sport news How Bjorn Borg ordered his coach to murder a tennis rival and he was so loyal ... trends now
As Wimbledon approaches and tennis fever builds, a new book by tennis historian CHRISTIAN HOWGILL reveals quirky facts and stories about the game...
It’s love all as passion stops playIn 2017, a match between Frances Tiafoe and Mitchell Krueger at the Sarasota Open in Florida was interrupted by the sound of a couple having extremely noisy sex in an apartment opposite the court. Even the viewers watching at home could hear the passionate cries of the couple.
As the woman’s ecstatic moans grew louder and louder, Tiafoe became so distracted that he stopped midway through his serve and shouted exasperatedly across to them: ‘It can’t be that good!’
The incident gave new meaning to the two TV pundits’ commentary, with remarks such as: ‘Is that in?’, ‘I thought it was out’ and ‘There’s nothing between these two now’.
When Bjorn Borg jokingly asked his coach to murder a rival, he simply got up to carry it out
The legendary champion Bjorn Borg remains a huge name in tennis having achieved a string of record-breaking titles. Yet few will have heard of the man behind the legend — the dedicated Sven Lennart Bergelin, who was not just Borg’s coach, friend and mentor, but also acted as his manager, physical trainer, dietician, psychologist, PA, agent and masseur. He even strung Borg’s rackets.
One night, as a joke, fellow player Vitas Gerulaitis bet Borg $1,000 that Bergelin would even kill someone if Borg ordered it. To prove him wrong, Borg played along with the prank, instructing Bergelin to take out one of his main rivals.
Bergelin nodded calmly in passive agreement, got up and headed towards the exit to carry out the task. Borg froze in horror for a moment before quickly sprinting after him and ordered him to stop.
American Frances Tiafoe (pictured this week) had to stop play because of loud sex nearby
Table tennis, or ping-pong, is a direct descendant of tennis and is thought to have been invented by landed gentry who, frustrated by the wet British weather and unable to go outside to play tennis, started knocking up on the dining-room table, using books as a net, cigar lids as bats and champagne corks as the ball.
The game became so popular that by the late 1880s manufacturers were producing box sets with specially made bats, nets and balls.
The name of ping-pong caught on due to the distinctive sound the balls make, although other contenders were flim-flam, whiff-whaff, pim-pam, bing-bang and ding-dong.
Table tennis reached new heights in the 1980s when it was officially recognised as a sport and made its debut at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
How hooligans made WimbledonWhen, in 1877, the All England Croquet Club found themselves in need of money to repair the huge cast-iron roller which kept their immaculate grass lawns flat, one member proposed a fund-raising tournament featuring a new-fangled sport that was inexplicably growing in popularity, Lawn Tennis.
Some members baulked at the idea of turning over their cherished croquet lawns to racket-wielding hooligans, but when The Field magazine agreed to sponsor the event, some of the club’s less treasured lawns at the back of the grounds were converted into tennis courts.
Wimbledon is now known as a paragon of civility and good manners - but it wasn't always
Competitors paid one guinea to enter the tournament, and the club charged spectators a penny to watch the early rounds. The price of entry rose as the tournament progressed, culminating in one shilling to watch the final, which was attended by a healthy crowd of several hundred.
The tournament not only made enough money for the club to buy a new roller, but was such a success that members agreed to hold it again the following year.
By 1882, the game was becoming so popular that The All England Croquet Club was forced to admit that the Lawn Tennis interlopers weren’t so bad after all, eventually changing its name to The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
Game, set and found a matchIn 1961 a young American player called Patricia Stewart was dumped by her boyfriend just before she set off on a tennis tour to the UK.
In a bid to improve her social life, she wrote her telephone number in bold print across her underpants and wore them under a short dress while playing at Wimbledon.
In 1961 a young player wore her phone number under her tennis dress - and a suitor called her
She was knocked out in the third round, but it worked wonders for her love life. Cricketer John Edrich called her, they went out and were married a few months later.
Marathon clash smashed recordThe infamous John Isner v Nicolas Mahut match at Wimbledon, which took place on an outside court in the first round in 2010, is the longest match in tennis history.
It was played over three days and lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Isner went on to win by 70 games to 68 in the final set. That set alone was longer than the previous record for an entire match.
Shakespeare’s in on the racketMae West is credited with one of the most famous film quotes of all time: ‘Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?’
But actually West can’t take credit for its origins — the game of tennis can. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2, Prince Henry berates his friend Poins for his sagging, peach-coloured stockings and questions him about a suspiciously large bulge in his undergarments: ‘Keepest thou a racket there?’ he asks.
Ping-Pong DiplomacyWhen an
