0:00:49 > 0:00:57The 1980s and '90s turned Wimbledon from a refined sport to the modern power game we see today.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Great rivalries ritualised every summer.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Technology revolutionised tennis.
0:01:03 > 0:01:10And Centre Court became a duelling ground between its greatest champions.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Each one required someone else to just help them go
0:01:14 > 0:01:18that extra stage further and be that little bit better.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Ultimately, they're better for the existence of the other.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27It becomes this benchmark. It becomes context.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35You wondered how long they could go on playing this extraordinary tennis.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38An unbelievable shot!
0:01:38 > 0:01:42I think the whole world was waiting for us to play
0:01:42 > 0:01:47and for me to play John was something special.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04By the summer of 1980, something was needed to lift our spirits.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Riots and demonstrations were a common sight around Britain
0:02:08 > 0:02:15as the country struggled with an era of austerity under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18The lady's not for turning.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25At Wimbledon, the weather reflected the mood.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29It was one of the wettest tournaments on record.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Out of the gloom, though, emerged one of the greatest ever matches.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39a drama of compelling intensity that defined two careers and changed tennis forever.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Over 30 years on, it's difficult to distinguish truth from myth.
0:02:47 > 0:02:53But when Bjorn Borg sank to his knees at 6:11 on the 5th of July, 1980,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55tennis had become a modern sport -
0:02:55 > 0:02:59celebrity-driven, youthful and glamorous.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I think we did a lot for tennis in general.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10The interest, the impact of our match not only here at Wimbledon but all over the world.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17As the first tennis rock star, Borg led the way.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23He was a symbol of the flower power generation, attracting a new, young audience
0:03:23 > 0:03:27to the conservative confines of the All England Club.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Wimbledon prefers to keep things,
0:03:31 > 0:03:37for the most part, relatively low key. And Borg shook it up without a doubt.
0:03:37 > 0:03:44Suddenly you had screaming girls hammering on the side of the court, clamouring for this guy.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50But Borg's personality didn't match his looks. He was reserved, boring even,
0:03:50 > 0:03:56but he just kept winning - four straight Wimbledon titles coming into the '80 final.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02And that's it!
0:04:02 > 0:04:08Borg? My favourite tennis player of all time. The cool Swede would waddle in with the big shoulders
0:04:08 > 0:04:15and the little waist, with the headband, say nothing and then beat everybody to a pulp.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25I think those who used to sit at home on men's and women's final day,
0:04:25 > 0:04:31it was perceived that Wimbledon was watched by perhaps mothers and fathers and grandparents,
0:04:31 > 0:04:37suddenly it was watched by kids leaping up and down looking at this kid with long, blond hair
0:04:37 > 0:04:40who was this new sensation.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47It was only when a true rebel, a New Yorker through and through with plenty to say for himself,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52appeared across the net did Borg's character gain the contrast it so badly needed.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57- Play a let?- The call came before the ball was played.- He never called it!
0:04:57 > 0:05:03He would just go crazy. You knew he was going to lose it at some point.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09- He never said anything.- He called a fault.- He just went like that. - And he called a fault.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14- Play a let.- 'Most people found his behaviour objectionable when he was a young man,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16'the way he would query decisions'
0:05:16 > 0:05:22and argue with officials and stamp his foot as if only he mattered.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Mr McEnroe, you are getting a public warning. Now please play on.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29CHEERING
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Keep your mouth shut out there.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I'd like the referee out here.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41Fans were often very conflicted in their feelings. They loved how he performed.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43but not always the behaviour,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47'so they were very torn, but he could win them back with his play.'
0:05:49 > 0:05:56He was a beautiful player to watch. That service motion, the serve and volley game. Just spectacular.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00An incredibly talented guy with hands like butter.
0:06:00 > 0:06:07The most beautiful volleys. No one could make anyone's hands softer than McEnroe at the net.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12As 2pm approached on finals day in 1980,
0:06:12 > 0:06:18the world had been drawn into the drama. Their contrasts in personality made a perfect rivalry.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23The ice-cool favourite versus the hothead challenger.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26To play John was something special
0:06:26 > 0:06:32because we played a lot of times previous before the final and they were all very close matches.
