Wimbledon was cancelled this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, tennis fans can still relive some classic matches this week, courtesy of the BBC.
The broadcaster holds the rights to the famous tournament in the UK.
But with no action this year, a series of classic Wimbledon programming will be aired in its place.
In 1980, the men’s singles final that year featured the top two seeds as Swede Bjorn Borg went up against young American John McEnroe.
Borg had won the Wimbledon title for the previous four years but McEnroe, just 21 at time, had won his first Grand Slam at the US Open the year before.
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Who won the 1980 Wimbledon final?
Borg won the final in a five-set thriller, widely regarded as one of the greatest matches of all time.
His four-year reign as Wimbledon was in immediate doubt as McEnroe cruised through the first set.
But Borj then took control of the match by winning the next two sets.
In the fourth set, he saw McEnroe save two match points with diving volleys.
The final was already destined to be the most memorable for years, but what came next was an incredible tie-break.
McEnroe had seven set points and Borg five more match points, four on his own serve, before the American clinched the set.
A tired McEnroe couldn’t hold on in the fifth set, with Borg concededing only three points on his seven service games in and breaking his opponent with yet another backhand pass.
The final score as Borg claimed his fifth successive Wimbledon title was 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7(16–18), 8–6.
Discussing the classic Wimbledon final in 2016, Borj told CNN: “People come up and say, do you remember the final in 1980? Of course I remember the final.
“When I speak to John, sometimes we get together – the thing is, we both remember every single point. We talk about the final – we know exactly.
“It meant a lot to both of us. We respect each other. I respect John, he respects me.”
