Word: borg
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John McEnroe knew he couldn't afford to waste energy on whining and racquet throwing. He said so himself after he had beaten Bjorn Borg and carried off the Wimbledon crowns "I know I need every ounce of me to beat him," So he spared himself and the millions watching him any tantrums and played tennis as well as it can be played on a grass court. He defeated the man who had won 41 straight matches before English royalty and who just missed his sixth consecutive Wimbledon championship...
...Little Johnnie did some fast growing up. He channelled his anger into two crushing serves-two quick points, and the score was suddenly deuce. Twice more in the same game Borg reached set point. Twice more McEnroe drove him to the canvas backdrop with twisting, slicing serves. He won the set in a tie-breaker and cruised confidently through the final ten games to round out his 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 triumph...
That display of steely composure and courageous tennis illustrated the greatness John McEnroe possesses, if anyone had any questions before the match. True, he didn't have a very tough time getting to the final, but McEnroe beat the world's best on a day when Borg was playing as well as he could. As the Swede said afterwards, it was a matter of a few big points, those points in the third set and several others, the ones Borg always walks away with, the ones McEnroe boldly grabbed Saturday afternoon...
...single win, even on Centre Court in the Wimbledon final, will transform McEnroe into the world's champion player. He will have to overcome Borg many times in the future before he can say that he tops the rankings. Moreover, no one example of praiseworthy self-control, even graciousness, will erase the memory of McEnroe's performance in the semi-finals, throughout the tournament, and in the past. McEnroe should be forced to pay all of the fines he has been threatened with, including the most recent suggestion of a $10,000 contribution to the All-England Club Kitty. Perhaps...
Supermanager Mark McC or mack, 50, already has a locker room full of sports clients on the order of Tennis Ace Bjorn Borg, 25, Golfer Arnold Palmer, 51, and former Heavyweight Champ Muhammad Ali, 39. Now his Cleveland-based International Management Group has taken on a client of an even higher order: Pope John Paul II. McCormack is not seeking aftershave endorsements for the Pontiff, but he will try to make sure that the British Catholic Church will not lose money on John Paul II's visit to England, Scotland and Wales next spring. McCormack will take...