0:06:32 > 0:06:39So I was looking forward to playing him and I knew that John wanted to beat me really badly.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50I figured that my game was well-suited to play his at Wimbledon,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52so I was very excited about it.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55I felt like... My time had come.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07And so it seemed as McEnroe took the opening set 6-1
0:07:07 > 0:07:09in just 26 minutes.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19That's it. That's the first set.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Tennis, it is said, is like boxing without gloves
0:07:31 > 0:07:37and, just like the boxing ring, great rivalries lift the sport into the realms of theatre,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41allowing character to be revealed and narrative to be built.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45There is no bigger stage than finals day on Centre Court.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50In the early years, rivalries were good-natured,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55wrapped up in sportsmanship and the etiquette of the day.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Times soon changed.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03Tennis, I think, is special in that it is single-armed combat.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08It's one against one and your technique against the other player's.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13It's also your mental strength against the other player's mental strength
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and your ability to rise to the occasion when it demands.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24It helps if they have contrasting styles. If they're the two best players, all the better.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26They raise the bar for each other.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29You need that other player to push you.
0:08:29 > 0:08:37You need that benchmark. If you just win every match, people say, "He didn't have any competition."
0:08:37 > 0:08:44Ultimately, they're better for the existence of the other. It gives their greatness some context.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56In the women's game, another rivalry was also flourishing.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Five times Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert met in a Wimbledon final
0:09:01 > 0:09:08and five times Navratilova came out on top, with Evert twice overcoming her rival in semi-finals.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Like Borg and McEnroe, they were perfect foils
0:09:13 > 0:09:17and, like a good novel, a new chapter unfolded each high summer.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23With Chris, I felt it was my match to win or my match to lose.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27I was more in control, but still Chris was so good
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and would not give you anything.
0:09:30 > 0:09:37I knew I had to really keep my cool and keep it together because she was not going to give it at all.
0:09:39 > 0:09:45Navratilova's fitness, determination and power would take the game to a new level in the 1980s.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50Her nine singles titles is still a record to this day.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55She changed people's attitudes towards her in so many ways
0:09:55 > 0:10:01and conquered so many demons and won here with a style I wish we saw more players playing today.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06But the emotion of her on Centre Court, it did something to her.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Navratilova's dominance was challenged by Steffi Graf,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16but although they met in three successive finals, Graf winning two,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20the mantle had already passed on. Graf won seven titles,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25but never found a rival to question her supremacy on Centre Court.
0:10:31 > 0:10:37In the second set of the 1980 final, Borg began to play like the champion once more.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47But McEnroe stood firm.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Borg was in trouble at four-all. He saved some break points.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02He was teetering on the brink. He did not want to see a two-set lead.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06He managed to squeak the set out 7-5 after he could well have lost it 6-4.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17That was important. There's a huge difference between 1-1 and 2-0.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Both players knew it and I think it carried Borg
0:11:20 > 0:11:25- through the third set very comfortably.- Now on level terms,
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Borg's experience on Centre Court began to show, taking the third set 6-3.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35If the 1980 final marked the start of a new era of celebrity,
0:11:35 > 0:11:41it also marked the beginning of the end of an era of artistry, guile and grace.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53Just five years later, a teenager from West Germany took the game by storm.
0:11:53 > 0:12:00When unseeded Boris Becker won the first of his three Wimbledon singles titles, he was just 17,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02the youngest ever.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08But the clue to the real impact Becker made on the game came in his nickname - Boom Boom.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Game and first set...
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Now you say, "That was Boom Boom? That's not so big,"
0:12:15 > 0:12:20but at the time he had this sort of hulking physique, the big serve...
0:12:20 > 0:12:24In some ways, his game was tailored to Wimbledon.
0:12:24 > 0:12:30I think he filled young people with confidence that here was a kid, 17...
