Borg serious about farewell

Tennis said farewell to Bjorn Borg when he was 27-years-old. After five straight Wimbledons and six straight French Opens, he realised one day in 1983 that he no longer burned for the game. At the Point this weekend people will flock to see the man and the legend, perhaps even the remains of the champion who now claims that his tennis is to be laid to rest. Dublin is one of a handful tournaments - perhaps the only - he will play this year.

At 44, there is no tragedy about Borg. His mystery remains as intact as his compact, wiry physique. They say his body has changed little in 20 years, and so it appeared in Dublin yesterday. Beside the brooding, straightbacked John McEnroe, Borg is draped across his seat. The permafrost cool is still in the eyes, the body is still clearly occupied by the athlete. Tomorrow the curious and the mournful will arrive, most of them simply to bear witness.

"II've no regrets about giving up," he says. "I was part of the tour for 11 years. I still like to play. I still love tennis. It's just a matter of travelling. I like to stay in one place.

"When the young kids ask they think it's very strange that I gave up at 27, because it was a young age to give up the game. But for 11 years I did everything in a professional way and I put everything into tennis and I've no regrets about it. "I'd fun doing it. I gave my heart. But it just came one day that I got tired of it. It was not fun."

Even now Borg prefers to duck behind the extrovert McEnroe and the court jester Henri Leconte. McEnroe, with his fizzing energy, still grabs the headlines. He's still out there beating the world, forever challenging himself. Borg's middle-age is more reflective.

He is not out on court for the money or the adrenalin rush, and the strong impression is that victory or defeat in Dublin will be met with the same knowing acceptance. His tennis matters, but it is not important.

"I'm going to be 45 this year," he says. "You have to find your direction in life and chose what you really want to do. Life in general gives me satisfaction . . . waking up and feeling good about myself . . . to be healthy . . . to enjoy what I do. Those are the important things."

After three marriages, a failed comeback and unsuccessful business ventures, Borg's direction has been both broadened and sharpened.

"I'm not going to play too many tournaments any more. If this isn't the last one, then maybe, just maybe I'll play one more this year. I've nothing on my schedule, nothing planned. I'm happy to be playing but, yeah, I'm also happy that I've nothing on my schedule," he says.

For those with tickets to see him play his first KPMG Challenge match against McEnroe tonight, don't expect to see the power or the looping top spin. He went through his comeback phase in 1991, replete with long hair, headband and, most fatally, a wooden racquet. Borg was on court but his game was still in the 1980s. "If they had to do it all over again, then maybe they would think twice," he says of modern tennis. "But it is a powerful game today. They are taller and hit the ball harder. When I watch I prefer to watch two different styles, like Agassi and Sampras. Is it better? It's hard to say."

Not as it once was. But come the weekend, the Point will be full.