High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and the Untold Story of Tennis's Fiercest Rivalry

by Stephen Tignor

“A book full of aces....A true page-turner.”
— Associated Press “This is good stuff, and it’s written with flair.”
— The Oregonian High Strung by Stephen Tignor is the gripping untold story of the fiercest rivalry in the history of professional tennis. Viewed through the lens of the fabled 1981 U.S. Open match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, High Strung brings the golden age of tennis vibrantly alive once more. A fascinating chronicle that orbits around the four greatest, most enigmatic talents in the sport at the time—McEnroe, Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Vitas Gerulaitis— High Strung is a superior sports history, a must read for anyone who truly loves the game.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Biography, Business, Biography Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 2011

Reviews

[Balachander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic yarn of the 70s & 80s tennis tour. Though billed primarily as an account of the rivalry between the iceman Bjorn Borg & the mercurial John Mc.Enroe, it also covers the history if the sport, the gradual change of tennis as a game for aristocrats to a game for fun loving, hard playing (& hard partying) amateurs (the Aussies living up to this description the best) to the early days of the modern professional era to the end of the wooden raquets to the beginning of the power game (started by Ivan Lendl & honed to perfection by the Beckers, Agassis and Samprases) . This is a book that covers it all. Written always in a casual, appealing style & peppered with anecdotes old and new about players like Conners, Nastase, Gerulaitis, Lendl, this is a book guaranteed to appeal to tennis buffs. Many thanks to Narendra Bharathi who got me the book :-)

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of fascinating stories about the late 70s and early 80s in tennis as well as the broader context of tennis history in which they occurred. It often strayed away from the rivalry for long periods of time, which almost led to me giving it three stars, but those digressions were interesting, so I'm going with four. It is a bit misleading to say that this book is about the rivalry between McEnroe and Borg when it is really about men's tennis from about '78 through '81, which happened to be dominated by Borg and McEnroe. There are so many colorful characters in this book and fantastic details that bring them alive. Definitely more for tennis fans, but this tale of a sport finding its way not too long after transitioning from amateur to pro could appeal to anyone interested in history or the commercialization of sports.

[Jovi Ene · Rating 4 out of 5]

McEnroe. Borg. Dar nu numai ei. Aflăm amănunte interesante inclusiv despre Năstase, Connors, Gerulaitis, ba chiar despre primii pași ai lui Lendl sau Becker.
Cartea se învârte însă în jurul primilor doi și a celor mai mari meciuri jucate unul împotriva altuia, de la Wimbledonul din 1980 până la US Open-ul din 1981.
Erau anii de aur ai tenisului, când rachetele erau de lemn, serviciu-vole era standardul, iar regulile nu erau așa de stricte și pe alocuri insipide. Năstase, Connors și McEnroe făceau show pe terenuri, nimeni nu prea îi sancționa, pentru că ei aduceau spectatorii și banii.
Imediat după fiecare capitol, ți se face poftă de meciuri de demult, iar pentru cei care nu i-au văzut în acțiune (printre ei, și eu) rămâne uimitor felul cum jucau și pasiunea din fiecare schimb.

[Hundeschlitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Nastase, Gerulaitis: They were a cast of characters, and each of them had a different idea about how the game should be played. Tignor captures not just the personalities and the strategems of the various players, but the feel of the era and why these matches have taken on a kind of timelessness. I really enjoyed this book. It's a breezy read and a lot of fun.

[Douglas Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professional tennis in the 1970s always has been the perfect subject for a book. You’ve got jet-setting athletes, disco, cocaine, short-shorts, sideburns and a newly freewheeling attitude about sex. How could you go wrong?

There is a problem, however. A lank-haired Swede named Bjorn Borg dominated this so-called "Golden Age" of tennis. Awed observers called him The Viking God, and while the moniker fit, it wasn’t enough to make him interesting. It was always his absence -- his inward focus that emitted no light -- that defined him.

Whenever I meet a tennis fan who loves Borg -- and it happens not infrequently -- I want to ask, "But ... why?" Maybe it’s a cultural thing. In America, personality always has counted as much as talent. John McEnroe was obnoxious on court, often flat-out reprehensible, but I’m never surprised to meet people who love the guy. Americans -- and so American advertisers, too -- can’t get enough of the "Up yours!" attitude. As Stephen Tignor writes in High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and the Untold Story of Tennis’ Fiercest Rivalry, shoe company pioneer Phil Knight "didn’t want to associate Nike simply with winners; he wanted athletes who fit the company’s image of defiant individuality, people who broke the rules and still won." McEnroe was one of the first big-name athletes to go up on a Nike billboard.

