Epic: John McEnroe, Björn Borg, and the Greatest Tennis Season Ever - Hardcover

by Matthew Cronin (Author)

A top tennis writer tells the story of the greatest Wimbledon, the greatest U.S. Open, and the greatest rivalry in the history of the game

The epic 1980 Wimbledon final that ended with John McEnroe's defeat by his idol, Björn Borg, is considered the greatest tennis match ever. The U.S. Open final later that year, when McEnroe got his revenge, is considered the greatest U.S. Open ever. These two matches marked McEnroe's transformation from tennis player into an American icon, the high point of tennis's gigantic leap into the national consciousness, and the beginning of Borg's rapid and surprising decline. This book takes you back to that amazing summer at the height of the golden age of tennis.

• Includes fascinating details about John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg both on and off the court, from grueling practice sessions to late-night partying
• Packed with stories and anecdotes of top tennis players and coaches, including Vitas Gerulaitis, Mary Carillo, Lennart Bergelin, and others
• Highlights a pivotal moment in the evolution of the game?from quiet to loud, from wood to metal racquets, and from European to American dominance
• Written by veteran tennis writer and analyst Matthew Cronin

Whether you're a longtime tennis fan or a recent convert, Epic will give you a deeper understanding of the game and of two of the most amazing players ever to have played it.

Front Jacket

From the moment that normally staid British tennis fans began booing like soccer hooligans as the brash and abrasive John McEnroe entered Wimbledon's Centre Court to face off against the revered, number-one-ranked Björn Borg, it was clear that something was changing. In fact, almost everything was changing.

In Epic, tennis writer Matthew Cronin takes you on an unforgettable journey back to the pivotal year of 1980 and the two landmark matches that transformed tennis from a quiet sport to a loud one, from a mostly European pastime to an American obsession, from the exclusive preserve of the country club elite to an everyman and everywoman's game. They also marked McEnroe's emergence as a superstar and the beginning of Borg's precipitous decline.

Cronin alternates crisp, thrilling accounts of the 1980 Borg/McEnroe showdowns at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, widely considered the two greatest tennis matches in history, with insightful excursions into the lives of these two great champions both on and off the court. You'll discover how Borg's long-time coach Lennart Bergelin cured the teenage Björn of some surprisingly McEnroe-like behavior and why McEnroe's coach Harry Hopman's attempt to tame his star pupil backfired completely. You'll also witness the serious locker-room consequences of McEnroe's on-court tantrums and find out why Borg sometimes felt that he had sacrificed too much in his quest for greatness.

Apart from their mutual love of tennis, the two men emerge as polar opposites: Borg, the "Ice Man," was a pure, vintage baseliner famous for the machinelike consistency of his game. His reserved, polite, and even modest behavior epitomized what many viewed as the finest traditions of tennis. "McBrat" was a slightly crazed serve-and-volleyer whose blistering outbursts against court officials offended traditionalists but whose passion for the game attracted millions of new fans to the sport.

Complete with a touching portrait of the friendship that developed between Borg and McEnroe and a heart-stopping re-creation of their unforgettable fourth-set tiebreaker at Wimbledon, Epic is must reading for anyone old enough to remember one of the greatest rivalries in sports history or young enough to have missed it.

Author Biography

Matthew Cronin is the main tennis columnist for Fox Sports and a senior writer for "Inside Tennis" magazine. He contributes regularly to Reuters and USTA.com and appears fre-quently as a tennis analyst on radio and television stations throughout the United States and abroad. He is the main writer for TennisReporters.net, the award-winning, second-largest pro tennis site in the United States, and is a radio analyst at all the Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.