Did you have a coach when youfirst began to play?

Bjorn Borg - Not for the first three years. That's probably why I have such unconventional strokes - a two-handed backhand and so on. They say you mustn't play flke I do, but 1 just felt right when 1 played flke that. What is important is not the way you hit the ball, but whether or not ¡t gets over the net. And when ¡t does, it's marvellous to watch. If you have a stroke of your own, one that really works, and you feel right playing it, keep ít, even if it isn't "classical". Don't try to change it.

Did the Swedish Tennis Federation he1p you a lot?

Bjorn Borg - Yes, at the beginning, when Iwas twelve or thirteen. I was starting to travel and they paid my fares, board and lodging and so on. Also they put me in for competitions abroad which, of course, my parents could not have done. I owe them a lot, but my coach, Mr Bergelin, can tell you about that better than me.

Lennart Bergelín - I saw Bjorn play for the first time in 1970. Ihad been asked to organise the Swedish Davis Cup team and Bjorn was thirteen at the time. I asked the President of the Federation if I could take my young players abroad, and he allowed me to tour for a fortnight with about fifteen of them. We started travelling by bus - it was quite cheap - and we managed to get here, to Monte Carlo, then we went down the, Cóte XAzur and on to Spain. Iwanted them to have as much contpetition play as possible, especially abroad.

What made you think he would be so good when you saw him play?

Lennart Bergelin - Anyorie who had seen him play when he was thirteen, seen his ground strokes and how he loVed practising, would have realised he would be good. I play tennis myself - Iwon the tournament here in Monte Carlo in 1947 - and I think I know what I´m talking about. I had never seen such magnificent ground strokes, nor anyone who moved so fast on court; he gets away from the ball and aIways has time to play a shot. The most important thing for a tennis player is exactly that: - good ground strokes.

You dropped school when you werefifteen. What would you have done if you hadn't succeeded as a tennis-player?

Bjorn Borg - Firstly, I didn't drop school I left the school when I was fifteen. In Sweden you stay nine years in your first school, from six to fifteen. After that, you can go to another sort of school to continue your studies, and lots of people do. But there are also plenty who leave school then and go to work. That's what I did. I decided to give termis a chance for two or three years, to see if I could become a success at ít. And if I hadn't had the sort of results I was hoping for, I would simply have gone back to school. I think that in life, if you see there's a good chance to take, You have to take it.

Certaín journalists have said you weren't a very gifted pupil, even that you were a very bad one, and that you were relieved to leave school.

Bjorn Borg - That's not true. I liked school very much, and I was quite good at it. I think a good education is very important and I have been very lucky. I have managed to make my way in tennis and have learnt a lot by travelling abroad and meeting interesting people. But I repeat, if I hadn't done well at tennis I would have gone back to school.

Did you admire one player in particular when you were very young?

Bjorn Borg- Yes, Rod Laver. During the first two or three years, between 1965 and 1967, it was he who won all the tournaments. I wanted to play like hirn, even though he was left- handed and I wasn't. I wanted to play the same strokes and above all I wanted to behave like him on court. I had seen him. several times on television, and had been terribly impressed by this player who never said a word and whose concentration was always so perfect. Yes, his was the example I chose to follow.

How old were you when you won yourfirst tournament?

Bjorn Borg - Eleven, I think. I won a little competition which took place in a small town three hours' drive south of where we lived. It was a sort of county championship. I can still remember the joy I felt when they gave me the little winner's cup. I was very proud.

When did you get Yourfirst contract with a inanufácturer?

Bjorn Borg - When I was fifteen I played in the Swedish Davis Cup team against New Zealand. Iwon my two singles matches, against all expectations. After that I signed my first contract. It was for a make of racket.

Díd Ieaving your family and country to play all over the world pose any particular problems for you?

Biorn Borg - That's a good question. At first I was delighted to be travelling, meeting new people and seeing new places. But when you've been away for a long time, you do get a little homesick and you just feel like going home. Being homesick can be a real handicap, because you don't play well unless you're in excellent spirits. I know players for whom aIways being away from honie is quite a serious problem. I, even have friends, very good players, who left competitive tennis because it made them so unhappy never to be at home.

At what age did you first leave your country to play in a tournament abroad?

Bjorn Borg - Thirteen. I played at Berlin and München Gladbach. They were my first fóreign competitions. I played against boys who were two or three years older than me and even at that time they said I played well. I had some good results.

How old were you when you werefirst ranked?

Biorn Borg - Eleven or tweIve, when I played in my first tournament. Of course I wasn't ranked very highly. Then every year as 1 played more and more tournaments in Sweden, I began to beat players who had been above me, and little by little I went up. Then in 1972, when 1 was fifteen I became one of the Swedish top ten.

If You had to start your adolescence all over again, would you do the same things?

Bjorn Borg - If 1 had to start again, I would change absolutely nothing. I like playing tennis too much. kthink I have done just what I wanted to do. I like the game as much now as I did when I was nine. I just enjoy hitting tennis balls!

How old were you when you became one of the world's ten best players?

Bjorn Borg - In 1973/74 I was one of the top ninety or a hundred. At the end of 1974 I think I must have been in the first fifty. I think it was from that time that I really started to go up. In 1973 when I was sixteen I was in the final here at Monte Carlo, where I lost to Nastase.

How old were you when you won yourfirst internationaI championship?

Bjorn Borg - Rome and Paris in the spring of 1974. I was eighteen during the French Championships at Roland-Garros.

What is your most ímportant victory?

Bjorn Borg - I think the first time I won Wjmbledon, in 1976. I remember when I was fifteen or sixteen my dream was to, win Wimbledon at least once. I was twenty when I did. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't thought I would be able to before I was twenty-five or twertty-six. But you know, Wimbledon ís every tennis player's dream.

Why Wimbledon more than any other tournament?

Bjorn Borg - It's the one with the greatest tradition and it's very difficult to win. Two weeks on grass - sometimes it rains and the grass becomes slippery - and then there are the English, you know what they're Rke with their tournament. You really féel proud of yourself when you win Wimbledon. Yes, that is the victory that has given me the most pleasure.