A rare Bjorn Borg interview: Saying goodbye to Laver Cup, retiring at 26 and watching his son Leo

Bjorn Borg is now going to get another opportunity to make a decent exit, after all these years have passed.

During the previous attempt, things did not go so well. For those not familiar with one of the more notorious tennis walk-offs, after Borg lost in the U.S. Open final against John McEnroe in 1981 – his third consecutive loss to McEnroe in a Slam final – he grabbed his bag, headed for the tunnel, barely stopped in the locker room as he grabbed his car keys, then headed to the parking lot and drove off, leaving everyone a bit baffled during the trophy ceremony as to why the finalist was not there.

And that was pretty much it, with the exception of two very brief unsuccessful attempts to make a comeback. Despite winning 11 Grand Slam titles, the player never competed in another Grand Slam match. In essence, he had left the game. During the month of January 1983, when he was 26 years old, he quit playing tennis.Although Borg attempted to make comebacks in the early 1990s, he was largely absent from the tennis scene for several decades. His attempts at comebacks were brief and failed. Seven years ago, he was coaching Team Europe in the Laver Cup, which was Roger Federer’s attempt to establish a tennis version of the Ryder Cup. And then, finally, there he was, sitting on the sidelines once more. McEnroe was the coach of Team World, which made for an almost ideal situation.

After this year, Borg and McEnroe will no longer be participating in the Laver Cup in their respective roles. These individuals will be replaced by Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah. Borg was prompted to offer a rare interview on his post-tennis life, the development of his son, Leo, into a professional, and what the fact that he has been able to hobnob with the finest players of this period has meant to him. His final Laver Cup gig is scheduled to take place this weekend in Berlin (September 20-22).

“So beautiful,” he said during a phone conversation that took place a month ago while he was on holiday in Ibiza, which is about as Borg as it gets, right?