Borg vs McEnroe by Ronnie Sandahl 8 out of 10

Borg vs McEnroe by Ronnie Sandahl
8 out of 10


Even if one is not so keen on tennis, this motion picture still has much to offer.

Two very different personalities clash, in a dispute that is not about good versus evil, but it presents two different styles of playing, perhaps seeing life.

A very good introduction to the feature is a quote from Andre Agassi, who states that tennis is life...
It has "love" among its terms and everything else.

With flashbacks, we see the two stars from the title in their childhood.
Bjorn Borg aka Sverrir Gudnason was interestingly and unexpectedly a child with issues.

He was very agitated and violent whenever he lost.
The school officials proposed some very harsh punishments, because the parents of other children refused to let their offspring play with him.

The headmaster even says:

"Let's face it, tennis is not for all classes"

The smug individual wanted to say that only the upper classes could understand and play it and Borg would better try something else.
Indeed, the adolescent was just as good at hockey.

But he is lucky that Lennart Bergelin aka the excellent Stellan Skarsgard sees him playing.
This is the manager of the Swedish Davis Cup team and he can see that Borg is extremely talented.

This couch though would insist on the need that the teenager changes his attitude.
Lennart Bergelin has reached the advanced stages at Wimbledon, but lost because he failed to keep cool.
He explains that losing control is equivalent to losing the game.

He teaches Bjorn Borg to show no emotion, no fear, nothing.
Indeed, the number one tennis player of the seventies was called the Iceborg.
Many felt he is a machine.

But few understood that behind the appearance of calm, absolute self possession there was a volcano.
In the climax of the film and of the career of the Swedish master, he plays at Wimbledon, trying to win it for the fifth time.

He had been the youngest player ever to win this tournament and the French Open.
He has a special program and rituals.

Harvard Professor Tal Ben-Shahar emphasizes the importance of rituals.
The Swedish star has rituals for his equipment, moves, training...even socks.

He has married one of our own...Mariana Simionescu.
John McEnroe has been also a child prodigy.

Whereas people thought Borg might be stupid, when he was a child, McEnroe could multiply in his head complicated numbers.

The American had however a bad reputation as a player.
He was not just vocal, but incredibly aggressive, insulting and loathsome at times.

He would shout at the umpires, curse people in the public, or even the whole audience, would spit and complain all the time.
Before the Wimbledon tournament, Bjorn Borg was at number one and the rising new American star at number two in the world.

They reach a final that would become historic.
McEnroe wins the first set with ease.

People think that Borg may be an easy prey and he is probably descending and making room for the new king.
But the second set belongs to the Swedish superstar.
When Bjorn Borg has a match point, the resilient McEnroe wins it.

And the it happens seven times!
Each time the rebellious, pugnacious, determined American pushed back.

It was unprecedented.
And it feels like a very good action movie, where we wait to see breathlessly what happens next.

Who will win?


Borg vs McEnroe is a very good motion picture.