ATP Finals: Only in New York City - when Björn Borg received penalty points
Since 1970 the ATP has held a year-end tournament with the best players of the season. The finals have not only provided sporting highlights in their 50-year history.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Nov 13, 2020, 10:14 am
Whoever watched the movie “Borg vs. McEnroe ”knows: Björn Borg may have shown almost no emotions in his heyday on the world's great tennis courts. As a teenager, however, the Swede was considered a hot spur. So much so that he was even banned for a while, as Borg revealed in a chat with Tim Henman and Roger Federer .
"I was withdrawn from circulation at the age of 13 for my bad behavior," said Borg. “And after that I never opened my mouth again because I wanted to play tennis and no longer wanted to be banned. As a player, sometimes you get so frustrated that you want to scream, but you have to hold back. That was probably the strongest part of my game. The other player had no idea what my emotions were. "
McEnroe was awarded a point
But once even “Eis Borg” couldn't hold back: At the 1980 ATP Finals in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Borg went up against one of his big rivals, John McEnroe, who enjoyed the greatest possible home advantage in New York. Possibly also with the referees. When the score was 3: 3 in the tie-break of the third set, the chair referee corrected a decision in favor of McEnroe, which was not well received by Björn Borg.
"That got me very excited," recalled Borg. “I went to the referee and was pretty nice, but I wanted some answers. He gave me the wrong answers, I got a warning and then two penalty points. That was the only occasion in my entire career where I received a warning and penalty points. But I still won the match. "
Borg ended his career at the age of 26
Borg also won the entire tournament, beating Vitas Gerulaitis 6-2 and 6-2 in the final. A year later, the now 64-year-old triumphed again in Madison Square Garden, with successes over McEnroe, Jose Luis-Clerc, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.
It should be Björn Borg's last big title. A few months later, he ended his career at the age of only 26.