Rally after rally, the two legends held the capacity crowd captivated in Boston. Bjorn Borg, the cool, collected Swede with the relentless, almost robotic baseline game vs. John McEnroe, the original tennis brat from Queens with the strong serve and aggressive net attack. Counterparts in both game and demeanour, they divided a generation: John or Paul? Coke or Pepsi? Mac or PC? Borg or McEnroe?
But on this May evening in 2010, something was different. In fact, a lot was different. Borg’s dirty blond locks had turned grey. His signature striped headband was nowhere to be found. Likewise, McEnroe appeared a far cry from the skinny prodigy who brought tennis to the forefront of America’s sports consciousness, his curly ’fro now claimed by Mother Nature. Sure, they were a step slower and their wooden racquets had been updated to graphite for this exhibition match. And yet, to watch Borg and McEnroe square off at 54 and 51 respectively, was an event (which McEnroe won). Decades after they elevated the game to worldwide popularity, their rivalry continues to resonate with fans as strongly as it did in their prime.
Exactly 30 years earlier, in the 1980 Wimbledon final, these two combined for the most famous match in tennis history: A five-set battle that included the greatest tiebreaker to date, an 18–16 thriller in the fourth set in favour of McEnroe, who eventually fell to Borg. Johnny Mac got his revenge the following year, and after three consecutive finals losses to the man who had taken his No. 1 ranking, Borg, just 26 years old, called it a career.
Theirs may not have had the breadth of other rivalries in the sport. After all, they only faced each other 14 times between 1978 and ’81, playing to a dead tie, a 7–7 head-to-head record. We’ll never know how many more finals they would have battled for, how many classics they would have provided the fans. Looking back, their rivalry almost seems like a mirage, a four-year dream sequence. Maybe that’s why it’s so irresistible.