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John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg are two of the greatest tennis players of all time and shared a short yet fierce rivalry back in the day, with their head-to-head tied at 7-7.
In an appearance on the Scandinavian TV show Skavlan in 2016, the American spoke about his relationship with the Swede, saying that Stockholm was an important place for him as the two locked horns for the first time there.
"For me, Sweden, especially Stockholm is very important, historic for me because my best rival, my great friend Bjorn Borg, we first played her in Stockholm in 1978. So, I've been coming here for 38 years now. I can't believe I'm still playing tennis," John McEnroe said.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion also said that Borg gave him free underwear when he was in Stockholm.
"He's very nice, he always gives me some free underwear when I come to Stockholm," the American added.
McEnroe said that the two preferred to talk about politics instead of their past clashes.
"We prefer to talk about politics and things moving forward instead of what happened on match point on Wimbledon in 1980 because honestly, I don't remember. They always show these clips and it's sort of the same couple of matches because my most famous match was the match with Bjorn, the one that I lost in 1980. I actually beat him the next year but no one remembers that part," McEnroe said.
"A lot of people don't realise that when I won the tiebreaker, this long tiebreaker 18-16 in the fourth set, they thought that I won the match. So, I don't tell people that I lost. So, it's nice to be a part of history. Obviously, if you do something for a living and people remember you for a particular rivalry or a match like the one in Wimbledon," he added.
John McEnroe also stated that Bjorn Borg is the only rival he got along with.
"I think the best part for me personally is that Bjorn and I still get along. I think he is the only one of my rivals that I actually got along with. Everyone else, I was fighting all the time," the American said.
"Our personalities are pretty similar" - John McEnroe on Bjorn Borg
John McEnroe said that Bjorn Borg and himself had similar personalities and senses of humor as he did. He also claimed that the Swede behaved worse than him in the U-12 division and that his father did not let him play tennis for six months.
"I think, believe or not, our personalities are pretty similar. We have the same sense of humour. I think we think about things in a similar way, whether it's something serious or something that's not so serious. In the 12 and Unders, he behaved worse than I did. I don't think many people would believe that but apparently, his father suspended him or wouldn't let him play tennis for 6 months," McEnroe said.