Tignor hasn’t been alone in his pursuit of Tennis Past. Matthew Cronin has just brought forth Epic: John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and the Greatest Tennis Season Ever.

Two books about The Viking God and McBrat? Yes indeed. The Borg-McEnroe rivalry is bigger than all of us, which isn’t an unqualified good. Sports writers have spent the past three decades overselling it, working it and its participants over into myth. Tignor and Cronin are no exceptions.

Borg, Tignor writes, "was one of those rare athletes who changed the nature of his sport single-handedly -- or, in his case, double-handedly." He did this by popularizing the two-handed backhand and by staying back on the baseline rather than rushing the net at every opportunity. Cronin insists that the Borg-McEnroe rivalry "is largely responsible for the U.S. tennis boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when everyone from clumsy kids to suburban moms and baseball-loving dads picks up rackets and floods private clubs and public parks."

One James Scott Connors, who used a two-handed backhand and preferred working from the baseline, probably would take exception with those statements. He was a star before Borg, after all. And his obliteration of the Old Guard pros in 1974 pushed a lot of defiant American individuals out onto tennis courts for the first time.

Yet both of these books share a belief that Connors was nothing more than a scenery-chewing supporting player during pro tennis’ Golden Age. Reading Epic and High Strung, back to back, brings home just how far Jimbo’s stock has fallen in recent years. In the 1970s, let’s remember, Connors was omnipresent on the cultural radar -- a crude, strutting, floppy-haired danger to America’s children. Said Connors at the time: "I like my image. I’m a louse. But if you’re going to be a louse, I say be a good one."

Jimbo definitely was a good louse, a memorable louse. But that was then.

Part of his fall can be chalked up to the power of marketing. Borg is Borg, as his claycourt rival Adriano Panatta once said. He is the eternal mystery. People always will be drawn to the unknown. And McEnroe, for all his obnoxiousness on court, is quite likable (in a look-at-me kind of way) off court. He’s built up a lot of good will through his 15-plus years of TV commentating.

Connors, on the other hand, never played the self-promotion game -- or, to be more exact, he never played it well. Though he became a crowd favorite during his playing days, he alienated a lot of tennis insiders along the way. If Jimmy didn’t like you, you knew it. And he didn’t like a lot of people. Here’s Andre Agassi in his bestselling memoir, Open, relating an early-career match against Connors:

"The crowd wants Connors to defy the odds, and Father Time, and I’m standing in the way of that dream scenario. Each time they cheer I think: Do they realize what this guy is like in the locker room? Do they know what his peers say about him? Do they have any concept of how he responds to a friendly hello?"

The lesson here: It pays to play office politics. Connors didn’t, and so all of the professional chatter about the great ’70s rivalries excludes him. It’s all Borg v. McEnroe, and Chris Evert (once Connors’ fiancee) v. Martina Navratilova (who once played against Connors in a weak reprise of the Battle of the Sexes). Never mind that Connors beat Borg three times at the U.S. Open -- including twice on Borg’s beloved clay! Never mind that the 1982 Wimbledon final, when the aging, underdog Connors upset World No. 1 McEnroe, is more thrilling than the far more acclaimed Borg-McEnroe clash the year before.

Connors and Borg played an amazing, instant-classic five-set Wimbledon final in 1977. Four years later they went the distance again at Wimbledon, this time in the semifinals, a fight to the finish that the overwhelmed press called "a banquet for the Gods." No one seems to remember those epic matches now.

The judgment of history can be rough, man.

To my preteen eyes in the early ’80s, Connors was the quintessential American hero, brash and ballsy and sly, far more appealing than the icy Borg or the whiny McEnroe. He was tennis' Cool Hand Luke, the stubborn, misunderstood rebel.

In retrospect, of course, I can also see that Connors was rather ridiculous. His attempts to keep up with the comic hijinks of his doubles partner, Ilie Nastase, consistently fell flat, for Jimbo just wasn’t funny. Nastase could make the gallery laugh with a look. Connors had to resort to miming masturbation with his racket to get the crowd’s attention back.