0:12:30 > 0:12:33You think of 17-year-olds nowadays.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38Could a 17-year-old now go out and win Wimbledon? I don't think so.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Armed with one of a new generation of graphite racquets,
0:12:44 > 0:12:51Becker transformed the sport into the power game we see today. For tennis, there was no turning back.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01For close to 100 years, players made do with wooden racquets strung with catgut.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07New-fangled designs came and went, but it was still about the craftsman and not the tools.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13The global growth of the game brought new commercial opportunities for racquet manufacturers
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and new materials were tried and tested.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Jimmy Connors embraced a steel racquet in the '70s,
0:13:24 > 0:13:29whilst John McEnroe employed a composite version in the early '80s.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37The quantum leap came soon after with the introduction of over-sized graphite racquets
0:13:37 > 0:13:40and man-made strings.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Stronger, yet lighter, and wielding a bigger sweet spot,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52players could hit harder and more freely.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55There were big implications for the whole game,
0:13:55 > 0:14:02not least for Wimbledon where the fast grass surface already favoured the power players.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Something had to be done to maintain the balance between power and touch.
0:14:12 > 0:14:19The speed of the balls was reduced and many believe the courts were slowed, too.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25I think if you ask the players, the players will tell you that the court is definitely slower
0:14:25 > 0:14:30than it was 10 years ago. I've heard players say it's slower than the French.
0:14:30 > 0:14:37We've never tried to slow the courts down, but what we have done is change the grasses over the years.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43People have said that slowed the courts down. What's happened is it's made the bounce a little bit higher.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45So if the ball's coming through
0:14:45 > 0:14:51a few inches higher, then it gives the players more opportunity to return it.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01The fact is that everybody now, because of the racquet technology,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05plays the same on every surface.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10It's not just grass. When they come here to play the short grass court period,
0:15:10 > 0:15:16they come with their strokes honed on hard court and clay court play.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Whether it be the racquet, strings, balls or the grass,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26a player's movement has changed drastically from attacking the net
0:15:26 > 0:15:30to counter-attacking from the baseline today.
0:15:30 > 0:15:36So good are ground strokes that the volley has all but disappeared, a fact mourned by many.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44We've had Wimbledon finals where the winner hasn't got to the net except to shake hands.
0:15:44 > 0:15:50I think something's missing, something's deficient when you can win without hitting a volley.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58Equipment technology would significantly affect rivalries in the 1980s and '90s.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg brought almost identical serve and volley games to Centre Court
0:16:03 > 0:16:08for three successive finals, Edberg edging out the trilogy by 2 to 1.
0:16:10 > 0:16:16Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi developed a worldwide rivalry which was never fulfilled at Wimbledon.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Before the balls and supposedly the grass were slowed down,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28with the balance still in favour of the serve/volleyer,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Sampras prospered, winning Wimbledon a record seven times.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38Game, set and match, Sampras. Three sets to love - 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Six games all. - CROWD CALL OUT
0:16:47 > 0:16:52Quiet, please. The tie break now comes into operation.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Two sets to one to Borg in the 1980 final.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03The fourth set would go into a tie break. THE tie break. The greatest of all time.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12McEnroe continued to serve and volley superbly.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18But Borg's ground strokes were as precise as ever.
0:17:26 > 0:17:286-5 to Borg
0:17:28 > 0:17:31and match point to the Swede.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35Oh!
0:17:36 > 0:17:39However he got there, I don't know!
0:17:41 > 0:17:47It was just the beginning of a tie break that would continue to ebb and flow.
0:18:00 > 0:18:07I did feel like during that tie breaker it was becoming something that was going to be really special.
0:18:07 > 0:18:14It seemed like there was a lot of points that ended with winners and the crowd was really into it.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19It just had this magical moment you don't feel that often.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Championship point number four.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28Borg, on match point, during that tie breaker, lunged and fell
0:18:28 > 0:18:32on a backhand volley. If he had made that volley, he'd have won the match
0:18:32 > 0:18:38and been ten feet in front of me. I'd have had the entire stadium and all the crowd reacting.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43It would have been just in my face. But he misses the point.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47It was as if both men were feeding off each other, cajoling, pushing,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49lifting each other to new heights.
