Olli Jokinen
Hall of Fame
He used the Kneissl White Star from 1985, so he did change from wood pretty early. But he still used wood in the AO final 1984 against Wilander. He lost.
Bjorn Borg’s Comeback
- Thread starter Swingmaster
- Start date
He used the Kneissl White Star from 1985, so he did change from wood pretty early. But he still used wood in the AO final 1984 against Wilander. He lost.
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Someone started a thread about Johnny Carson interviewing Roscoe Tanner, and I noticed that Carson also interviewed Björn Borg in the summer of 1982.
Borg said:
* He decided that he needed a mental break in 1981 and had planned to return in April 1982 to play Monte Carlo.
* The pro council said he had to qualify for majors if he didn't play a minimum of ten tournaments. Borg told them that seven tournaments should be fair since he is starting in April, but they said no.
* He said that he would "for sure" be back in January 1983, and planned on being back in top shape and play all the majors, and hopefully finally win the U.S. Open.
Johnny Carson 1982 07 23 Bjorn Borg
Borg said:
* He decided that he needed a mental break in 1981 and had planned to return in April 1982 to play Monte Carlo.
* The pro council said he had to qualify for majors if he didn't play a minimum of ten tournaments. Borg told them that seven tournaments should be fair since he is starting in April, but they said no.
* He said that he would "for sure" be back in January 1983, and planned on being back in top shape and play all the majors, and hopefully finally win the U.S. Open.
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Musterrific
Hall of Fame
I can't imagine what the pro council was thinking. What a stupid decision on their part - they essentially drove out the sport's first "rock star" when he was ready to resume his career.
i think they were just trying to force him into playing 10 tournaments and didnt think he would balk at the idea..lol
i was young back then but remember there were two opinions on this (the first one being the majority)...
1. the rules are ridiculous to make borg play/qualify, esp when hes defending champion at RG...
2. and the other opinion was "why is bjorn so stubborn?" saying rules are rules and he could use the qualies as match practice..
anyway the tour has changed so much.. something like this would never happen today
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Too bad it never happened. Imagine the tour with prime / young McEnroe, Wilander, Lendl, Borg, Becker, Edberg, Noah, Cash etc. -- who the hell have I forgotten? -- , a top shape Borg and a forever competitor Jimmy Connors. That WOULD have been something!!
BringBackWood
Professional
Lendl gets maybe only 1 or 2 slams
Wilander gets maybe only 1 or 2 slams (sorry Nico!)
Jimmy retired early
Awesome battles Noah Borg, Becker Borg, Edberg Borg especially
Mcenroe persuaded not to marry and is fully concentrated on tennis!!
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Agree with everything, especially points 4 and 5 but maybe except with point two, sorry BBW
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NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Maybe I've read it before but what was the reason, I mean not the official reason, but Bjorn's own reason, that made him retire for good despite what he announced there, that he would play again etc.
Except Borg and maybe John, does someone really know what happened?
i never really bought the idea he retired because he was losing to mac or anyone...
1981 USO was his last GS tournament but he didnt decide to retire until jan 1983...
in an interview he said he wasnt "burnt out" and he could have played longer,
he said he was just tired and wanted to do other things in life..
he wasnt like mac or connors who only played a couple hours a day..
he trained for 5-6 hours and joined the tour when he was 15 years old...
all he knew was tennis so i can understand someone in his prime/age at 25/26
wondering what else is out there when all hes been doing is hitting a ball for 20years...
1981 USO was his last GS tournament but he didnt decide to retire until jan 1983...
in an interview he said he wasnt "burnt out" and he could have played longer,
he said he was just tired and wanted to do other things in life..
he wasnt like mac or connors who only played a couple hours a day..
he trained for 5-6 hours and joined the tour when he was 15 years old...
all he knew was tennis so i can understand someone in his prime/age at 25/26
wondering what else is out there when all hes been doing is hitting a ball for 20years...
well he did take a little over a year to decide to retire from
when he took time off .. from the carson interview in ‘82 tho
it sounded like he had every intention of coming back ...
he prob just didn't want to put the work in anymore.. who knowa
Both 1 and 2 are true...it was ridiculous and Bjorn was stubborn. Playing 10 tournaments was really not a big commitment. Shoot, he was out there playing exos from '82 to '83.
I suspect they never believed Borg would walk away...it was astounding
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Nice interview except that the interviewer is a bit overacting IMO.
Bjorn said he was bored at the time, so maybe call him Bjorn Bored, he wanted to have normal life etc. That he may have come back if he had a team around him -- he says "like today" -- but he felt he was kinda alone.
Fair enough.
Too bad but that's history after all.
Thanks for sharing the video big ted
Bjorn said he was bored at the time, so maybe call him Bjorn Bored, he wanted to have normal life etc. That he may have come back if he had a team around him -- he says "like today" -- but he felt he was kinda alone.
Fair enough.
Too bad but that's history after all.
Thanks for sharing the video big ted