Connors never quite fit in, and it bothered him. Once Borg had definitively surpassed him, Jimbo’s famous pronouncement that he would chase the Swede "to the ends of the earth" was less a tough-guy promise than a desperate cry for help. There was in Connors an inherent insecurity, all wrapped up in macho-man denial, that makes him a melancholic figure. At 16, he relocated from working-class Belleville, Illinois, to Los Angeles to work with Pancho Segura, who was the pro at a swank country club dominated by the movie colony. Noted Connors about those days: "The movie stars were coming out to see me. I must have been somebody myself."

In High Strung, the short chapter about Connors taking on the world at the U.S. Open in 1977 and ’78, when New York was reeling from looting and Billy Martin and the Son of Sam, crackles with electricity. The longer chapters about the Borg-McEnroe face-offs in 1980 and ’81 are gloomy by comparison. Borg simply sucks the life out of the room.

McEnroe does his best to fill the void, and the New York backdrop for the U.S. Open helps. These are the falling-apart years in America. All of the norms that had begun to come unscrewed in the ’60s finally exploded into a million pieces in the next decade. Both Tignor and Cronin fix on McEnroe as the embodiment of this social upheaval. They lean hard on the McEnroe-as-Holden Caulfield angle, first posited (I believe) by journalist Tim Adams. It’s a compelling meme, but I never quite bought into it. It’s too pat for the complex, intelligent Johnny Mac. And besides, Holden wanted to save the kids from going over the cliff; McEnroe only ever wanted to save himself.

Nike, NBC, pal Mary Carillo and Johnny Mac himself have worked hard over the years to explain away his vicious on-court outbursts. The nastiness comes from his perfectionism and his hatred of phoniness, they say. They insist you really should like him. But it’s still not easy. As Ben Vereen says of Bob Fosse’s alter ego in All That Jazz, which was released the same year McEnroe won his first U.S. Open: "This cat allowed himself to be adored but not loved." McEnroe decided he was too good to be a fan favorite. If he couldn’t be a teen heartthrob like Borg -- and he knew he couldn’t -- then he would take pride in the crowd getting behind his opponent. Because then he could shut them up.

Of course, while you might not be able to like Superbrat, you also can’t turn away from him. Which is why he’s a featured player in two new books. He’s a Big Personality. Inevitably, he becomes the kaleidoscope through which we see every other player of the era. Tignor describes Ivan Lendl as "the anti-McEnroe in every sense." To Cronin, "Nastase was McEnroe before McEnroe was McEnroe."

One of the best things about both books is that, while they give too much credit to Borg and McEnroe as culture-changers, they’re not monomaniacal about the rivalry. Tignor and Cronin realize that it didn’t exist in a vacuum. As a result, you’ll put down either of these books with a new appreciation for Nastase, of all people. And for that you’ll be thankful. The clownish, mercurial Romanian was the first "world number one" spit out by the computer, in 1973, but he was much more -- and much less -- than his on-court results. Like Connors and McEnroe, Nasty needed to act out on court to feel alive. But unlike Connors and McEnroe, he could actually admit to himself that he cared what others thought of him. From High Strung:

"During his 1972 U.S. Open final with Arthur Ashe, Nastase said that when he was behind two sets to one and the crowd was booing him -- he’d given them the finger and hit a ball at a linesman -- he spotted one man in the audience who desperately wanted him to win, and who was suffering with him on every point. It was enough to inspire Nastase to come back. 'He changed my life,' he recalled, 'but I never met him.'"

Just two years later, an out-of-shape Nastase had grown bored with the constant travel of a tennis professional, bored with the meaningless sex of a jet-setting celebrity (not that he stopped partaking in it). And now the game was changing in ways he simply could not abide. At the Italian Open in 1974, writes Cronin in Epic, "Nastase could do very little as Borg mocked the tricks he had in his bag. 'Borg plays like a pawnbroker,' Nastase said. 'He never gives points away.' " For Nastase, possibly more talented than Borg but constitutionally profligate with that talent, losing to the stone-faced teenager was a turning point. The fun was gone. Tennis was all business now.

It’s kind of a shame that these two similar books had to come out right on top of one another, rather than, say, five years apart. Tennis is a niche sport in the U.S., and so publishers don't consider it an easy sell. If High Strung and Epic cannibalize each other’s sales, we might see even fewer books about tennis in the future than we do now. On the other hand, maybe the books’ inevitable rivalry, like the one between Borg and McEnroe, will bring more attention to them than they would have achieved on their own.

So which one is better? Which book is the must-have?

