Borg vs. McEnroe Rivalry To Continue On And Off Court
A month after announcing that they will go head-to head in selling their own signature underwear lines, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will be back on court against each other at the Optima Open, in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, August 19-21.
Borg and McEnroe launched ‘Bjorn Loves John’ in July, a limited-edition underwear line featuring their names on their own individual designs. They are both determined to sell more than each other, and they will also be trying to out-do each other on more familiar territory when they face off in their second round-robin match on Saturday August 20 in Knokke-Heist.
“John was a guy who lifted my game like no other guy could," said Borg, whose label Bjorn Borg Underwear is producing the new line. "To play him was always something special, we still enjoy playing against each other today and to go into business with him now is special too, but I want to sell more than him - we hate to lose!”
McEnroe added: "I've been wearing his underwear for 10 years. Now I finally have a chance to see if my name has any cache below the waist. Since it's his company and his brand, I feel like my back's against the wall but I was told that I would have an equal opportunity to sell as many as him.”
If Borg does manage to outsell McEnroe, the American will have his chance for revenge on the court in Knokke-Heist. They met each other 14 times during their professional playing careers, including two Wimbledon finals (1980, 1981). They retired with their head-to-head record at 7-7.
The rest of the field at the Optima Open features former World No.1 Mats Wilander, the 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, the 1988 French Open finalist Henri Leconte and France’s Davis Cup captain Guy Forget. The event is played using a round-robin format. Matches will be played over the best of three sets with the third set taking the form of a first-to-ten Champions Tie-Break. The top player in each group will meet in Sunday’s final.
To get you in the mood for the latest installment of Borg vs. McEnroe, you can watch a video tribute to their classic rivalry on the Optima Open YouTube page.
To order their new underwear lines, go to the Bjorn Borg underwear website.