I would love to come back: Borg

A TRUE champion is one who plays the right shots and turns stumbling blocks into stepping stones. For Borg, one such half chance came in that epic Wimbledon second round tie against Vijay Amritraj in 1979 when he was one set to two down, trailed 0-3 and love 40 in the fourth set, Vijay thought he had made it when he almost passed him at the net, with a real winner, but Borg leapt full stretch to play a volley, which Vijay said later came off Borg's racquet frame, and stunned him. With that single point, Borg turned the tide.

``I played my best tennis in that match, and I have viewed that tape so many times in my life, and I am yet to figure out where I went wrong, that's Borg for you'', said Vijay Amritraj as he recounted that great moment. Needless to say Borg went on to win the title.

Certainly Borg's tennis spoke volumes about him and the Swedish Legend always tried to shy away from media glare, which focussed on him even after he hung up the racquet at 26.

The media hounded him with renewed vigour when his personal life took bizarre twists as he plummeted through broken affairs and marriages, bad money management and when he was groping in the dark with a sense of personal desolation.

Borg then had all the more reasons to avoid the media. His life and tennis have now come full circle and he seems to enjoy his stint on the Senior Tour.

Though he looked lot more relaxed and was friendly with every one around, Borg preferred to stay away from media.

His request to Vijay Amritraj when he landed in Bangalore for the Legends Event was: ``Please no interviews''. It took some gentle persuasion from Vijay Amritraj to make Borg atleast air his views in post match media meets. On the last day of the Legends Event, Krishna Bhupathi invited Borg and other stars to his `Tennis Village' for some pep talk and practice with his wards.

That offered a few, including this scribe, a chance to get Borg finally, at the chat session. `Ice' Borg melted and gave views about himself and the game.

On what he does when not playing tennis: ``Like all other parents, I take my son to School when I am in Stockholm and help with him his home work and I take him for practice to club and play him with. Of course I attend to other business and do some chores at the house''.

Coaching his son: ``I do play a bit with him, but I don't seriously advise him and not many kids listen to parents these days. May be, if he comes and asks for serious advice, I will give to him.''( Robin who is 15-years old is the son of Borg and former Swedish model, Jannike Bjorling).

On having goals: ``It is very important to have goals and dreams in life. When I was a kid, I was hitting the ball against the garage doors and I was pretending that I was playing Davis Cup or main draw matches in Wimbledon and playing on the clay courts on Roland Gaross Stadium in Paris. You know those dreams came true later.''

On being a committed player: ``It is not enough, to have just goals, and no commitment. It has to come from heart. No one is going to become a good player, just by practice alone, unless he loves what he is doing and knows what he is doing. It has to come from the heart. I gave 100 per cent to my tennis, everyone can. You see, there are no back doors to success.''

On parental influence: ``They have an important role and I was motivated to play tennis by my parents. They understood my ambitions and dreams and backed me all the way. Parents should help and support their sons or daughters, but please don't push them. It (playing good tennis) should come from their hearts.''

On his coach Lennart Bergelin: ``What more can I say about him? He was like my father, I wouldn't know what I would have done without him in my career, if not for his guidance and help. Besides my parents, he was a great influence on my life and game.''

On good behaviour on court: ``It will surprise you guys when I say that I behaved like a brat when I was 10 or 11, the club suspended me and my parents hid my racquets, I truly went crazy, when I finally went back, I never opened my mouth on court, for the rest of my career.''

Biggest disappointment: ``Not winning the Wimbledon in 1981. Of all the finals that I had played at Wimbledon, I wish I had won that against McEnroe. But then I did not have that mental sharpness and I was not focussed on it 100 per cent. That (the defeat) stayed in my mind for a long time. I get upset whenever I talk about it.''

On records and Grand Slam wins: ``I really don't know whether winning Grand Slam alone makes you great. Pete (Sampras) has done it more than any of us, but I wouldn't be comparing myself with him or anyone else. We were in different time ... It is impossible to do such a thing, I did not play Australian Open and did not succeed in U.S. Open. May be if I had done all that, it would have been a much better record. But then each era has its champions and I feel there is no way you can compare them.''

Did he regret quitting at 26?: ``No way, no regrets, I quit when I lost the motivation and I did not feel the same way about the game. The whole fun was gone and I was not keen on going for practice, there was simply no mental focus. That's when I decided to step away from court and try other things in life.''

Whom does he rate as a great player: ``I think its Jimmy Connors. He has been playing since 1972, non-stop tennis and that is extraordinary. He is playing at a pretty high level even now on the Senior Tour. I cannot do that and not many of us can do that, and it is only Jimmy.''

On his first trip to India: ``It was a fantastic trip. I am touched by the hospitality and what surprised me was, many seem to remember me and my matches. Lot of folks came up to me to say a word or two about my matches at Wimbledon, it felt pretty nice.

Surely Indians love sports and tennis.. I have been wanting to visit India for a long time, may be for the past 20 years and I thank my good friend and our guide, Vijay for getting us down here and I would love to come back.''

KALYAN ASHOK

Bangalore

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