Each book has its own merits -- and weaknesses. Tignor loves the larger-than-life silliness of the era and its personalities. He gleefully relates the various insults hurled at McEnroe by Old Guard scolds. ("The worst advertisement for our values since Al Capone," the New York Times wrote about the young, potty-mouthed Johnny Mac.) He revels in Borg’s groupie problem. (A man on his honeymoon tried to get the 19-year-old Borg to be his sex gift to his new wife, forcing the tennis star to flee, mumbling, "Sorry, but I don’t do it with married women.") He brings the effervescent, party-hearty Vitas Gerulaitis vividly to life, making us lament the tameness of the careerist professionals who are presently hitting fuzzy yellow balls for pay.

This is good stuff, and it’s written with flair. In fact, it made me want even more. There is the outline here for a great Me Decade cultural history, with the Borg-McEnroe rivalry as the fulcrum, but Tignor shies away from looking beyond the insular world of high-stakes tennis. High Strung seems to be noodling with a "things will never be the same again" theme, but, with the book holding steady on the era's top players and their world, it never quite takes shape.

It's probably not fair to complain that an author didn't succeed at something he never had any intention of attempting, so now I'll offer up a legitimate gripe. At the end of this thoughtful, entertaining work, Tignor rumbles deep into music-swelling, Chariots of Fire territory in his recreation of Borg and McEnroe’s climactic showdown in the 1981 U.S. Open final. He tightly links Borg’s abandonment of tournament tennis at season’s end to McEnroe’s brilliant play that day in New York, giving barely a nod to the myriad pressures and frustrations in Borg’s life that had nothing to do with John McEnroe. And incredibly, Tignor blames McEnroe’s losses at the next year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open (to Connors and Lendl, respectively) on Borg’s early retirement. "His missing rival," Tignor writes, "haunted him." This is pure McEnroe myth-making of the worst sort.

Epic, with its straightforward but revealing portraits of Borg and McEnroe, stays more grounded than High Strung. Unfortunately, being earthbound is also its problem. Cronin’s prose is consistently, sometimes painfully, clunky. (Example: "After nearly two weeks of play, Centre Court is badly beaten up, resembling the pockmarked face of an aging Central Park hot dog vendor who has just battled twelve hours of heat and crowds during a Billy Joel concert.") Such writerly straining proves distracting, especially in the descriptions of matches. It's made worse by some inexplicable copy-editing failures. (Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976, not 1977.) And yet these are not fatal blows. The reason: Epic’s saving grace is its unexpectedly human depiction of the "Ice Borg." Cronin takes us, step by step, through Borg's hollowed-out childhood and relentlessly focused tennis career. When you come upon the 15-year-old Borg, already a workaholic, telling his coach he worries that "if I leave [tennis] for five minutes it will all break down," you’ll hope the next sentence describes the coach pulling young Bjorn into a fatherly hug. It doesn’t.

Whether we like it or not, everything comes back to the boring, blank-eyed Swede. Except it turns out he isn't quite as boring as you might think. He is a strange dude, to be sure, a man-child living in a bubble. But by zeroing in on details -- why the famously stoic champion would scream at his coach and girlfriend after matches; why the rally king viewed his return of serve as key to his success at Wimbledon -- Cronin shows us how tennis’ first Frankenstein’s monster was assembled.

What’s most striking about these two distinct, heartfelt books is how they both capture a mood of fear and discomfort at the heart of tennis’ glory days. For years, the final word on Jimmy Connors was that he needed to hate his opponent to beat him. For Borg and McEnroe, it was more complicated. They had to hate themselves.

Grades:
Epic: C
High Strung: A-

[Mell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read books about sports or athletes (I might have a grant total of 3, ever), so thanks to the Summer Challenge for suggesting.

I loved watching tennis as a kid and into my teens. Back when we had just 4 or 5 channels *total* on TV {oh, the dark ages}, Wimbledon took up a huge amount of time on NBC. Grand Slam final matches dominated weekend viewing hours.

I really enjoyed this book. Tignor keeps it moving and interesting as he paints a fairly detailed picture about Borg, McEnroe, the tennis industry, and many of their rivals. It was interesting to read about both of them in context of the changing circuit (from amateur to pro, right before their time), the evolving game (some of the last pros to use wooden racquets), and the expanding field as they moved from young upstarts to seasoned vets. I never watched Borg play live-he had retired before I was old enough to really follow tennis.

