John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg presented an incredible Wimbledon final forty years ago.

John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg presented an incredible Wimbledon final forty years ago.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a brief but intense rivalry between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Even though they only faced off 14 times, the two produced some of the most exciting games in sports history.

You’re not serious, can you? It seems that one of the biggest rivalry in sports has turned into a romantic relationship. Together, 66-year-old Bjorn Borg and 63-year-old John McEnroe recreated the tableau from a game that changed their lives 40 years ago. They returned to Center Court wearing identical tracksuit tops to those they wore in 1981 when McEnroe, then 22 years old, upset 25-year-old five-time Wimbledon champion Borg.

The animosity between the gregarious American McEnroe and the cool-headed Swede Borg sprang as much from their character as from their competitive nature. However, the competition between them is far from ended. While in London, they teamed up to captain opposing teams in the Laver Cup at the O2 Arena. In the three-day competition, which gets underway today, Borg leads Team Europe and McEnroe leads Team World. Between 1978 and 1981, there were 14 head-to-head matches between the renowned duo.

At the age of 24, Borg ruled the tennis world and won four consecutive championships in the summer of 1980. One obstacle, though, was the 21-year-old McEnroe, who made his debut appearance in the SW19 final following his first Grand Slam victory at the US Open. McEnroe’s easy victory in the opening set nearly instantly put tennis great Bjorn’s winning run in jeopardy. But Borg rallied and won the following two sets to seize control of the game. He witnessed McEnroe use diving volleys to save two match points in the fourth set. Even if the championship match was already set to be the most memorable for years to come, the historic Borg-McEnroe fourth set tie-break.