Word: borg
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...just as well, for by then Borg had developed the unshakable will that has become the hallmark of his game. The man who will run after every ball hit to him, refusing to concede a winning shot, was evident in the boy who listened politely to his critics?and ignored them. "When I was twelve, people told me that if I want to be successful, I must change my style, change my grip, give up this two-handed backhand. I said I would change, but I knew I wouldn't. The truth is I am a very stubborn person...
...other respect, Borg at twelve was Borg at 24: unflappable on the court, a mannerly competitor who rarely
...disputed a linesman's calls, unleashed grimaces, tossed racquets or bashed balls. "Iceborg" they called him. In an era when tennis was turning from a game of gentlefolk to a showcase for the antics of ill-mannered Nastases, petulant Connorses and adolescent McEnroes, Borg seemed right out of Boy's Life?Goody Twoshoes with a tennis racquet...
...Borg too good to be true? Maybe, but once he was too bad to believe. At eleven young Bjorn cursed like a navvy, hurled his racquet, hectored officials and bellyached over every close call. "I was crazy, a madman on the court. It was awful. Then the club I belonged to suspended me for five months, and my mother, she took my racquet and locked it in the closet. For five months, she locked up my racquet. After that I never opened my mouth again on the tennis court. Since the day I came back from that suspension, no matter...
...When Borg was 14, he started to travel extensively with a junior squad of Sweden's Davis Cup hopefuls. At 15, in his first match against a professional, he defeated New Zealand's Onny Parun, 25. A good student (4.4 average on a 5.0 scale), he left high school at age 16 to turn pro. Today he possesses one of the world's most famous lucky-charm beards, his annual Wimbledon growth, but he wasn't old enough to shave the first time someone approached him for an autograph. "I was 14 and I was so proud when they asked...