Purists should take note that the book dedicates a significant number of chapters to some of McEnroe and Borg's colleagues/rivals: Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl (less so), and Vitas Gerulaitis. I enjoyed these side trips, especially since these players were all legends by the time I followed tennis right before the mid 1980s. But others who read for more detail on the title players could be disappointed.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I discuss my love of pro tennis with a skeptical listener -- which is basically any time I discuss it with anyone -- I try with minimal success to explain why it's unquestionably the most interesting major sport. I should just hand them a copy of this book, which poetically captures the game's compelling grandeur, its inherent sadness, the weird fluidity of its generations (Federer played Agassi, who played Connors, who was already a veteran by the time Borg and McEnroe emerged, etc.), and the importance of this specific rivalry to the Open Era's early history.

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1980 mens tennis final at Wimbledon felt like a movie. Two competitors were the opposite. One was mature, cool - Borg. The other young, brash, impatient - McEnroe. Both would be utter legends in the game. This books begins with the 1980 Wimbledon final, victory for Borg and ends with the 1981 US Open final, McEnroe's victory and Borg's last grand slam match. The book was highly entertaining, and also delves into the tennis careers of Vitas Gerulaitis and Jimmy Connors. I will be reading this book many times in the future.

[Russ Maile · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter of this book is very interesting to me. Bjorn Borg was my first tennis hero. The transition and characters involved during this era of tennis deserve a great book. Unfortunately, this is not a great book. It is poorly written, with non sequiturs throughout. I found myself so distracted by the poor writing that I struggled to continue despite the compelling history and backstory of this incredible period for tennis.

[Alan Pond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

Loved it! Very enjoyable. Lots of interesting, behind the scenes info about the players, rivalries as their epic battles. Fun, easy book to read.

[LA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book is ok, an interesting read, but the title does not fit the scope of the book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great and a fun read

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. The title doesn't represent everything that this book covers. It is so much more than the story of the rivalry between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

To me, this book is a strong retrospective on an important era in tennis, the early years of the Open Era, and the changes it brought to the sport. The author, Stephen Tignor, covers many important elements of the time, most of which have transformed professional tennis to what is played and enjoyed by millions of fans around the world today. A few of the topics covered are:

1) The influence of IMG. I purposely list this first. IMG was instrumental in the movement from tennis as an amateur sport to a professional sport, and truly, big business. The fact that today IMG owns the rights to professional tournaments while representing individual players demonstrates their oversize influence on the sport. Some argue that this influence has led to IMG becoming a puppet-master with potential conflicts of interest regarding which players actually get wild-cards and entries into today's tournaments.

2) The dominance of player personalities. Yes, there were interesting player personalities prior to the Open Era. But Tignor gives the reader a very close view of the on-court and off-court behaviors of not only McEnroe and Borg, but of Nastase, Gerulaitis, Connors, and others. IMG (yes, them again) increased television viewership, leading to an increase in the entertainment value of those personalities. Today's on-court personalities (Jelena Ostapenko arguing a line-call, or Medvedev having an outburst with fans) seem tame compared to what happened regularly during the early Open Era.

3) Technology. At the start of the Open Era, only wooden racquets were used. McEnroe never used anything else. However, technology soon crept in. Racquet technology was only one change...balls were made lighter to impact the speed of the serve, for example. Tignor does a nice job weaving in the technical changes that were introduced during this time period.

4) Playing surface. The tradition and elitism of grass started to weaken. The author covers the opening of Flushing Meadows and the move toward hard courts and away from the influence of the Lawn Tennis associations. Of course, this movement has continued, as there are even fewer professional grass tournaments today.

5) Playing style. Borg ushered in baseline tennis, with its power, while McEnroe played with more of a serve/volley style and lots of finesse. Tignor also covers the advent of the power player and describes the playing styles of many competitors of the era.

A really good telling of the importance of this era. The book also touches on the very human side of these players. I have been a huge tennis fan for decades, and was familiar with many of these stories, but this book still held my interest, taught me some new things, and touched at my heart. Highly recommended.

[Raghav Venkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were names we knew from the countless tournaments they played and won. For instance, when McEnroe defeated Borg in a five-setter, I didn’t know that it was the first time Borg had lost a five-setter in 14 times. Time and again, he found the resolve to come back from a deficit and plot a Houdini-like escape.

So, when he lost that game, something broke within him as well. I have not seen an author, apart from Gideon Haigh, write about his subjects without talking to them. He relied on books on them for his research. He acknowledges the help he got from these books and lists all of them out.

When he talks of Bjorn Borg as a Viking god, you might think that this is another one of those books that speaks highly of its subjects. As you keep reading, you also find out that he explores the vulnerabilities of these players without being rude or actually prying on them.