0:18:49 > 0:18:57For 20 minutes, Borg and McEnroe produced tennis of verve and artistry rarely seen.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Every other point was set point
0:19:03 > 0:19:07or championship point. It went back and forth like that.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12And every point was won. These guys were playing fabulous tennis.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14It wasn't like anybody was choking.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26If this were a heavyweight boxing contest, they'd stop the fight.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33'I used to make notes on my pad that I'd devised for scoring'
0:19:33 > 0:19:39and it was very difficult to keep track of all the match points and set points.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44I would press the button to cut the microphone and say,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48"Did I get that right? Was that the sixth match point?"
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Oh, what a marvellous volley! It's in.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Oh, my God.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05This is the greatest match that's ever been played. You're watching it.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09You're right here. You know, you're right here.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And that tie break just goes on and on.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16And nobody loses any points. Every point is a winner.
0:20:16 > 0:20:23- 15-all.- McEnroe saved five match points to add to the two saved earlier in the set.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29- An unbelievable shot! - While Borg saved six set points,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32before McEnroe seized the moment.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39You just wondered how long the players could go on playing this extraordinary level of tennis.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44Until suddenly Borg missed a volley on set point.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Yes!
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Two sets all!
0:20:52 > 0:20:57You'd have thought the roof of Centre Court was going to blow off.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01The cheers for making it two sets all were just extraordinary.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10When it was over, I thought, "There's no way I can lose now."
0:21:10 > 0:21:14I thought the guy has got to let down. This is it now.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Well, now this final has become an absolute classic.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24Deep inside, I thought definitely I'm going to lose this match.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28I was so disappointed and... mad with myself
0:21:28 > 0:21:35that how could I lose this match? I was thinking that way, even with one more set to play.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Game, Miss Serena Williams.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49Wimbledon has known other rivalries since. In the women's game, the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54are almost too close to share a court competitively.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have enjoyed three epic finals,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03the last of them at least as gripping as Borg and McEnroe
0:22:03 > 0:22:07and possibly of greater quality from first to last.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15I think if you asked Roger Federer if he would be the player he is were it not for Nadal
0:22:15 > 0:22:21and asked Nadal the same, they'd say they needed each other to raise their game higher.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27I think the same would be true of Navratilova and Evert, of Borg and McEnroe.
0:22:27 > 0:22:34Each one required someone else to help them go just that extra stage further
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and be that little bit better.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Perhaps because of the passing of time, a longing for a bygone age,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47nothing seems to eclipse the 1980 final.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51After losing the fourth set in such a dramatic way,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54many thought Borg was gone.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Starting the fifth set,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I remember walking out to serve.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07And I knew that it was crucial to hold serve in the first game.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11But still I was thinking about the tie breaker.
0:23:11 > 0:23:18But then it became that I could relax. I didn't know what I was thinking - I was just playing.
0:23:18 > 0:23:25And, funnily enough, that was probably the most relaxing set I played over the five sets.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32Such was the fortitude of the man that Borg would lose just two points on his serve
0:23:32 > 0:23:35the rest of the match.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41Seven games to six up, a record fifth straight victory was almost his.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47That's it!
0:23:49 > 0:23:54Cue the most iconic celebration in Wimbledon history.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05Even today, people around the world, they remember the match.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Some people come up, you know,
0:24:08 > 0:24:14telling both me and John what a great tie breaker. They have no idea who won it.
0:24:14 > 0:24:21They remember we played a tie break and that's a nice match to remember, I think, both for me and John.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Of course, someone's got to lose, but in a sense
0:24:26 > 0:24:31I can look at my kids in the eye and say that made me a better player and a better person.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36I was more respected because of that, the excitement of the tie breaker,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41being part of one of the great matches in tennis history.
0:24:52 > 0:24:59McEnroe would end Borg's reign a year later with the first of his three singles titles.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Borg retired aged 26.
0:25:02 > 0:25:09He made one comeback and did not return to Wimbledon again until the Millennium celebrations.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16McEnroe, who was initially refused membership of the All England Club because of his behaviour,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19is no longer Superbrat.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28The 1980 final is a tribute to an era which saw some of Wimbledon's greatest rivalries
0:25:28 > 0:25:30and its most dominant players.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Few thought the game on grass could be bettered so soon,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40but greatness cannot be confined so neatly to place and time.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44A brilliant new champion was just a heartbeat away.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2011
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk