"I know he was very sad when I stopped," Borg discusses his rivalry with McEnroe

Björn Borg revisited his legendary rivalry with John McEnroe in the late 70s and early 80s.

© AFP

Adrien Guyot

le 03/12/2025 à 10h21

1 min to read

Borg McEnroe

Tennis greats, Borg and McEnroe together have 18 Grand Slam singles titles (11 for the Swede, 7 for the American) and are among the names that marked tennis in the 70s and 80s. Moreover, between 1978 and 1981, the two men faced each other 14 times on the main tour (7 wins each), notably meeting in the finals of Wimbledon (1980, 1981) and the US Open (1980, 1981).

They ended up forming one of the greatest rivalries of the era, until Borg's surprising retirement at the age of 26. In recent hours, the Swede specifically discussed his relationship with McEnroe.

"When we see each other, we never talk about tennis"

"It was a love-hate relationship. Today, we are friends and we stay in touch. When we see each other, we never talk about tennis. I mean by that we never talked about our matches. We had a great rivalry, but I know he was very sad when I stopped.

John (McEnroe) would have liked our rivalry to last longer. Sometimes, we dined together but never just the two of us alone. We were always accompanied by other players. When you fight to be the best in the world, it's hard to sit across from your great rival. But I can say there was always a good understanding between us," he assured Marca.