He talks in detail about Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Illie Nastase, Vitas Gerulaitis and Ivan Lendl. He talks about their penchant for a life after tennis. Studio 54 figures prominently in those passages. He writes about a few friendships amongst themselves that went sour as one upstaged the other. For instance, he talks of the reverence that McEnroe held for Borg and how the letter’s retirement caused him to go on a form slump.

In an era that was adjusting to the switch from amateur to professional, it was Illie Nastase that was the first poster boy. Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg took it to the extremes that we know today by letting themselves understand what a professional era entails. He talks of an instance of Borg milking the endorsement deal by wearing a headband that had tuBORG ( a Swedish brand of beer) on it. While they played the tournaments, they also went around continents playing exhibition matches, where there was nothing at stake. It only helped them make a lot of money.

One of the best things about the book is that it explores the amateur era and how the game fought with the establishment to make itself a game to be pursued by common people as well. How Tignor intersperses it with the players and their conflicts is also good. Mentions of Hopman and how he coached the upcoming players of that time in USA was a good read. How USA wanted to do an Australia in Tennis was a fascinating read.

It was not just a coaching model that they went about changing. They changed the arena, timings and everything that people might want to make it a viewer friendly sport.

He starts with Wimbledon and ends with US Open. It’s a generation he wrote about. I hope he plans to continue with the next couple of generations at least

[Nate Bragg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a terrific tennis read that covers far more than just the rivalry between Borg and McEnroe. High Strung is more of a review of the early Open Era/end of the wooden racket era of the late 1970s and early 80s with an emphasis on Borg and McEnroe but also a lot of information and anecdotes about the other key personalities of that time period (Connors, Lendl, Gerulatis). In that sense, the title is a little misleading as the other players take a significant chunk of the book so if you're looking for a pure compare/contrast or dual biography between McEnroe/Borg this isn't it. What it is is a phenomenal look back in time at a stretch that permanently impacted the sport of tennis, even in the wake of the significant changes that the game would soon undergo.

Tignor gives readers a great glimpse into the players' psyches, the demands and pressures placed on individual sports athletes of that era, and the different types of players and personalities who experienced the joys of victory and the pain of defeat.

It's a relatively short but entertaining read that younger/newer, and older tennis fans should enjoy.

[Rene Salomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end of the wooden raquet era is captured wonderfully in High Strung.
The 1981 US Open was the last Gran Slam tournament won with the wood racket. It was also the end of the mystical era of Bjorn Borg, who at the ripe old age of 25 plays his last Grand Slam match.
Borg had over 200 career tour titles, has anyone ever topped that in just 10 years of playing ?
So many great inside stories, my favourite being the one about "no one beats Vitas Geralitis 17 times in a row !" Of course except for the fact that Borg had a 20-0 career record against him.
It makes todays tour pale in comparison to the character of these characters and stretches tennis history back 100 years from Bill Tilden to that final match between Borg and McEnroe in 1981 which by the way was exactly the amount of years that the wooden raquet dominated the tour.
Very fun read.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book on a whim at my local bookstore. I was an avid high school and college player and was a huge fan of Bjorn Borg. To my very pleasant surprise, the book had me spellbound. I could not put it down. One great story and insight after another. The characters of that era (Borg, McEnroe, Conners, and Gerulaitis) defined the sport and paved the way for all the younger stars who came on their heels, and they provided plenty of colorful barbs and battles to entertain fans. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves tennis!

[Aravind Nagarajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, fast read about tennis in the '80s. Although I did not watch any of these players play, I've always been fascinated by them since I read McEnroe's autobiography.
The writer uses the backdrop of the rivalry between Borg, McEnroe and Connors to explain the dynamics that were in play when tennis transitioned to the Open Era. Very interesting information and a lot of quirky anecdotes.

[Jeff Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read on both the Borg-McEnroe rivaly, as well as men's professional tennis in the 70's and early 80's. If you're a huge fan of tennis of that era, there's probably not a lot of new stuff here, but it does a nice job laying out how both players came to prominence and then needed one another in different ways. Some great material on Connors, Nastase, and Gerulaitis as well.

[Jay Dwight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling depiction of one of the golden eras of tennis, dealing primary with Borg's time at the top, his usurping by McEnroe and then delving into the years that followed.

Definitely worth a read if you are a tennis fan.

[Kaitlyn McGrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at the 70s and 80s era of the men’s game. It’s about much more than McEnroe and Borg and weaves the stories of the other top players at the time — Connors, Gerulaitis, Lendl — into the narrative as well. Any tennis fan will enjoy this book.

