A rare Bjorn Borg interview: Saying goodbye to Laver Cup, retiring at 26 and watching his son Leo

All these years later, Bjorn Borg is getting another chance to make a proper exit.

It didn’t go great the last time around. For those not familiar with one of the more notorious tennis walk-offs, after Borg lost in the U.S. Open final against John McEnroe in 1981 – his third consecutive loss to McEnroe in a Slam final – he grabbed his bag, headed for the tunnel, barely stopped in the locker room as he grabbed his car keys, then headed to the parking lot and drove off, leaving everyone a bit baffled during the trophy ceremony as to why the finalist was not there.

And that was basically it, other than two very abbreviated comeback attempts. The 11-time Grand Slam winner never played another Grand Slam match. He was essentially done. In January 1983, at the age of 26, he retired from tennis.

He made brief (and unsuccessful) attempts at comebacks in the early Nineties, but for decades Borg was pretty much off the tennis grid. And then, finally, there he was on the sidelines once again seven years ago, coaching Team Europe in the Laver Cup, Roger Federer’s attempt to create a tennis version of the Ryder Cup. McEnroe coached Team World, which was kind of perfect.

Borg and McEnroe are stepping away from their Laver Cup roles after this year. Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah will replace them. With his final Laver Cup gig approaching this weekend in Berlin (September 20-22), Borg was motivated to grant a rare interview about his post-tennis life, the development of his son, Leo, into a pro, and what the hobnobbing with the best players of this era has meant to him.

“So beautiful,” he said during a phone interview last month while he was on vacation in Ibiza, which is about as Borg as it gets, right?

This interview has been edited for length and quality.

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The Athletic: So many great players from your era became coaches, but you never really did, except for the Laver Cup. Why?

Borg: I never had an interest. All the travel. Sweden even asked me to be the Davis Cup captain. I said no. That was not my thing either. To be the coach of Team Europe though, I thought that was a big responsibility. And my friend Roger Federer asked me. It’s a special event in any year.

The Athletic: Why did you quit playing so young? Were you unhappy? I ask because nowadays there are a lot of unhappy players who stop at a young age and in retrospect you sort of seem like maybe you were the canary in the coal mine.

Borg: I was very happy as a player but the motivation was not there. If you don’t have the motivation to practice and to compete every day, you can’t focus on what you do and what you need to do. I was happy, but I had no motivation and no focus. When I came back briefly, that was a different story.

I’m writing a book. I’m going to tell everyone all about it next year.

The Athletic: What have you learned about how tennis has changed from being around the players during Laver Cup?

Borg: We have two dinners during the week, and it is the most special time. We do it to get the team bonded. They ask me about what the tour was like when I was playing and how I went about my life and we tell each other the stories of our lives. And I listen to what they tell me, and really what I learn is they are not too different from me. They are tennis players. What we did is kind of the same thing as what they do.

The Athletic: But the world has changed, hasn’t it?

Borg: They hit the ball harder. It’s much more grueling to play the way they do. There is also the TV aspect to it. They are big stars. Tennis has become one of the biggest sports in the world and they have a big responsibility. They have to inspire people and promote the sport. It’s different than if you are a star in football. You don’t have to promote your sport. But if we talk about their fame, then they must be doing a great job. They all understand though that no one player is bigger than the sport itself.

The Athletic: From what they tell you during those Laver Cup dinners, what do you think is the biggest difference between their lives and yours?

Borg: They have the big teams around them, and these people are doing an incredible job. I did OK, even if I stopped too early, but I never had that big team of people to go around the world with that makes you feel so supported.

I was the first one who really traveled with a coach. Today everyone has a coach and a physio and all these other people. Tennis, it’s such a demanding sport. It’s really tough, because you are basically out there by yourself. So you really need that.

The Athletic: Is that what you look forward to with being the coach of Team Europe, to help provide that support?

Borg: I’m going to have great players in Berlin. I want to win. It’s my last year. I lost the last two years. I want to win again, but I don’t know, Team World is very good. John McEnroe and I, we are good friends, but he wants to win, too. We have always enjoyed being competitive. We were such big rivals, and when he is coaching we are still very competitive. To see him now is so special. We keep in contact but to see him is something else.

The Athletic: Did it bother you the way he behaved on the court?

Borg: When we played, he was always OK. Looking back, he never did much with me. We respected each other too much, I think, both on and off the court.

The Athletic: What modern player reminds you of you?

Borg: I grew up on clay. Nadal grew up on clay. He’s the one. To see him play on clay courts, it’s so fantastic. He’s unbelievable. I can relate to how he knows how to move players around the court.

The Athletic: Chris Evert says she was scared to talk to you when you were a player, because you were this silent star, but now when she sees you, you are very chatty. Have you changed?

Borg: Chris is a very good friend. We started something together. We were two big stars. We lifted tennis to a different level. I’m very happy and proud to have done that. Then the ones that came after us lifted it more. Federer, Nadal, Novak, the Williams sisters. But we were there at the beginning.

The Athletic: Your son Leo is trying to break through on the pro tour. Do you coach him?

Borg: I support him, but I do not coach him. He knows he can come to me whenever he wants. He has a whole team around him. He lives in Stockholm. I live in Stockholm. He comes by. We talk.

The Athletic: Is it harder to play a match or watch him play?

Borg: Ask any parent. You get more nervous watching your child play. I follow his matches. He feels a lot of pressure. He is my son. He is starting to perform much better, I think. I do love to watch him, though. It’s just hard because, as a parent, you have no control. When you are on the court, you have some control. In some ways, it’s easier to be on the couch watching on television. It’s much worse watching in person.

The Athletic: It seems like Christian and Casper Ruud have a good coach-player thing going and he doesn’t look very nervous. You sure you don’t want to give it a shot?

Borg: The Ruuds are my good friends. Trust me, Christian gets nervous, too.

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup)