would check every racket and rank them by tension of string, McEnroe was out partying with friends before matches. Despite this, both of them were really nervous going into the 1980 tournament. Borg fired his coach, who has been with him since he was 13 years old, right before the semi-final and got into a fight with his fiancée Mariana Simionescu (played by Tuva Novotny in the film), but he dealt with his stress and admitted his mistakes before the final. 

Image credit: SF Studios and Yellow Film & TV.

I think the actors give it everything they got, and they really show the emotions of both tennis players. Gudnason is incredible in how he shows the coldness of Borg’s nerves. You can even see it in his eyes. LaBeouf really shows McEnroe’s passion for the sport. Upper School English teacher and Match adviser Vlastik Svab commented, “I play tennis (not well), and I think the film really captured the intensity of the world of professional tennis, and how the two very young men dealt with their fame. LeBeouf gives every role he plays 100%, and that’s no different here.”

I really enjoyed how the film shows the mental part of the competition and also the tennis aspects as well. I think it is an amazing movie that gives athletes plenty to think about. It blends personal life, memories, stress, and actual matches into one single movie. Simonton commented, “It shows a little bit of history while also being entertaining. Showing the ins and outs of that time period, with the infamous stuff that John McEnroe is known for. It also shows how they are not as different as they may seem on the court.”

Borg won the 1980 Wimbledon final in a five-set thriller, with long tiebreaks and sets going back and forth. The British fans hated McEnroe before this match, but he still received a standing ovation from all of the fans, because he behaved better than he had in the past. Later, the athletes saw each other in the airport, and both said that it was a great match and congratulated each other. Borg said, “I thought you had me.” McEnroe admitted that he thought that as well. McEnroe said, “Maybe next year.”

A year later, McEnroe became the number one men’s tennis player in the world.

He defeated Borg in the 1981 Wimbledon final.

That same year, Borg decided to retire from tennis.

He was only 26.

Later in life, Borg and McEnroe became close friends.  

When McEnroe married, Borg was his best man.

Formal rivals, best enemies.

Featured image courtesy of SF Studios and Yellow Film & TV.