2 Responses to mc83leconte_borg

1. Voo de Mar says:

   December 10, 2023 at 6:06 am

   Points won by each set: | 27-30, 47-42, 47-48 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   20 % Leconte – 26 of 126
   15 % Borg – 18 of 115

   A wooden racquet match, similarly to John McEnroe, Leconte switched to a graphite racquet (replacing his graphite wood composite, Head) later in 1983. The great Borg, an icon of the 70s, lost his motivation at the age of 25 following his US Open ’81 defeat. Nonetheless he played two more events that year, and began the year 1982 in April with a Monte Carlo quarterfinal, among some controversies because he wanted to enjoy the year just choosing specific events while the officials of the circuit (Grand Prix at the time) didn’t agree, and he was forced to enter the Monaco event as a qualifier despite being ranked no. 6! Borg was offended by this decision and spent the rest of the year taking part in exhibition events, one of them winning (Sydney), having defeated three top players, each of them in the “best of five” format. After one-year break he came back to the professional tour at Monte Carlo, announcing it would be his farewell event. “I tried my best and everything, and now it’s over,” Borg explained. “I feel good. When I wake up in the morning now, I know I don’t have to go out and practice for four or five hours.” The 27-year-old Swede, being unranked, defeated a Top 10er Clerc (6-3, 6-1) in round one, but in the second round he was surprisingly ousted by the rising star Leconte [28], twenty-year-old Frenchman, who was serving to win sets two and three leading 5:3, and led 5:1* in the tie-break, before forcing Borg’s two casual errors from 5:4 onwards. Borg, always known for his amazing mentality, hadn’t lost a three-set match like this before, being relatively close to win two consecutive sets (8 and 3 points respectively). # At the time no-one could expect that Borg, at times being virtually unbeatable, would initiate with that loss something absurd, one of the longest losing streaks in terms of matches, and absolutely the longest in terms of years.

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   December 10, 2023 at 6:38 am

   # Borg’s 14-match losing streak stretching over ten years (always as “wild card” since Stuttgart):

   Monte Carlo ’83 (2R): Leconte 6-4, 5-7, 6-7
   Stuttgart ’84: Leconte 3-6, 1-6
   Monte Carlo ’91: Arrese 2-6, 3-6
   1992
   Nice: Delaitre 5-7, 2-6
   Monte Carlo: Ferreira 6-7, 2-6
   Munich: Prpic 1-6, 0-6
   Washington: Hogstedt 4-6, 6-7
   Los Angeles: Pridham 4-6, 2-6
   Bordeaux: Medvedev 2-6, 2-6… 18-year-difference between them *
   Basel: Kulti 2-6, 1-6
   Toulouse: Roux 0-6, 4-6
   1993
   San Francisco: Oncins 4-6, 7-6, 4-6
   Zaragoza: Cunha-Silva 1-6, 7-5, 5-7
   Moscow: Volkov 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 – 1 m.p.

   Before Volkov, Borg had lost just once having a match point, it occurred at New Orleans ’79 as he succumbed to J.McEnroe 7-5, 1-6, 6-7 squandering two match points
   * The oldest player Borg defeated in his career, it was Ken Rosewall (b. 1934) in Toronto ’73, Andrei Medvedev b. 1974

   Borg has the third best W/L ratio (82.4%), without that absurd streak following Monte Carlo ’83 it would be 83.7% (Djokovic has 83.6% at the end of 2023, Nadal 82.9%)

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