Wimbledon, On This Day: Borg-McEnroe, and the marathon of the 1980 final

The Hindu

12 hours ago

Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe made good sense as a pair of rivals. Borg was known for his calm demeanour and serious nature, while McEnroe was energetic, argumentative, at times even brash. Borg was known for the regularity of his ground shots and his passing shots, McEnroe for his front-footed service and volley. The 1980 Wimbledon final brought the two together in an epic contest that would push both to their limits, and go down as one of the Grand Slam finals of all-time.
McEnroe came into the game with more than a few things going against him. Borg had won the last four Wimbledons in a row, and the home crowd was firmly against the American. Disapproving of his notoriously combative habits, he walked onto the court with a soundtrack of boos ringing in his ears. However, those boos would soon be silenced, as he raced through the first set, taking it 6-1.
Borg, however, was never going to go quietly, and in a matter of time, he had taken the second and third sets 7-5 and 6-3 respectively. He was now in the driving seat.
The fourth set would prove to be the high point of the game. Once again, the clinical Swede worked his way into a 5-4 40-15 lead, only for McEnroe to rescue two championship points to stay in the tie. At 6-6, the two then entered a gladiatorial tie-break where the American rescued himself from the brink a remarkable five times before pulling ahead. When Borg eventually faltered and netted a volley, McEnroe took the tie-break 18-16, and the match was now poised tantalisingly at 2 sets apiece.
With the game so delicately placed, the question now became who could compose themselves better. After losing a few initial points, Borg found his usual efficiency to take a step ahead. With the score at 6-7 15-40, the Swede nailed a backhand past the advancing McEnroe and sunk to his knees. 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(16), 8-6. He had won an epic, and with it, his fifth Wimbledon title in a row.