Bjorn Borg Q&A

Q: Would you like to see a wooden-racquet-only tournament on the ATP Champions Tour?

Bjorn: No, I don’t think so. It’s a great tour as it is. It’s great that we have so many new players joining the ATP Champions Tour. It’s tougher for us against them, but it’s fun to try against them. We had Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang and Yevgeny Kafelnikov against me and John in Chengdu, China this week, and it was a great challenge for us. We can still play pretty good tennis!

Q: Would you ever be interested in coaching the Swedish Davis Cup team?

Bjorn: No, they have just made a great choice in Thomas Enqvist to take over from Mats Wilander. If I was to get involved I would probably prefer to work with juniors.

Q: In your opinion, is tennis today as competitive as it was in your era?

Bjorn: Tennis today is very competitive. The difference is that you have many more good players today. Even in the first round these days you can get a difficult match, so it is tougher in that respect.

Q: Did you read John McEnroe’s autobiography? What did you think of it and would you write one yourself?

Bjorn: Yes I did read it. I enjoyed it. I actually knew most of the stories in there because John is a good friend of mine. I read the book though and it was nice. People have been talking to me about writing one for a long time now, but I’m going to wait - there’s no rush! There is still more for me to do first.

Q: What do you think of Juan Martin Del Potro?

Bjorn: He’s been playing well the whole year. I think most people thought Roger would win that final, but he (Del Potro) played really well the whole tournament and he deserved to win it. To play that well in your first Grand Slam final is a really great effort.

Q: If you could play anyone in history when you were at your peak level, who would you like to play?

Bjorn: I think it would be fun for me at my best to have played Rafael Nadal. Maybe on clay! We play a pretty similar game so it would have been nice. I would have liked to have played Roger as well. Who would have won? I have no idea!

Q: What was the best match you ever played against Jimmy Connors?

Bjorn: We had a lot of good matches. I think the 1977 Wimbledon final - I won in five sets, 6-4 in the fifth. He was a great competitor, we brought out the best in each other, and that was a great match.