BENGALURU: Björn Borg is truly the ‘iceman’, on and off the court and Bengaluru recently got a taste of it. Staying at the Leela Palace, Borg and Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj retrospected their careers. The two faced one another six times during the 1970s and early ’80s, out of which two were in Grand Slams, the 1974 US Open and the 1979 Wimbledon, where Amritraj took the former and Borg the latter.
Speaking about competing with Borg, regarded as one of the all-time greats, Amritraj feels both those matches were tough ones. “Both of us were watching one of those matches recently and it was great to see how tight that match was and how great we looked (laughs). When I look back and how it has been in the past 40-50 years, I feel privileged to have played in the ’70s. I got to play with and against Björn, got to play against other great players like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe,” shares Amritraj.
The two tennis aces have shared a friendship for over half a decade. “First time I met Vijay was at Wimbledon in 1973. We always have had a friendly relationship and we respect each other on and off the court. Coming from India, what he did for the country is a spectacular achievement. Back in the ’70s, I remember no one really wanted to play him because he was very good and we all knew it was always
going to be a tough game,” says Borg.
One of the reasons for Borg’s visit to India has been to form an alliance between Indian and Swedish tennis. Unfortunately, both countries are not at their best right now when it comes to representation in the top 100 singles players. “Vijay and I were speaking about tennis in our respective countries and I would love to do something together. Sweden is struggling a bit in world tennis right now. We only have one guy in the top 100. India’s in a similar boat and we hope to do something about it,” says Borg, whose son Leo Borg was competing at the Bengaluru Open 2023 but suffered a loss at the round of 32.
When Borg was at the top of his game, he was known for maintaining a calm demeanour (hence, the name ‘Iceman’). When he had decided to step out of the game, he had to answer many questions. He was also young as he retired when he was only 26. So, what advice does he have for players when it comes to dealing with public scrutiny? “Sometimes I felt answering other people can get more tiring than playing the Wimbledon final. At least we are trained for the latter. It took me many years to learn how to deal with outside criticism. Knowing what to do and not to do is tough for any athlete. I was a very famous player then, so I struggled to have a private life, one of the reasons why I retired so young,” says Borg, whose rivalry with McEnroe is known as one of the greatest in all sports.
There is a trend of Western European countries taking the centre stage in modern tennis. Amritraj feels it has to do with the nature of the courts. “When the grass courts were at its peak, the Australians were dominating. Once that shift slowly started to ebb away into the European clay, the Europeans really started to make their mark as the speed of the game reduced and the slow courts emerged,” concludes Amritraj.