Federer-Nadal Is the New Borg-McEnroe

As we move to the Wimbledon men’s semifinals with a second prospective Federer/Nadal final on the horizon, the year 1980 is on everyone’s mind, as are the feats of the great Bjorn Borg.
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↵It’s been repeated ad nauseum in the tennis broadcasts that Nadal is looking to become the first man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Borg did it in 1980. Meanwhile, Fed is looking to become the first man since the 19th century to win six consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. At five currently, he matches Borg’s feat, Borg who won his fifth and final Wimbledon title in 1980 in what is without question the most memorable tennis match of our time, a match that included what simply is known today as ... The Tiebreak.↵

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There are some interesting parallels to be drawn between the Federer and Nadal rivalry right now and the Borg/Mac rivalry that reached its pinnacle in that 1980 Centre Court five-set Shakespearean drama. In 1980, Borg was the king of tennis, a four-time reigning Wimbledon champion looking for what seemed like an impossible fifth straight title, and a five-time French Open champ to boot. The footsteps of McEnroe were growing ever nearer, however, to Borg’s lofty perch. In 1979, Mac had won his first Grand Slam title, the U.S. Open. And unlike just about every other player on tour at that time, Mac had Borg’s number. They’d played seven times prior to the ’80 Wimbledon final, and Borg held the narrow edge, 4-3.↵↵Compare that situation to the Fed/Rafa relationship today, with Fed the undisputed king of the sport and Nadal the brilliant and fiery young upstart inching towards the throne and giving the king fits as he charts his progress. ↵

↵↵Obviously, there are big differences. Nadal owning clay as a surface and Roland Garros as a venue is a new wrinkle on an old story. But what interests me historically in this comparison is the fact that 1980 Wimbledon final was really Bjorn Borg’s last hurrah. He marshaled all of his incomparable inner resources to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Many times he’s admitted that he himself thought he’d lost the great ’80 final after Mac won the epic fourth-set tiebreak. But he played on, won his fifth Wimbledon and that was it, his last Grand Slam title. Mac beat him in another five-set Wagnerian bloodletting in the 1980 U.S. Open final, and then again in the 1981 Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals. Still in his prime but well aware that his time had come, Borg walked away, moved on to lady-killing and ice hockey and, ultimately, a severe depression while leaving Mac like a Frazier with no Ali to play with. Lendl and Connors never did quite fit the bill. Connors was a worthy Ken Norton, I suppose, but Lendl ... Lendl playing McEnroe always seemed like a Buddhist fighting a jackal.↵

↵↵Getting back to the present, however: With Federer this year seeming closer to mortal than ever in his run of dominance, and with Nadal having absolutely mopped the court with him at Roland Garros just a month ago, and, AND, with 1980 rumbling around the Wimbledon air like the bouquet of champagne and overpriced fruit, well, it’s hard not to wonder if history isn’t about to repeat itself, if the King isn’t about to meet his match once and for all. ↵

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