"Bjorn Borg created a storm one year at Wimbledon; had these women screaming in the crowd" - Chris Evert's ex-husband on how Swede gained popularity

Chris Evert's ex-husband and former tennis player John Lloyd has recounted the remarkable rise of Bjorn Borg's popularity during one year at Wimbledon.

Lloyd recalled the electrifying atmosphere at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, where hordes of young women passionately screamed for the charismatic Swede.

Former World No. 1 Bjorn Borg holds the distinction of being the first man in Open Era history to secure 11 Grand Slam singles titles. His record includes six French Open titles and an unprecedented five consecutive triumphs at Wimbledon between 1974 and 1981.

In the most recent episode of the 'Rock n Roll Tennis' podcast, Lloyd reminisced about the time when Borg caused quite a stir at Wimbledon despite the absence of the internet and cell phones those days.

"In those days obviously there was no internet, no cell phones, no nothing like that and he created a storm one year at Wimbledon. I still don’t to this day, don’t really know how he did it because there was no social media to publicise what he was doing," Lloyd said.

John Lloyd spoke about the overwhelming presence of hundreds of young women cheering and screaming for the Swede star. He recalled how, as the days went by, the number of women flocking to see Bjorn Borg grew exponentially.

"All of a sudden he had these women screaming in the crowd, these young women they called him ‘Teeny Bopper.’ It sort of grew the first day they were I don’t know fifty that were all screaming from different sorts of the call on Court No. 2 and then the next day he played and it grew to 200 and 300," Lloyd added.

Eventually, the situation became so intense that security measures had to be taken, including providing Bjorn Borg with a police escort, which was quite uncommon during that era.

"Next minute they had police guards escorts which in those days it never happened now of course it does. He became a sensation and he was like the tennis players’ ‘Beatle,’" Lloyd stated.

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"Bjorn Borg is like Jekyll and Hyde"- When John McEnroe speculated what could have led the Swede to retire from tennis aged 26

John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at the 2022 Laver Cup

John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg had a fierce rivalry throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. However, the intense competition was cut short after just 14 matches when Borg, astonishingly, announced his retirement from tennis in 1981, aged only 26.

In his book, "You Cannot Be Serious," McEnroe expressed his viewpoint on Borg's early retirement. The former World No. 1 stated that the Swede was teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed due to the excessive regimentation in his life.

"Here’s what I speculate: Borg was on the verge of being overwhelmed. He was also the first guy who could afford to quit. He’d started so young; at age twenty-five, he’d already traveled the circuit extensively for ten years. His life had become so regimented," McEnroe wrote.

John McEnroe also compared Bjorn Borg to the fictional character 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', suggesting that Borg possessed a dual nature. The American asserted that Borg had the ability to transform into the epitome of a gentleman, only to later exhibit erratic behavior.

"Bjorn is like Jekyll and Hyde. A couple of years ago, when I was playing an exhibition with him in Stockholm, he said to me, 'I’m two people.' And he is. He’s the world’s greatest guy, and then he’s completely out of his mind. I’m crazy to begin with—somewhat crazy and somewhat normal. Bjorn goes way to the extremes," McEnroe further wrote.