[Paul Bifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected, but I loved the stories and the insight. I didn't know the story of the shift from amateur tennis to a pro tennis circuit. It certainly went beyond just Borg and McEnroe into Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis.

[Carlo Battisti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. It's incredible what happened in those last 70s ... Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Gerulaitis, Nastase, Vilas, Lendl ...

[Christoffer Sodemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully nostalgic, even for someone who was not alive at the time.
Steve Tignor is my new favorite writer!

[Mrigaen Kapadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good insight into the tennis world of the 70s and 80s.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great history of Tennis book. A must read for the tennis lover. Learn about the game from the start to the present. I loved this book.

[Maganraj Bafna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just one word:

Awesome!

[Utkarsh Modi · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://utkarshsblog.blogspot.com/2024...

When I picked up High Strung by Stephen Tignor, I expected a deep dive into one of tennis’s greatest rivalries—and the book delivered in spades. But it’s more than just the story of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. It’s about a pivotal moment in tennis history when the sport itself underwent a seismic shift, transitioning from tradition to the modern, personality-driven game we know today. Tignor doesn’t just recount matches or rivalries; he weaves a narrative that feels as much about the evolution of tennis as it is about the people who defined it.

Borg and McEnroe: Fire and Ice
Borg and McEnroe are tennis legends, not just for their talent but for their contrasting styles and personalities. Borg was the calm, methodical “ice man,” a paragon of discipline who dominated the sport with his relentless consistency. McEnroe was his complete opposite—fiery, emotional, and unpredictable, known as much for his outbursts as his brilliance on the court.

Tignor’s portrayal of their rivalry is fascinating, not only because of their differences but also because of how much they came to respect and influence each other. He digs beneath the surface to show the human side of both players—the pressures they faced, their insecurities, and what drove them to greatness. It’s a reminder that even the most iconic athletes are still just people.

Sampras-Agassi and Nadal-Federer-Djokovic: Echoes of a rivalry
As I read, I couldn’t help but think of the rivalries that followed in the years after Borg and McEnroe. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi carried the torch into the 1990s, bringing their own fire-and-ice dynamic to tennis. Sampras, like Borg, was the composed and efficient player, while Agassi, much like McEnroe, was the showman with an edge. Tignor’s book helps you appreciate how these rivalries owe a debt to the Borg-McEnroe era, when tennis became more than a game—it became a spectacle.

Then there’s the modern-day trio of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic. Their dominance has shaped an entirely new era of tennis, but their rivalries echo many of the same themes. Federer’s elegance and Nadal’s gritty tenacity feel reminiscent of Borg and McEnroe’s stylistic contrasts, while Djokovic’s intensity and resilience remind me of the emotional highs and lows that defined McEnroe’s career. High Strung captures the roots of these rivalries, showing how the sport continues to evolve while honoring its past.

More Than Just Two Players
Tignor doesn’t just focus on Borg and McEnroe—he brings in a cast of colorful characters from the 1970s and 80s. Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis, and Ilie Năstase all make appearances, each adding depth to the story of a sport in transition. Their personalities and styles brought variety to the game and helped pave the way for the larger-than-life rivalries we see today.

The 1980 Wimbledon Final
Of course, the book’s highlight is the iconic 1980 Wimbledon final. Even if you know every detail of the match, Tignor’s retelling will have you on the edge of your seat. He captures the tension of each point and the emotional stakes for both players, making it feel as if you’re watching it unfold in real time.

The Evolution of Tennis
What struck me most about High Strung is how it situates Borg and McEnroe within the larger story of tennis’s evolution. The book explores how their rivalry signaled a turning point for the sport, moving it from the polite traditions of the amateur era to the intense, globalized, and commercialized game we know today. Players like Sampras, Agassi, Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic have continued that transformation, but it was Borg and McEnroe who first proved that tennis could be about more than just skill—it could be about personality, drama, and storytelling.

Final Thoughts
High Strung is a must-read for anyone who loves tennis or appreciates great rivalries. It’s a riveting account of one of the sport’s most transformative periods, brought to life through the lens of two legendary players.

As someone who has followed tennis through the Sampras-Agassi and Nadal-Federer-Djokovic eras, this book gave me a deeper appreciation for how those rivalries were built on the foundation laid by Borg and McEnroe. It’s not just about the matches; it’s about the humanity, the cultural shifts, and the timeless appeal of competition at the highest level.

