Jimmy and Brett Connors interview of Bjorn Borg

[sandy mayer]

It is a fascinating interview, though I didn't like the swearing.

Here are a few points that came out:

Borg and Connors are good friends though McEnroe and Connors still aren't.

Connors was very disappointed when Borg retired to the point of thinking about retirement himself.

Brett believes his father's greatest win was the 76 US Open final win over Borg (I agree). This was also Borg's most disappointing loss, because he felt he should have won.

Jimbo and Bjorn are horrified that Vitas Gerulaitis is not in the hall of fame.

Below is the link:

 

[jrepac]

Oh wow! I MUST listen to this. Mac and Connors have always run 'hot and cold'...no secret there. But I always felt there was mutual respect between the 3 guys, even if Connors wanted to kill them to win a match. Now ,someone like Lendl on the other hand......

'76 USO was a tremendous win for him and a heartbreaker for Borg. But Bjorn got payback at 77 W. Seems they basically 'blocked' each other at those 2 events, to a large extent. Yet, I think '82 W, as messy as it was, was a stellar accomplishment....everyone had written Jimmy off at that point....the phoenix arising from the ashes!

 

[WCT]

FINALLY! Mind you, I have not listened to this yet. My point, though, is this was the type of thing we'd get when I found out about his podcast. Interview your contemporaries. That is not what the podcast has been. They talk about now, not them. I'm going by the episode descriptions. Based on them, they talk now. I listened to 2 episodes where he interviewed Spencer Segura. I'll definitely be listening to this one.

 

[jrepac]

That was a GREAT discussion. Did Borg ever talk so much during his career? OMG. He was really funny too! These guys definitely share a mutual respect, no question. Every young tennis fan should listen to this to better understand what these guys, Mac included--(the "jilted lover" comment was just hysterical) did to lift the game out of the exclusive clubs and into the mainstream. It was a golden era for growth in the game of tennis, here in the US, not to be recaptured. That '76 USO was clearly a sore spot for Bjorn, but he gave Jimmy all the credit for his high risk play. Was also shocked that Connors contemplated retirement when Borg left the game. Thankfully, he did not...all the great tennis we would have missed!
So hard to explain this time period to the young tennis fan, but these guys hit it on the nose.

 

[sportsfan1]

Transcript form if available would be interesting to browse through. With all the automated transcribing available, dunno why they don't always have that.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Thanks for posting, great listening. Borg was unusually chatty here.

 

[Quaichang]

Thanks for posting, great listening. Borg was unusually chatty here.

I think Borg is more comfortable in small groups.

 

[Mainad]

Talk of Connors and Borg always reminds me of what Connors said after Borg had beaten him at Wimbledon for the 2nd year in a row:

"I'll follow that son-of-a-b***h to the ends of the Earth. Everytime he looks over his shoulder, he'll see my shadow!"

 

[jrepac]

Talk of Connors and Borg always reminds me of what Connors said after Borg had beaten him at Wimbledon for the 2nd year in a row:

"I'll follow that son-of-a-b***h to the ends of the Earth. Everytime he looks over his shoulder, he'll see my shadow!"

they had a great rivalry and I always enjoyed watching them play one another...a glorious baseline chess match.

 

[Mustard]

Talk of Connors and Borg always reminds me of what Connors said after Borg had beaten him at Wimbledon for the 2nd year in a row:

"I'll follow that son-of-a-b***h to the ends of the Earth. Everytime he looks over his shoulder, he'll see my shadow!"

And then Connors stopped Borg's Grand Slam chances that year in the 1978 US Open final. No need to follow him down to the Australian Open.

 

[WCT]

Finally listened to this. So unusual to hear Borg so talkative and loose. Telling some jokes, picking on Connors. At one point they are talking about all the great matches and Connors says except for that one Wimbledon final. And Borg is like, what was the problem, I enjoyed that match very much.

As always, I would prefer more about the past, less about the present. I want stories from when they played. There does seem to be a genuine affection and respect between them at this point.

 

[Quaichang]

Finally listened to this. So unusual to hear Borg so talkative and loose. Telling some jokes, picking on Connors. At one point they are talking about all the great matches and Connors says except for that one Wimbledon final. And Borg is like, what was the problem, I enjoyed that match very much.

As always, I would prefer more about the past, less about the present. I want stories from when they played. There does seem to be a genuine affection and respect between them at this point.

He cracked me up when he talked about Connors “****ty” T2000 rackets.

 

[Subway Tennis]

This is fantastic. Thanks for posting this @sandy mayer

 

[Gary Duane]

Great interview.

 

[WCT]

He cracked me up when he talked about Connors “****ty” T2000 rackets.

Me too.

 

[DSH]

A question for those in the know at the time, if Borg had beaten McEnroe in the 1980 US Open final, would he have gone to Australia to win the Grand Slam?

 

[hoodjem]

"the tennis"

 

[WCT]

A question for those in the know at the time, if Borg had beaten McEnroe in the 1980 US Open final, would he have gone to Australia to win the Grand Slam?

Absolutely. He would have gone in 78, 79 and 80. Noone was going to pass up a chance at a grand slam when they were 1 leg away.

 

[big ted]

i like how they agree that tennis was more exciting to watch back then, makes me feel im not crazy lol

borg - "today if you see one point youve seen the whole match" lol

 

[Bambooman]

Back in the day Connors said he was never able to get close to Borg at all Not in a negative way but there was just a wall.

 

[borg number one]

Wonderful conversation. It brought back so many fresh memories of a Golden Age in tennis.