Wimbledon, On This Day: Borg-McEnroe, and the marathon of the 1980 final
McEnroe came into the game with more than a few things going against him. Borg had won the last four Wimbledons in a row, and the home crowd was firmly against the American. Disapproving of his notoriously combative habits, he walked onto the court with a soundtrack of boos ringing in his ears. However, those boos would soon be silenced, as he raced through the first set, taking it 6-1.
Borg, however, was never going to go quietly, and in a matter of time, he had taken the second and third sets 7-5 and 6-3 respectively. He was now in the driving seat.
The fourth set would prove to be the high point of the game. Once again, the clinical Swede worked his way into a 5-4 40-15 lead, only for McEnroe to rescue two championship points to stay in the tie. At 6-6, the two then entered a gladiatorial tie-break where the American rescued himself from the brink a remarkable five times before pulling ahead. When Borg eventually faltered and netted a volley, McEnroe took the tie-break 18-16, and the match was now poised tantalisingly at 2 sets apiece.
With the game so delicately placed, the question now became who could compose themselves better. After losing a few initial points, Borg found his usual efficiency to take a step ahead. With the score at 6-7 15-40, the Swede nailed a backhand past the advancing McEnroe and sunk to his knees. 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(16), 8-6. He had won an epic, and with it, his fifth Wimbledon title in a row.
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