Whether you’re a lifelong fan or just starting to explore the sport, High Strung is an unforgettable read.

Have you read High Strung? Or do you have a favorite rivalry in tennis? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear them.

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Dan Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrary to the cover, this book isn't just about Borg and McEnroe. It covers a plethora of characters from the "roughneck" age of tennis, when professional players first began getting paid significant dollars for their efforts. Contrary to popular myth, McEnroe wasn't the only brat of that day - there were a number of characters who could qualify for that label. This book covers them all.

It truly was a unique time. The beginning of the "Open" era, as it is known. Instead of barnstorming like circus performers, professional tennis players found themselves riding the crest of an explosion of tennis popularity. Suddenly the money, and the fame, got very, very, big. And it changed everything.

Instead of the collegial good-old days, every point counted now. Based on the author's description, the line judges weren't really ready for the new competitive level. There were planty of opportunities for someone like McEnroe or Jimmy Connors to complain about bad calls. One wonders if McEnroe, if presented with the modern era's multiple line judges and the opportunity to challenge calls, would have a pretext for starting one his patented tirades. In fact, the author shares how during McEnroe's final season, he was ejected from a tournament for cursing. The anecdote was a fit and telling ending to the "roughneck" era.

Of course the tirades weren't all just because of a questionable call or two. I gleaned from the book, as I have sensed but never fully experienced during my matches, that tennis is intensely, intensely personal. A good old-fashioned temper tantrum could break the rhythm of the match and throw an opponent off-stride. And it's not just player against player. The crowd is a critical element. Multiple stars of the era worked the crowd, in order to pump themselves up or intimidate their opponent. It almost seems like some players were able to extend their careers by working the crowd, working the umpires, and creating a circus atmosphere that could intimidate or freeze an opponent.

As I said, the (big) money changed everything. A lot of people said for the worse. I disagree. Ultimately the sport is much more respectable. After all, towards the end of his career McEnroe was kicked out of a tournament for (gasp!) cursing. That would never have happened back in the 70s. But in the modern era, the money is just too big. Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova would not be making tens of millions in endorsements if they acted like the tennis stars of that time. The partying, drug use, and extreme womanizing doesn't translate into endorsement dollars. Those things are largely gone from the sport, or are very carefully hidden. The Williams sisters aren't just focused on conquering tennis, they are joining the financial world elite based on their tennis earnings and endorsements. There's no room for baggage on that elevator.

Plus, tennis stars of today start their careers at painfully early ages. Talent alone cannot elevate a player to the top 10. It takes years of work and extreme fitness to reach that level. Players are less likely to jeopordize all that work by attending edgy nightclubs. In contrast, McEnroe didn't focus exclusively on tennis until late in high school, or nearly 10 years late by today's standards.

So get the book and read about a unique era in tennis that is unlikely to ever happen again. Multiple forces converged to create that time. Money and fame were suddenly available, and a unique mix of characters rose up to take advantage of it. May their day never come again! :)

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It took me straight back to my childhood - one of my strongest family memories is of us all sitting down to watch the Wimbledon finals year after year, and the players in this book were my heroes. (Straight after the final my brother and I would recreate the match over our back gate, which was conveniently net-high. He was always Connors/McEnroe and I was Borg).

I loved reading this book so much that I went to YouTube and tracked down clips of the matches and was delighted to find the games in their entirety - now this was going to be another time destroyer!

The one thing I didn't like about the book was the misleading title, which I accept is more likely to be the publishers fault rather than the author. This is not the story of the "fierce" rivalry between McEnroe and Borg, mainly because there wasn't a fierce rivalry. The author states very clearly that Borg was the only player that McEnroe admired, enough even to curtail his tantrums for, and then moves on to a leisurely history of the US Open and several pen pictures of other pros. We had chapters on Connors, Gerulaitis, Nastase and the state of the game in the early to mid 80s - but, after the first chapter, not a mention of the Borg/McEnroe rivalry, at least not as a main thrust of the narrative.

The rivalry was treated in an oblique way and usually was referred to by the author only in describing some other, unrelated information – I just don’t think there was enough material out there, beyond that they liked and respected each other. Now, a book about Connors and McEnroe – well maybe that would generate some tabloid-style mudslinging.

It didn’t spoil the reading at all for me because this is my favorite era of tennis and I can always learn more about these guys but if you are going to this book looking for intrigue and in fighting between the best two players of that generation then brace yourself for disappointment.