A legend who has won 11 Grand Slams despite quitting tennis at the age of 26: Who is Bjorn Borg?

When we look at the 1982 Wimbledon final, we see that John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors faced off. A Wimbledon final without Bjorn Borg at that time can be considered one of the strangest situations in tennis history.

Björn Rune Borg (born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimbledon.

So what made Bjorn Borg so special? First of all, it was extremely surprising that an athlete who came from Sweden, a country that had nothing to do with tennis until the Borg, left its mark on tennis history so much. Bjorn Borg is known as the best performer of the topspin backline game in tennis history. To explain the back line game with topspin; The back line game is a game played without going outside the back line, that is, without using the front of the net. If the ball spins; It is a stroke made by grasping the ball from the bottom and rolling it upwards. When the ball is in the air, it forms an arc and is less likely to get caught in the net.

Backline game with topspin was also one of the games used in tennis in the 1920s. So what Bjorn Borg did was not a revolution. What set the Borg apart was the spectacular footwork that had never been seen before. He was so prepared himself for the kick with small footsteps that he was getting the ball and racquet in a perfect spot. Especially doing this in his service volleying game showed how high-level intuition and physical competence he had.

In fact, Bjorn Borg, unlike the tennis players we know, did not have a normal tennis technique. Contrary to expectations, his trainer, Lennart Bergelin, with whom he worked until the end of his career, tried to develop them by seeing the good sides of this technique, rather than trying to sculpt this different technique. Perhaps Borg's greatest luck was this decision made by his trainer.

Rafael Nadal is one of the most important representatives of this technique, which Borg practiced in the 70s. However, there is a huge difference between Nadal and Borg. Borg was unresponsive, his outward demeanor while playing tennis was no different from the Berlin Wall. Like Rafael Nadal, he can send the ball across every time, but unlike Nadal, he hides his feelings. Even if he scored a very important point or lost a very important one, he was unfailing and unresponsive. That's why he was called the Ice-Borg.

Maybe that's why he got bored of tennis at the age of 26. Experts see that it is harmful to the mind that athletes do not express any of their emotions and live in sadness and joy. Borg also mentioned in his later statements that he had storms at critical moments. I mean, he actually finished himself. Despite all this, Bjorn Borg won 11 Grand Slam titles. Moreover, he managed to do this despite the disadvantages of the Australian Open, in which he participated only once, and the US Open, in which he played in the finals four times and never won. He won 6 Rolland Garros and 5 Wimbledons in 7 years.

When we look at his playing style, winning Rolland Garros is normal, but winning Wimbledon 5 times can be described as something extraordinary. Because these two tournaments are as different from each other as white and black. Moreover, the Swedish tennis player won these two tournaments three times in the same year. In fact, this success was recorded as the "Borg Double" in the tennis literature.

It is important to remember Borg not only for what he did on the tennis court, but also for his contribution to the image of tennis and making it an effective sport around the world. After the monotony of the 60s, Bjorn Borg, who was also influenced by the changing fashion sense in the 70s, made the most special image ever in tennis history, with his long blond hair, unique headband, and the style of clothes he wore. Even those who didn't watch tennis knew Bjorn Borg at that time.