US Open Classics: John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg, 1980 Final

The two had met earlier that year in the final of the Wimbledon and it was Bjorn Borg who came out victorious. They were to clash again in another final of another Grand Slam the same year- the US Open.

The Louis Armstrong stadium at New York’s Flushing Meadows was to witness one of the greatest matches in the history of the tournament.

1980 US Open final

Both Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were going toe to toe in the first set until Borg gained upper hand and, at one point, was serving for the set. He was on his way to pocket the first set, but the proceedings took a dramatic turn when McEnroe put up a stiff fightback, breaking Borg twice to take the set to the tie break.

McEnroe was leading 5-4 in the tie break when he decided to attack the Borg service winning two consecutive points to win the tie break 7-4, thereby winning the first set 7-6.

Losing the first set appeared to have done more damage to Borg’s concentration as the second set saw him committing all kinds of errors. Missing 14 of his 22 first serves, unforced errors and poor shot selections, Borg looked a totally different man than the one who lifted the Wimbledon trophy just a few weeks back.

The second set was dominated by McEnroe, winning it comprehensively with a 6-1 scoreline.

The third set looked like the repetition of the second set with Borg continuing his poor run of form and McEnroe dominating. At one point, McEnroe won 18 of the 24 points played while Borg was struggling with his serve, missing 12 consecutive first serves.

McEnroe looked in complete control and Borg was barely able to hold his own serve. It appeared as if the much-hyped match was turning out to be a plain one-sided match until Borg managed to gather his nerves and staged a massive fightback and took the third set to tie break.

The tie break saw Borg returning to his best self, pulling off five clean winners and ultimately took the tie break 7-5 and the set 7-6.

Winning the third set brought Borg right back into the game, much to the excitement of the crowd, who had come to witness a great match. With the crowd behind him, Borg displayed beautiful tennis. The match was starting to live up to the expectations with both players in excellent touch. After a gruelling third set, it was Borg who took the set 7-5.

The match was evenly poised with both the players having won two set each. The fifth and the final set of the match was coming up and Borg, who had won 13 consecutive fifth-set encounters, was the clear favourite.

McEnroe, on the other hand, had a gruelling semi-final against Jimmy Connors that lasted over four hours and having already played for over three hours in this match, he seemed the weaker one, at least physically. Also, he’d lost to Iceborg at Wimbledon in a humdinger of a five-set match. The mental scars must have been hovering in the young American’s mind.

The fifth set produced quality tennis from both of them and it appeared as though another tie break of the match was on its way. Then there came the final twist in the tale. Borg was serving at 3-3 when he decided to let pass a shot from McEnroe, but to his shock, it was called in.

It was apparently at this point when Borg let anger overwhelm his concentration, resulting in a double fault. Borg managed to save a break point but McEnroe, having already sensed Borg’s uneasiness, started attacking Borg’s serves and finally got the crucial break to go up 4-3 in the final set.

From there on, McEnroe just had to hold his serve and it was just a matter of time before he won the set and the match and avenge his Wimbledon loss.

The match ended with John McEnroe winning the five-set thriller 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 ,7-5, 6-4.

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