Sport: The Tennis Machine

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He runs so well that he seems never to reach for a ball; he merely awaits it.

No matter where a ball is hit, it seems to have an invisible cord leading back to Borg's racquet, which is cocked to unleash a blazing passing shot.

"When I go out on the court and I sense I am playing well, I feel there is no way a guy can hit a winner, because I am going to be there. I think I can do anything with a tennis ball. It is the best feeling. Then I will try something I have never done before, and that works too. I don't really know what I'm doing out there because something strange is going on. I think I am Superman, and I start to try all kinds of things because suddenly, I know I can't miss the ball. I make an unbelievable shot, and it feels just like all the others. So then I want to show the people even more, give them these most fantastic shots that maybe they have never seen before in their lives. But I want to show them these shots because suddenly, I know I can. I cannot miss, not even one shot can I miss. It is like I am dreaming. It is wonderful."

That is what it is like to be Bjorn Borg. To have taught himself to play a game, then to grow within that game, to change it, to refine it. On rare occasions, the game within takes on a life of its own, so that fleetingly, the control of its possibilities is absolute.

That is what it is like to be young and a champion.

And this too: "I don't regret any thing in my life. I remember how I used to take the train to Stockholm every day after school to play, coming home late, studying, getting up to go to school, getting on the train again, all those years.

It has gotten results. But even if it hadn't, even if I wasn't able to become a champion, I would still know that I gave it my best shot. I tried. I got on the train and tried." —By B. J. Phillips