Resistance is Futile

If you ask modern day tennis players what accomplishment, outside of winning a Grand Slam, will never be achieved, they'd probably point to Borg's 3 year run from 1978 to 1980 winning the French Open and Wimbledon back to back to back.

To understand the enormority of this task, consider that no man since then has won the French and Wimbledon back to back. Several women have accomplished the feat, but that's mostly because the top 3 women are often so dominant, it doesn't matter what surface they play on. Steffi Graf was never much of a serve and volleyer, yet won Wimbledon seven times, hitting bullet shots from the baseline.

In men's tennis, you win the French by slugging it out from the baseline, and Wimbledon by serving and volleying. Occasionally, as with Connors or Borg, you can Wimbledon from the backcourt. Two players have come close to winning the French playing serve and volley (McEnroe and Edberg), and the Frenchman, Yannick Noah did win the French playing serve and volley.

The feat is all the more remarkable because the French is as slow a surface as you can play on, and Wimbledon is as fast a surface. The styles needed to master both are hard to master. Sampras never well on the French, and more often than not, played horribly on clay.

To be fair, Borg came onto the scene at a lucky point in history. In the mid to late 70s, the top grass players were already fading. Laver, Rosewall, Emerson, all these players were either in the twilight of their careers or had long since retired. Australians were not to produce a top player until Patrick Rafter, and at the time, John Alexander was their best player.

Until McEnroe started to play well (which coincided with Borg's downfall), the top serve and volleyers were deficient in one way or another. Most big servers weren't great volleyers. Roscoe Tanner could serve and serve, but he was an adequate volleyer, and not much of a baseliner. In those days, a good serve and volleyer often lacked the dazzling backcourt play of a current player.

Outside of Connors, Borg was the dominant baseliner of his era. And he had one thing that Connors didn't have: a big first serve. At the time, he could serve as well as anyone not named Roscoe Tanner. And, he played well when he had to. Unheralded Victor Amaya nearly took Borg out in an early round. He nearly took a two break lead in the fourth set, being down two sets to one, before hitting a second serve ace, and winning in five.

Borg came back against Edmonson (also Australian), Vijay Amritraj, his buddy Vitas Gerulaitis, and of course, the 1980 final against McEnroe that went to an epic 18-16 tiebreak in the fourth (which Borg lost!) before he won 8-6 in the fifth. An adequate volleyer, Borg did well enough with a dump volley to keep opponents honest.

The one Grand Slam that eluded Borg was the US Open. Twice he lost to McEnroe, and also to Connors. His best chance may have been in 1979. Borg did not reach the final at all that year. However, he lost to Roscoe Tanner at night. Had he won that match, he would have played his buddy Vitas, who he never lost to during his entire career, despite the fact that Vitas was a top ten player, and then would have met McEnroe, who was still not ready from prime time.

It wasn't meant to be. After losing to McEnroe at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1981, Borg essentially retired. He left the game for several months. When told he'd have to qualify on his return (something they'd never do today), Borg left the game, never to really return.

Borg would, alas, lose to today's player. Players serve harder (at least 30 mph harder), hit harder, and are physically bigger than Borg. Technology has made all that possible. Still, there was something elegant, something classic about this stoic Swede, who reintroduced topspin to the game, who took a game suited to mastery of clay, and somehow, through determination and luck, won five consecutive Wimbledons, three of them paired with the French. In today's world of specialized play where only Spaniards and Argentinians seem to win the French, this feat may never be accomplished again. Never is a long time---too long. When it happens again, Borg may smile, as he so rarely did on court, and think back on the time when he was king of clay and grass.