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June 12, 2007
Borg sees Federer as a kindred spirit
By Mark Hodgkinson, Telegraph
Dog bites man, man bites dog, dog bites Bjorn Borg, Borg returns to
Wimbledon. Each a bigger story than the one that came before it. Despite having his leg chewed by an Alsatian called 'The Wolf',
Borg will certainly not allow the dog-attack to keep him from attending
Wimbledon for only the second time since he was beaten in the 1981
final.
The
reason is Roger Federer. More than anything else in tennis, Borg, or
what is left of him, would like to see his Swiss friend equal his five
consecutive titles at the All England Club. Borg returned for the
millennium parade of champions; but that was because he felt he ought
to, this is because he wants to. Borg is not the tennis recluse people
supposed he was. He just needs good grounds to re-visit his "holy
place", where The Championships will start in just under a fortnight.
Once he had decided he was going, that was that, savage dogs or not. "People
thought that I didn't want to come back, but it was just that I had
such special, beautiful memories from Wimbledon, and I was happy to
just have those memories. Wimbledon is the greatest tournament in the
world, and I feel that in my mind and in my heart. It's almost like a
holy place for me. I just feel that this is the right time for me to
come back, to hopefully watch Roger winning his fifth title in a row to
match my record," the Swede said, the 51-year-old displaying puppy-like
enthusiasm for modern tennis. "The best memories of
my career were from Wimbledon. It's the title that everyone wants to
win, and I still remember the feeling of when I won that championship
point for my first title. It was an unbelievable feeling, like a dream,
and then I ended up winning five titles in a row. "It's
such a special place for me, and I can't wait to hopefully sit down on
Centre Court on the second Sunday and watch Roger win. That would be
wonderful, I really hope that Roger does that as he's such a great guy."
Borg's
attitude towards his Wimbledon 'Big Five', achieved from 1976-80, has
changed. He wouldn't mind at all about sharing his mark with Federer,
but he did seem a bit more precious about preserving the record for
himself back in 2001. That was the year that Pete
Sampras arrived at SW19 as champion for the previous four years, and
with the possibility of winning a fifth title in a row, but the
American was cut down in the fourth round by Federer. Borg then made a
surprise phone call, which may, or may not, have been made in jest. "I
decided to call Roger up, to congratulate him, yes, but also to thank
him for keeping my record intact. That was a great win for Roger, and
it was a pity that he didn't go on to win the tournament that year. But
records are there to be broken, so if he matches me this year, I'll be
pleased that it's Roger who has done it. He has his feet on the ground,
and he stays focused and professional, and he works hard," said Borg,
who was forced, because of the Alsatian, to cancel his planned
exhibition match in Liverpool this week. Federer
has always been a Borg man rather than a John McEnroe man. Although
Federer and Borg had spoken on the phone on a number of occasions, they
only properly met last autumn, on a Dubai practice court. It was
Federer who made the approach. "I called this guy
who knew Bjorn and said, 'Tell Bjorn I'll be on court tomorrow at 10'.
I wanted to say something specific so it would be easy for him to say
no. I didn't want to embarrass him. But he was there and he played very
well. I could easily still practise with him, you know," Federer said. Borg
has looked back on that first 'hit' as "a beautiful moment". He was
famously the Ice Man, or the Ice Borg, of tennis. But Federer also
looks like an emotional flat-liner on court, hiding a strong will to
win. "I see a lot of myself in Roger, as we're very
similar on the court," Borg said. "He doesn't show his emotions either,
he doesn't let it all out. He keeps his cool. Of course, he has
feelings and emotions, just like every other human being, it's just
that he doesn't like to show them on the stadium. But maybe he lets all
his emotions out to someone after he has left the stadium. I know that
he cares a lot about it, and after the match he's a very cool guy. "Roger
is such a special guy. I think if he wins this year, which I think he
will, then we can definitely start talking about whether he'll beat the
Sampras record of seven Wimbledon titles in all. It's a question of
whether he keeps his motivation. Roger is almost unbeatable on grass as
he has no weaknesses at all. Roger is the complete player on a grass
court." In his day, Borg, in his trademark
headband, was also the complete player on a grass court. Teenage girls
certainly thought so. It was madness the first year he played at the
All England Club, and, so, in preparation for his second Wimbledon, the
club wrote to the local girls' schools asking them to keep their pupils
under control. On the way to winning those five
Challenge Cups, Borg did everything just the same. It was the same
hotel, the same locker, the same chair on Centre Court, the same number
of towels, and the same abstinence from shaving and sex until he lifted
the trophy. The last of the Big Five came in 1980,
that monumental, five-set encounter with McEnroe, including the epic
within the epic, when the New Yorker took the fourth-set tiebreak
18-16. McEnroe beat him in the 1981 final, and Borg would never return
to the court, quitting aged 26. "Borg started very early and got burnt
out at the end," Federer said. Borg's post-tennis
life was far from calm. He went through a divorce, had an illegitimate
child by a teenager he met while judging a wet T-shirt competition,
then remarried, but divorced once more. It has also been alleged that
Borg made a suicide attempt, but he has strongly denied that. Borg
also encountered setbacks in his business life, with his first attempt
at an underwear empire going bust. And there was that ill-fated
comeback in 1991, aged 34, when he turned up in Monte Carlo with a
wooden racket and was easily beaten. But, after all
that, Borg now has some middle-aged calm to him. He still plays tennis
four or five times a week, and the second incarnation of his underwear
business is thriving. He is also married again, to Patricia Oestfeldt,
after being introduced to her at a tennis club. "My
wife has heard so much about my time at Wimbledon, but now I'll have
the chance to show her Centre Court. Maybe we'll also go back to visit
the hotel where I used to stay, as I've heard that it's still there, as
that would be interesting," Borg said. "Until a few
years ago, I hadn't watched any videos of my matches at Wimbledon. I
just didn't feel that it was the right time for me, but then my son
said to me, 'Daddy, can we watch some tapes of you at Wimbledon?' "So
we watched all the finals, including that great final against McEnroe
in 1980. When I saw myself on television, my first thought was how
focused I looked on court, how driven I was."
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