Björn Borg Biography

Björn Borg is a Swedish former World No. 1 tennis player counted amongst the greatest tennis players of all time. The first male professional to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles, he holds numerous Open Era records including winning 41% of the Grand Slam singles tournaments he entered and 90% of those matches. He became fascinated with tennis as a young boy after his father won a golden tennis racket at a table-tennis tournament. He was naturally skilled at playing the sport and caught the attention of the tennis coach Percy Rosberg who groomed the young boy for a professional career. He blossomed into an exceptional player and won his first tournament at the age of 11 and soon emerged victorious in the 13- and 14-year-old divisions of the Swedish National Junior Championships as well. A teenage sensation by now, he dropped out of school to focus on his tennis career. He won the Wimbledon junior championship in 1972 and turned professional soon after. His string of successes continued to grow at an unprecedented rate and in 1979 he became the first player to earn more than one million dollars in prize money in a single season. However, he buckled under the pressure of achieving too much at a young age and suffered a burnout when he was just 26, retiring abruptly.