Borg–Connors rivalry

The Borg–Connors rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors. They met 23 times during their careers,^[1] and 42 times including invitational and exhibition tournaments. Borg leads 15–8 in their official head-to-head, 8–5 in finals, 5–3 in Grand Slam meetings and they are 2–2 in Grand Slam finals. Connors leads 7–3 and 8–1 in invitational and exhibition matches, respectively.

In 1975 Connors met Borg in the semifinals of the U.S. Open and defeated him in straight sets, on clay. Connors defeated Borg again at the U.S. Open again in 1976, this time in a four-set final, capturing his second U.S. Open title. In 1977 they met in the Wimbledon final, and Borg won in five sets. Borg defeated Connors at Wimbledon again in the 1978 final, this time in straight sets, to claim his third straight Wimbledon title. Two months later, Connors defeated Borg at the U.S. Open in a straight-set final on a hard surface "DecoTurf II", ending Borg's 43-match winning streak. In 1979 they met at Wimbledon again, and Borg won a straight-set semifinal. In 1981, Borg defeated Connors in a five-set semifinal at Wimbledon and a straight-set semifinal at the U.S. Open, his tenth consecutive win against Connors. Soon afterwards Borg retired from the regular tour. They faced each other three times at the season-ending Masters Championship in New York City: in January 1978 (ending the 1977 season), January 1980 (ending the 1979 season) and January 1981 (ending the 1980 season). Connors won the first meeting, Borg the latter two.

Head-to-head

Legend	Borg	Connors
Grand Slam	5	3
Masters Grand Prix	2	1
ATP International Series	8	4
Total	15	8

Official matches (23)

Borg 15 – Connors 8

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Borg	Connors
1.	1973	Stockholm Open	Hard (i)	Semifinals	Borg	6–4, 3–6, 7–6^(7–2)	1	0
2.	1974	US Clay Court Championships	Clay	Final	Connors	5–7, 6–3, 6–4	1	1
3.	1975	US Open	Clay	Semifinals	Connors	7–5, 7–5, 7–5	1	2
4.	1975	Stockholm Open	Hard (i)	Semifinals	Connors	6–2, 7–6^(7–2)	1	3
5.	1976	US Pro Indoor	Carpet	Final	Connors	7–6^(7–5), 6–4, 6–0	1	4
6.	1976	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Semifinals	Connors	6–4, 6–1	1	5
7.	1976	US Open	Clay	Final	Connors	6–4, 3–6, 7–6^(11–9), 6–4	1	6
8.	1977	Pepsi Grand Slam	Clay	Final	Borg	6–4, 5–7, 6–3	2	6
9.	1977	Wimbledon	Grass	Final	Borg	3–6, 6–2, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4	3	6
10.	1977	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Final	Connors	6–4, 1–6, 6–4	3	7
11.	1978	Pepsi Grand Slam	Clay	Final	Borg	7–6^(7–1), 3–6, 6–1	4	7
12.	1978	Wimbledon	Grass	Final	Borg	6–2, 6–2, 6–3	5	7
13.	1978	US Open	Hard	Final	Connors	6–4, 6–2, 6–2	5	8
14.	1979	Pepsi Grand Slam	Clay	Final	Borg	6–2, 6–3	6	8
15.	1979	Alan King Tennis Classic	Hard	Final	Borg	6–3, 6–2	7	8
16.	1979	Wimbledon	Grass	Semifinals	Borg	6–2, 6–3, 6–2	8	8
17.	1979	Tokyo Indoor	Carpet	Final	Borg	6–2, 6–2	9	8
18.	1979	WCT Challenge Cup	Carpet	Final	Borg	6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4	10	8
19.	1979	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Round Robin	Borg	3–6, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4)	11	8
20.	1980	WCT Invitational	Carpet	Round Robin	Borg	6–3, 6–1	12	8
21.	1980	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Semifinals	Borg	6–4, 6–7^(4–7), 6–3	13	8
22.	1981	Wimbledon	Grass	Semifinals	Borg	0–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–4	14	8
23.	1981	US Open	Hard	Semifinals	Borg	6–2, 7–5, 6–4	15	8

Breakdown of their rivalry

• All matches: (23) Borg, 15–8
• All finals: Borg, 8–5
  • Clay court matches: Tied, 3–3
  • Grass court matches: Borg, 4–0
  • Indoor matches: Borg, 6–3
  • Outdoor hard court matches: Tied, 2–2
  • Grand Slam matches: Borg, 5–3
  • Grand Slam finals: Tied, 2–2
  • Masters matches: Borg, 2–1
  • Masters finals: Connors, 1–0

Other matches

Invitational matches

Borg–Connors (3–7)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score
1.	1976	Caracas	Carpet	Round Robin	Connors	6–4, 5–7, 6–3
2.	1978	Suntory Cup, Tokyo	Carpet	Final	Borg	6–1, 6–2
3.	1978	Buenos Aires	Carpet	Final	Connors	5–7, 6–3, 6–3
4.	1979	Frankfurt	Carpet	Final	Borg	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
5.	1980	Europe vs. USA, Copenhagen	Carpet	Round Robin	Connors	6–4, 6–2
6.	1980	Molson Light Challenge, Toronto	Carpet	Round Robin	Connors	7–5, 6–3
7.	1982	Michelob Light Cup, Industry Hills	Hard	Final	Connors	5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2
8.	1982	Molson Light Challenge, Montreal	Carpet	Final	Connors	6–4, 6–3
9.	1982	Challenge of Champions, Chicago	Carpet	Round Robin	Borg	6–4, 1–6, 6–2
10.	1983	Suntory Cup, Tokyo	Carpet	Final	Connors	6–3, 6–4

Exhibitions

Borg–Connors (1–8)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Winner	Score
1.	1982	Richmond	Hard	Connors	6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3
2.	1982	Ottawa	Carpet	Borg	1–6, 6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 6–2
3.	1982	Seattle	Carpet	Connors	6–4, 3–6, 7–5
4.	1982	Los Angeles	Carpet	Connors	6–3, 2–6, 6–2
5.	1982	Vancouver	Carpet	Connors	6–2, 5–7, 6–4
6.	1982	San Francisco	Carpet	Connors	7–5, 7–6^(8–6)
7.	1983	Baton Rouge	Carpet	Connors	6–7^(4–7), 6–4, 6–4
8.	1983	Providence	Carpet	Connors	6–4, 6–4
9.	1983	Seoul	Carpet	Connors	5–7, 6–1, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–3)

See also

• Borg–McEnroe rivalry
• Connors–Lendl rivalry
• Connors–McEnroe rivalry
• List of tennis rivalries

References

1. "Jimmy Connors versus Bjorn Borg". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).