The 1980 Wimbledon Championships Men's Singles final was the championship

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

match of the gentlemen's singles tournament at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships. After 3 hours and 53 minutes of play, the four-time defending champion

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...

defeated

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7^(16–18), 8–6 to win the match. McEnroe saved seven championship points during the match but ultimately lost to Borg in what was regarded at the time as the greatest tennis match ever played (it would later be compared to the 2008 men's singles final between

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

and

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...

Match

The match was eagerly awaited as not only was it a clash between the top two seeds, it was also viewed as a meeting of opposites: At the start of the final, McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he entered

Centre Court Centre Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as the All England Club) and is the main court used in the Wimbledon Championships, the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is consi ...

, because of the heated exchanges he had had with officials during his semi-final victory over

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 2 ...

. In the final's fourth-set tiebreaker that lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five championship points and eventually won 18–16. The tie-break was later described by one reporter as "the most riveting episode in the sport's history". McEnroe, however, could not break Borg's serve in the fifth set, which the Swede won 8–6.

Significance

This match was called the best Wimbledon final by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's countdown show "Who's Number One?" and "one of the three or four greatest sporting events in history" by ESPN English speaking personality

Mike Greenberg Michael Darrow Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is an American television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ES ...

. In 1999, it ranked #10 on ESPN's ''SportsCentury's Ten Greatest Games of the 20th Century''. In a 2002 UK poll conducted by

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, the British public voted the match #10 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' tennis writer Neil Amdur wrote in 2011: "I covered the 1980 Wimbledon men’s singles final between McEnroe and Borg. Until the 2008 Nadal–Federer classic at the All England Club, the Borg–McEnroe five-setter at Wimbledon was the greatest tennis match I had ever seen, but after watching chunks of the 3:53 McEnroe–Borg final at an

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

screening, I am tempted again to reaffirm its place as the sport’s single most compelling piece of court magic".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles final

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Björn Borg John McEnroe Men's Singles final Tennis matches at Grand Slam tournaments

Match

Significance

See also

References