A rival can be described as someone who simultaneously repels and attracts — which doesn’t really make sense. Does it? For the most part, tennis has remained a friendly sport among the top players. Past rivalries were more the norm than the exception. But two of the most well-known sports rivals, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, had that kind of relationship.

Throughout their careers, the two engaged in a few contentious fights, but they eventually grew close. McEnroe, however, felt that he and Bjorn Borg had some kind of similar trait between them.

John McEnroe and his shocking observations

The podcast that was hosted by Dave Davies and produced by WHYY-FM on Fresh Air recently invited John McEnroe. So during the conversation, he was in awe of Bjorn Borg and went on to say, “You know, our personalities are more similar than people realize. We have similar senses of humor. I think we generally think of things in the same way, but like he was this god when I came up.“

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He further continued, saying, “I remember seeing him in Wimbledon when I was a kid and one of his first Wimbledon and all these girls screaming on the court and screaming. It looked like Beatlemania.“

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A true battle of retro champions

When Borg and McEnroe played each other a total of 22 times, neither of them was able to get ahead. They each won 11 of the 22 matches. But at Wimbledon in 1980, the Swedish tennis superstar Borg beat his biggest rival in a five-set match that went on to define their rivalry.

Astonishingly, Borg, despite having won 11 Grand Slams by that point, announced his retirement from tennis in early 1983, when he was just 26 years old. On the other hand, McEnroe kept playing until 1994, when he quit after winning seven Grand Slam titles.

John McEnroe’s take on Borg is not surprising. Both of them had a professional rivalry that was a very big deal in their careers. This is the reason why they are also considered the major contributors to tennis’ popularity. 

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