Bjorn Borg

Dog bites man, man bites dog, dog bites Bjorn Borg, Borg returns to Wimbledon. Each a bigger story than the one that came before it. Despite having his leg chewed by an Alsatian called ‘The Wolf’, Borg will certainly not allow the dog-attack to keep him from attending Wimbledon for only the second time since he was beaten in the 1981 final.

The reason is Roger Federer. More than anything else in tennis, Borg, or what is left of him, would like to see his Swiss friend equal his five consecutive titles at the All England Club.

Borg returned for the millennium parade of champions; but that was because he felt he ought to, this is because he wants to. Borg is not the tennis recluse people supposed he was. He just needs good grounds to re-visit his “holy place”, where The Championships will start in just under a fortnight. Once he had decided he was going, that was that, savage dogs or not.

“People thought that I didn’t want to come back, but it was just that I had such special, beautiful memories from Wimbledon, and I was happy to just have those memories. Wimbledon is the greatest tournament in the world, and I feel that in my mind and heart.

“It’s almost like a holy place for me. I just feel that this is the right time for me to come back, to hopefully watch Roger winning his fifth title in a row to match my record,” the Swede said, the 51-year-old displaying puppy-like enthusiasm for modern tennis.

“The best memories of my career were from Wimbledon. It’s the title that everyone wants to win, and I still remember the feeling of when I won that championship point for my first title. It was an unbelievable feeling, like a dream, and then I ended up winning five titles in a row.

“It’s such a special place for me, and I can’t wait to hopefully sit down on Centre Court on the second Sunday and watch Roger win. That would be wonderful, I really hope that Roger does that as he’s such a great guy.”

Borg’s attitude towards his Wimbledon ‘Big Five’, achieved from 1976-80, has changed. He wouldn’t mind at all about sharing his mark with Federer, but he did seem a bit more precious about preserving the record for himself back in 2001.

That was the year that Pete Sampras arrived at SW19 as champion for the previous four years, and with the possibility of winning a fifth title in a row, but the American was cut down in the fourth round by Federer. Borg then made a surprise phone call, which may, or may not, have been made in jest.

“I decided to call Roger up, to congratulate him, yes, but also to thank him for keeping my record intact. That was a great win for Roger, and it was a pity that he didn’t go on to win the tournament that year.

“But records are there to be broken, so if he matches me this year, I’ll be pleased that it’s Roger who has done it. He has his feet on the ground, and he stays focused and professional, and he works hard,” said Borg, who was forced, because of the Alsatian, to cancel his planned exhibition match in Liverpool this week.

Federer has always been a Borg man rather than a John McEnroe man. Although Federer and Borg had spoken over the phone on a number of occasions, they only properly met last autumn, on a Dubai practice court. It was Federer who made the approach.

“I called this guy who knew Bjorn and said, ‘Tell Bjorn I’ll be on court tomorrow at 10’. I wanted to say something specific so it would be easy for him to say no. I didn’t want to embarrass him. But he was there and he played very well. I could easily still practise with him, you know,” Federer said.

Borg has looked back on that first ‘hit’ as “a beautiful moment”. He was famously the Ice Man, or the Ice Borg, of tennis. But Federer also looks like an emotional flat-liner on court, hiding a strong will to win.

“I see a lot of myself in Roger, as we’re very similar on the court,” Borg said. “He doesn’t show his emotions either, he doesn’t let it all out. He keeps his cool. Of course, he has feelings and emotions just like every other human being, it’s just that he doesn’t like to show them on the stadium. But maybe he lets all his emotions out to someone after he has left the stadium. I know that he cares a lot about it, and after the match he’s a very cool guy.

“Roger is such a special guy. I think if he wins this year, which I think he will, then we can definitely start talking about whether he’ll beat the Sampras record of seven Wimbledon titles in all. It’s a question of whether he keeps his motivation. Roger is almost unbeatable on grass as he has no weaknesses at all. Roger is the complete player on a grass court.”

The last of Borg’s Big Five came in 1980, that monumental, five-set encounter with McEnroe, including the epic within the epic, when the New Yorker took the fourth-set tiebreak 18-16. McEnroe beat him in the 1981 final, and Borg would never return to the court, quitting aged 26. “Borg started very early and got burnt out at the end,” Federer said.

Borg’s post-tennis life was far from calm. He went through a divorce, had an illegitimate child by a teenager he met while judging a wet T-shirt competition, then remarried, but divorced once more. It has also been alleged that Borg made a suicide attempt, but he has strongly denied that.