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Early Life: 1972/73 - Davis Cup Debut and First Year On The Tour

Björn Borg was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1956. As a child, he became fascinated with tennis after his father gave him a golden tennis racket. By age 13, Borg was beating top Swedish under-18 players and his coach felt there was no need to change his rough but effective strokes. In 1972 at age 15, Borg made his Davis Cup debut for Sweden and won his first match, then won the Wimbledon junior title and Orange Bowl championship. He turned pro in 1973, reaching his first tour final and cracking the top 20 by year's end.

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59 views1 page

Early Life: 1972/73 - Davis Cup Debut and First Year On The Tour

Björn Borg was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1956. As a child, he became fascinated with tennis after his father gave him a golden tennis racket. By age 13, Borg was beating top Swedish under-18 players and his coach felt there was no need to change his rough but effective strokes. In 1972 at age 15, Borg made his Davis Cup debut for Sweden and won his first match, then won the Wimbledon junior title and Orange Bowl championship. He turned pro in 1973, reaching his first tour final and cracking the top 20 by year's end.

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Lamar LakersInsider Bryant
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Early life[edit]

Björn Borg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 6 June 1956, as the only child of Rune (1932-2008)
and Margaretha Borg (b. 1934). [10] He grew up in nearby Södertälje. As a child, Borg became
fascinated with a golden tennis racket that his father won at a table-tennis tournament. His father
gave him the racket, beginning his tennis career. [11]
A player of great athleticism and endurance, he had a distinctive style and appearance—
bowlegged and very fast. His muscularity allowed him to put heavy topspin on both his forehand and
two-handed backhand. He followed Jimmy Connors in using the two-handed backhand. By the time
he was 13 he was beating the best of Sweden's under-18 players, and Davis Cup captain Lennart
Bergelin (who served as Borg's primary coach throughout his professional career) cautioned against
anyone trying to change Borg's rough-looking, jerky strokes. [12]

Career[edit]
1972/73 – Davis Cup debut and first year on the tour[edit]
At the age of 15 Borg represented Sweden in the 1972 Davis Cup and won his debut singles rubber
in five sets against veteran Onny Parun of New Zealand. Later that year, he won the Wimbledon
junior singles title, recovering from a 5–2 deficit in the final set to overcome Britain's Buster Mottram.
Then in December he won the Orange Bowl Junior Championship for boys 18 and under after a
straight-sets victory in the final over Vitas Gerulaitis.[13][14] Borg joined the professional circuit in 1973,
and reached his first singles final in April at the Monte Carlo Open which he lost to Ilie Năstase.[15] He
was unseeded at his first French Open and reached the fourth round where he lost in four sets to
eight-seeded Adriano Panatta. Borg was seeded sixth at his first Wimbledon Championships, in
large part due to a boycott by the ATP, and reached the quarterfinal where he was defeated in a
five-set match by Roger Taylor.[16] In the second half of 1973 he was runner-up in San
Francisco, Stockholm and Buenos Aires and finished the year ranked No. 18.[15][17]

1974 – First French Open title

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