‘One of the Greatest Moments of My Life’ – John McEnroe Explains How Bjorn Borg Accepted Him for Who He Was

Over his illustrious career, John McEnroe has had many notable rivalries. His matches against the likes of Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl were a treat for tennis fans across the globe. One such famous rivalry brewed between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

The two played in several crucial matches against each other over the course of their careers. Further, in the 14 matches played between them, both of them won seven matches apiece. The Wimbledon final between them in 1980 is considered as one of the greatest matches. Borg prevailed over McEnroe in that match in five sets. During an appearance in a podcast, McEnroe talked about an interesting encounter with Borg.

John McEnroe reminisces his precious moment

During the Here’s the Thing podcast on WNYC Studios, the American legend opened up about one of his greatest moments. He said, “Two months after I was playing Borg in this match and I was going crazy, was five-all in the third set and Bjorn pointed his finger and said, come here and I thought this guy’s going to tell me I’m the biggest a**hole that ever lived because I was just losing it and he put his arm around me when we got in and said, look, it’s ok. This is good.”

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Further, he went on to say, “And I had these like goosebumps and for a second I thought, he’s trying to play head-games with me and I started analyzing but then I thought, this guy is accepting me and I am a part of this elite group and it’s like, look, let’s roll with it. This is going to be amazing. That was one of the greatest moments of my life. Bjorn Borg accepting you.” 

McEnroe’s relationship with Borg

McEnroe took big strides in the tennis world at a time when Borg was already at the peak of his career. Although strong rivals on the court, the two maintained a cordial relationship off the court. McEnroe once had even said that their off-court personalities were more similar than people realized.

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Borg and McEnroe will be seen against each other as captains of Team Europe and Team World, respectively, at the Laver Cup later this year.