Bartoli and Borg by Richard Evans

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2013

Bartoli and Borg by Richard Evans

epa02887774 Marion Bartoli of France hits a return to Alexandra Panova of Russia during their first round match on the first day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 29 August 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/JASON SZENES |

Marion Bartoli’s retirement has created the most surprising story of the tennis year so far – so surprising, in fact, that many observers tried to use Bjorn Borg’s early retirement at the age of 26 in 1982 as a comparison.

Well, Borg certainly caught some people napping but his decision was arrived at in a very different fashion and most certainly did not come about as a whim overnight. Borg, in his quiet, dignified Swedish way, had stated very clearly what he would do if the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council – the game’s governing body of that era – did not listen to him.

Borg was tired. He had been playing tennis non-stop at the highest level for ten years, much of it on clay. His style required him to play long, grinding Nadal-like rallies from the back court and it was exhausting, even for a player as lithe and fit as this superb athlete. He wanted to break free of the chains that tied him to the baseline and have some fun. I had witnessed the clearest evidence of this at an Grand Prix event staged in the beautiful Parc des Eaux Vives on the banks of Lake Geneva. He was playing the hugely talented Spanish left-hander Manolo Orantes in the semi-final and, having won the first set in his customary manner, Borg suddenly threw off those chains and tried and serve and volley his way to victory. Given that they were playing on clay, that might have seemed like an absurd thing to do. However, Bjorn had noticed that Orantes was hobbling a little from an apparent muscle problem and he thought he could take the chance.

Manolo’s eyes lit up as, to his amazement, he saw Borg giving him targets at the net. On one leg or not, the Spaniard started passing this way and that, picking his spots at will. The second set was his in a flash and Borg, dejected, returned to his baseline prison and duly won the match with those carefully constructed rallies that required so much effort and concentration.

It was a little vignette that showed where Borg’s head was. He wanted out. The patience was running thin. He was becoming bored with being Borg and didn’t want to take the time to play the way he needed to play to win.

So he went to the Pro Council and asked to be allowed to reduce his required playing schedule of 14 tournaments a year. Not by much, just by two. The Council, under the chairmanship of Philippe Chatrier, said no. Borg told them that if they did not change their mind, he would quit. For Chatrier, who had spent his life around tennis players, not to have realized that Bjorn was serious was an unfathomable piece of mis-judgement. Champions of Borg’s stature have many personality traits and stubbornness is one of the most prominent. And pride. And ego. And a bloody-minded determination not to be pushed around.

So when the Pro Council came back with a second refusal, Borg called their bluff and walked away. As a result the game lost one of its greatest ever champions at least two or three years ahead of time because Borg had asked to play just two tournaments less than everyone else.

The Council hid behind the “We can’t make exceptions” excuse. But, within a few years, they were doing precisely that. Ivan Lendl, who had been busy chalking up as much court time and as many titles as Borg, was given dispensation to reduce his Grand Prix schedule from 14 to 12. Why? Because, like Borg before him, he had earned it.

There were rumbling of discontent in the locker room to start with because Lendl was being given special treatment but finally the Council did the obvious thing. They laid down clear rules about the number of tournaments a player had played over a specific number of years and, if they met the requirements, they were eligible to have their schedule reduced no matter who they were.

So eventually common sense prevailed. But Borg wasn’t around to see it.

He did, of course, make a rather sad attempt to come back several years later when he was given a wild card at Monte Carlo and promptly lost in the first round to Spain’s Jordi Arrese. He didn’t help his cause by insisting on playing with a small-headed, wooden frame. The game, of course, had moved on but Borg, stubborn as ever, had to find out the hard way.

Whether Marion Bartoli re-evaluates some time in the future and makes a re-appearance as Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and, now, Martina Hingis have done remains to be seen. There is no question she will be missed, not least because, as a result of her Wimbledon triumph, so many people have just got to know, and enjoy, her.

Topics: Bjorn Borg, Cincinati tennis news, Ivan Lendl, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and, Marion Bartoli, Martina Hingis, Richard Evans, Sports, Tennis News

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August 16, 2013 at 12:23 pm

Bartoli and Borg by Richard Evans – http://t.co/TSScmjyMsO @BleacherReport @Ringham7 #tennis @bartoli_marion @bartoliFanZ @ESPNTennis