Word: borg
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Borg says. "The strings will break, ping, ping, ping." Mike Blanchard, 73, a tennis umpire at international competitions for five decades, has seen his share of tennis players, but he has never seen racquets like Borg's: "It's like playing with a board. The ball jumps off the racquet so fast because there's no give to it. The reason other people don't do it is they can't get control. But Borg just caresses the ball...
...keep himself in fully strung supply, Borg carries some 30 racquets to every tournament. Fortunately, he suffers from none of the superstitions of baseball players, who view damage to a favorite bat as a death in the family. Only two men in the world, one in Stockholm, the other in New York, are skilled enough to string racquets to Borg's shattering standards, so he unsentimentally packs up the ones that go ping in the night and ships them off for restringing...
...court, Borg leads a quiet, unpretentious life, especially for a multimillionaire. He and Mariana rent a one-bedroom apartment in Monte Carlo; they will continue to live there after then-marriage in Bucharest next month. "It is nice, but not fancy," she says. "We do have a balcony that overlooks the Mediterranean, and we love to eat breakfast outside when the weather is nice...
This spartan existence is as much a matter of temperament as necessity for Borg. Others may sacrifice a night on the town; Borg prefers to stay at home. "I have to sleep nine hours if I am going to feel good during a tournament," he explains. Borg gets his sleep. Recalls Arthur Ashe: "I saw Bjorn in Las Vegas and asked him if he'd had any luck at the tables. He couldn't understand why I want ed to talk about the furniture...
...Borg stokes up for tournaments on steaks, but nothing else in par ticular. He will hoist an occasional beer and en joys a glass of wine with meals, but only during those rare weeks when he is not competing...