September 5, 2007
The great Bjorn Borg will return to London’s Royal Albert Hall to play at the BlackRock Masters in December.
The Swede has accepted a wild card into the event which takes place between the 4th and the 9th of December, and brings together 12 of the greatest tennis champions ever to play the game.
Borg, who won five Wimbledon titles in a row between 1976 and 1980, played at the Royal Albert Hall event when it first began 10 years ago. He can’t wait to return.
“It’s like coming back to Wimbledon,” said Borg.
“It’s something special to play at the Albert Hall. You have a lot of big events there, but only one tennis event. It’s the BlackRock Masters, it’s the one everyone wants to play, and to come back is going to be a nice thing, a special thing.”
The last time the former World No.1 appeared at the event was in 2000. Seven years on, Borg has decided to return to the BlackRock Tour of Champions because he missed the competition and camaraderie he shared with his old rivals.
“For the last five years I have been playing a lot of tennis with the juniors in Sweden and staying in shape, but matches are matches and I missed the Tour,” said the 51-year-old Borg.
“The other thing was the opportunity to see the guys again. It’s a great atmosphere off the court with them – we have a lot of fun, it’s a nice feeling and I missed them.”
His first tournament this year came in the Algarve, and Borg showed, in beating former French Open champion Andres Gomez, and pushing Thomas Muster - a man more than ten years his junior - that he could still compete.
The field of 12 at the BlackRock Masters Tennis will comprise the Top 7 players in the South African Airways Champions Tour Rankings after all other events are complete, and five wild cards.
To view video of Borg’s interview, click here: http://www.blackrockmasters.com/images/Borg.mov
For more information: http://www.blackrockmasters.com
