PUNE: Dedication.
If one had to characterize Leo Borg In short, that’s it.
Dealing with the pressure that comes with honoring a famous family name is one thing, and accepting that pressure and giving your best every day – to justify that praise, to earn that nickname, is perhaps another.
“It was special for me to have a father like him,” Borg said of his father, the tennis legend. Bjorn Borgduring a video call from his hometown of Stockholm on Thursday.
Sweden will host India in a World Group I match on Saturday and Sunday.
“He’s done a lot in his time, and I feel very blessed because he has all the knowledge I need to gain (from a father and a coach).
“Of course, he’s very supportive, and he’s always there for me on the tennis court and off the tennis court. He’s really the best dad. So I’m very proud of him, and he has a very special place in my heart.”
In tennis, there is no comparison between father and son.
Borg senior, now 68, led Sweden to its maiden Davis Cup triumph in 1975 at the age of just 19. If his 33 singles wins are a record in tournament history, his six French Open trophies – four of them in a row – and five consecutive Wimbledon triumphs put him on another level altogether.
Anyone, in any field, would inevitably abandon borrowed fame and the scrutiny that comes with it. Borg the junior has decided to not only play the sport, but excel at it.
Currently ranked 603, Leo climbed to 334th in the ATP rankings last year before suffering a dip in form. He has recovered some of his level and motivation by winning a title and a second place on the gloomy ITF circuit in Thailand in recent weeks, climbing 169 places in the rankings.
Leo, 21, attributes it to “simple” advice he received from his father long ago.
“Since I was very young, he said, ‘it’s very simple, never stop fighting until the last point’. And that’s a very good advice, to keep fighting throughout the match and also in life outside of tennis. It’s a very simple thing, but very important.”
Amazingly, Leo had never watched a video of his father playing.
“I did watch some stuff, of course, but it’s true, I never looked up the videos or anything like that. Yeah, (it’s) funny, I know,” he said with a smile.
The youngster’s humble journey on the tennis court may also shed light on the current woes of the sport in Sweden. For Sweden is not only the land of Borg, but also the home of Zlatan.
While Leo, who played soccer until the age of 12, has no doubts about his commitment to the racket sport, his compatriots have quickly been drawn to soccer and other more lucrative sports. They lacked the courage to recover from losing the fourth set 16-18 in a tiebreaker after accumulating five match points, and go on to win the fifth set in a grand slam final.
“In my father’s time, they had a lot of great tennis players. I think they had five top-10 players. Now, the situation is completely different. We don’t have that many players in Sweden, which is a bit sad because we are a very good tennis country. I think your mentality is not so good anymore,” Leo said.
“A lot of Swedish players stop playing tennis at the age of 18-19 because they think it’s too hard to become a professional player. Of course, it’s hard, you have to fight hard to get to the top. I think our mentality has to be better.
“I think we’ve been too comfortable in our country, to reach the top. So I think we have to focus a little bit on the mental side. Yeah, that’s the most important thing, I think, or the difference, from the time.
“Tennis is not so popular in Sweden anymore, that’s not really a strange thing, unfortunately.”
If one had to characterize Leo Borg In short, that’s it.
Dealing with the pressure that comes with honoring a famous family name is one thing, and accepting that pressure and giving your best every day – to justify that praise, to earn that nickname, is perhaps another.
“It was special for me to have a father like him,” Borg said of his father, the tennis legend. Bjorn Borgduring a video call from his hometown of Stockholm on Thursday.
Sweden will host India in a World Group I match on Saturday and Sunday.
“He’s done a lot in his time, and I feel very blessed because he has all the knowledge I need to gain (from a father and a coach).
“Of course, he’s very supportive, and he’s always there for me on the tennis court and off the tennis court. He’s really the best dad. So I’m very proud of him, and he has a very special place in my heart.”
In tennis, there is no comparison between father and son.
Borg senior, now 68, led Sweden to its maiden Davis Cup triumph in 1975 at the age of just 19. If his 33 singles wins are a record in tournament history, his six French Open trophies – four of them in a row – and five consecutive Wimbledon triumphs put him on another level altogether.
Anyone, in any field, would inevitably abandon borrowed fame and the scrutiny that comes with it. Borg the junior has decided to not only play the sport, but excel at it.
Currently ranked 603, Leo climbed to 334th in the ATP rankings last year before suffering a dip in form. He has recovered some of his level and motivation by winning a title and a second place on the gloomy ITF circuit in Thailand in recent weeks, climbing 169 places in the rankings.
Leo, 21, attributes it to “simple” advice he received from his father long ago.
“Since I was very young, he said, ‘it’s very simple, never stop fighting until the last point’. And that’s a very good advice, to keep fighting throughout the match and also in life outside of tennis. It’s a very simple thing, but very important.”
Amazingly, Leo had never watched a video of his father playing.
“I did watch some stuff, of course, but it’s true, I never looked up the videos or anything like that. Yeah, (it’s) funny, I know,” he said with a smile.
The youngster’s humble journey on the tennis court may also shed light on the current woes of the sport in Sweden. For Sweden is not only the land of Borg, but also the home of Zlatan.
While Leo, who played soccer until the age of 12, has no doubts about his commitment to the racket sport, his compatriots have quickly been drawn to soccer and other more lucrative sports. They lacked the courage to recover from losing the fourth set 16-18 in a tiebreaker after accumulating five match points, and go on to win the fifth set in a grand slam final.
“In my father’s time, they had a lot of great tennis players. I think they had five top-10 players. Now, the situation is completely different. We don’t have that many players in Sweden, which is a bit sad because we are a very good tennis country. I think your mentality is not so good anymore,” Leo said.
“A lot of Swedish players stop playing tennis at the age of 18-19 because they think it’s too hard to become a professional player. Of course, it’s hard, you have to fight hard to get to the top. I think our mentality has to be better.
“I think we’ve been too comfortable in our country, to reach the top. So I think we have to focus a little bit on the mental side. Yeah, that’s the most important thing, I think, or the difference, from the time.
“Tennis is not so popular in Sweden anymore, that’s not really a strange thing, unfortunately.”
#Hes #dad #Leo #son #tennis #legend #Bjorn #Borg #Tennis #News #Times #India