Hmm, regarding Borg, I think JLLB has it about right from what I recall.
Contrary to popular folklore, the 1981 Wimbledon/US Open losses to McEnroe per se did not cause Borg to stop playing slams. I do agree that it certainly may have looked like that to the average fan, since he never played a major again. But after all, he had lost to McEnroe and Connors at the US Open before - and he ended up never winning the US Open title. He quickly walked off the court at the 1981 US Open because he had received death threats. One came on Saturday before his semi match with Jimmy Connors, whom he easily dispatched, but Borg was not told about it till after the match. The second call threat came Sunday as Borg won the first set against McEnroe. They didn't tell Borg and his coach until after the match and security quickly whisked him away and he cancelled all personal appearances after that (Monday as well).
Read more.
Though it seems to many that Borg retired in 1981 (because he never played a major again), he did continue to practice/play, and did not officially announce his retirement from professional tennis until January 1983. Why did Borg not play in any majors after the 1981 U.S. Open and retired in Jan 1983? Was it because he was intimidated by or scared of McEnroe, or felt he couldn't beat him because he lost to him at Wimbledon/US Open? Balderdash.
The real reason was that the ITF ruled that any player must participate in a minimum number of Grand Prix Tour sanctioned tournaments (I believe 8) in order to avoid having to play in the qualifying rounds at the Grand Slams. Borg, the four-time defending champion at Roland Garros, who won a then record six French Opens overall, and also won a record five straight Wimbledon Championships, did not feel like he should have to play in qualifiers under any circumstances. So, in 1982 he skipped the Grand Slams, rather than comply to the rule, and skipped other tournaments as well. For this reason, and because he was burnt out somewhat after playing professionally for 11-12 years (he turned professional at age 14 in 1971- won Davis Cup debut match at age 15 in 1972 - and never lost a DC singles match again post 1973), and wanted to reduce his schedule.
However, Borg continued training and playing in 1982 (non ITF/ATP events), and if anything, his game was actually getting better in some ways at 26. He became stronger and he was serving harder than he ever had before. He won four big money (non ITF/ATP) events in 1982. If you are still convinced that Borg could no longer handle McEnroe after the US Open in September in 1981, look at what happened in
November 1982 in the Sydney Akai Gold Challenge Round Robin, on carpet, no less. And don't forget that the Akai tournament prize money fund at that time was bigger than the slams. Borg defeated the #1 ranked McEnroe, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. He also dismantled Ivan Lendl, who would become the #1 ranked player a few months later, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, along with Vitas Gerulaitis 7-6 6-3 6-2. For that effort, Borg pocketed $150,000 plus a $30,000 gold racquet. The 1982 US Open winner's prize was $90,000.
After that, there wasn't a whole lot of motivation for him to play longer except in some exhibitions. Don't count his appearance in his backyard at Monte-Carlo where he played for fun. He had done almost everything of which he had thought himself capable, except for not winning a US Open, where it just didn't happen for him, despite making 4 finals.
But he no longer had the relentless drive to keep him playing and also defy the tour organizers.
At the time, pro tennis was not as "professional", or organized as today. There was no single ATP tour, there was a lot of infighting between the various organizations trying to control the players, and this led to bans by tournaments and boycotts by the players. What do I mean by relentless drive in Borg's case? Simply, it didn't mean as much to him to lose anymore. Not to mention he was fed up with the whole s**t, everyone that wanted a piece of him, the organizations, media, and as a global superstar, being pestered by everyone all over the world with only his coach as a buffer, which often wasn't enough.
Borg said he used to absolutely hate to lose, but that after he lost Wimbledon in 1981, he wasn't upset and he was shocked that he wasn't upset. And at that point, he knew that "something" special in him had gone. He was almost relieved to lose. Call it what you will, spark, passion, desire, fight; without it, you are not the same. Sometimes an absence from the game for a time, as long as the absence is not overly long, helps some to rekindle the flame, but other times not. Borg essentially left the game near the top.
As Arthur Ashe once said, "he might have won the US Open, or even a Grand Slam, but by the time he left, the historical challenge didn't mean anything. He was bigger than the game, like Elvis or Elizabeth Taylor or somebody".
Here are some clips, albeit poor quality, of the Borg-McEnroe match in Sydney in Nov 1982.
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFXnTGqbwsU[/video]
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=918rp7Omjk0[/video]
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kger-33YtiY[/video]
My apologies if I've rambled on a bit...
Respectfully,
masterclass
