Buzz and boos greeted Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as they marched onto Centre Court on July 5, 1980 at 2 p.m. for the Wimbledon final. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder for the traditional pre-match photo as competitors—with comfort zones as disparate as their native time zones—sharing the most precious piece of turf in tennis.
The left-handed, serve-and-volleying McEnroe was at his best rushing forward, stealing time from his opponent with abbreviated backswings and the fearless feel of a pickpocket. Borg, the right-handed baseliner, was most comfortable standing so far back in the court that he could read a linesperson’s wristwatch, and played with the unerring precision of a Rolex. Together, the stoic Swede and mercurial McEnroe—he was the one receiving the boos—took tennis to transcendent heights on the court and launched the sport into pop-culture consciousness off it. They also formed a friendship that has spanned more than three decades.
Thirty-one years after Borg and McEnroe squared off in their epic final that captivated the Centre Court patrons, captured the imagination of fans around the world and remains a match for the ages, HBO Sports reviews their riveting rivalry. A 60-minute documentary, McEnroe-Borg: Fire & Ice, debuts Saturday, June 11 at 10 p.m. EST on HBO. The film is much more than a video scrapbook of tennis’ halcyon days; it’s a journey into the lives and ongoing relationship of two of the Open Era’s most innovative and charismatic champions.
HBO held a premiere of the film Tuesday night at the School of Visual Arts Theatre in Manhattan. McEnroe and fellow Hall of Famer Billie Jean King walked the red carpet prior to the screening, attended by McEnroe’s parents, his wife Patty Smyth, and the couple’s children. McEnroe, who saw the finished film for the first time Tuesday night, admitted feeling “nervous,” but was basking in the afterglow, telling the audience: “Bjorn and I were both a little apprehensive, but I’m happy to call Bjorn tomorrow and report it was awesome.”
Interest in the Borg-McEnroe rivalry was revived with the recent release of two new books about the pair—TENNIS senior writer Stephen Tignor’s High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and the Untold Story of Tennis’s Fiercest Rivalry and Matt Cronin’s Epic: John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and the Greatest Tennis Season Ever—which are both well-worth reading. Along with these works, Fire & Ice details why the rivalry continues to resonate three decades later.
With rare footage—including a teenage McEnroe showcasing his lively left arm as a ball boy at Forest Hills, Borg imploding during a junior match, and their first meeting, in the 1978 Stockholm semis (a 6-3, 6-4 McEnroe victory; Borg recalls it as “the first time I ever lost to anyone younger than me”)—archival photos and in-depth interviews, the film crams the duo's back stories, memorable matches, painful public missteps, periods of separation from tennis and enduring friendship into a compelling hour that may well leave you wishing for more.
Mary Carillo, who won the 1977 French Open mixed doubles title partnering McEnroe and grew up in the same Queens neighborhood, conducted the interviews for the film, which was written by Aaron Cohen and includes appearances by Borg, McEnroe, Peter Fleming, Patrick McEnroe, Tony Palafox (McEnroe’s coach), Percy Rosberg (Borg’s junior coach), TENNIS’ Peter Bodo and journalists Bud Collins, Mike Lupica, Charley Steiner, Malcolm Folley and Tim Adams. Their recollections range from heartfelt to hilarious, including McEnroe’s first impression of tennis’ first true rock star, who would become his greatest rival.
“I’d never seen a tennis player look like this,” McEnroe says. “He had this sort of perfect Viking godlike look, and I certainly wanted to get the same type of things that he seemed to be getting, which was a lot of interest and a lot of girls. It was like ‘Whoa, being a tennis player is really cool.’”
Borg sums up the emotional extremes he endured in the 1980 final—the agony of failing to convert five match points in the classic 18-16 fourth-set tiebreaker and the ecstasy of winning the fifth set, 8-6, to claim his fifth Wimbledon crown—simply: “To lose the fourth set, that was my worst moment, and one set later was my best moment as a tennis player.”