When Bjorn Borg played ‘catch me if you can’

So near yet so far: Borg and Patricia watch son Leo from one end while Bommai and Amritraj catch the action from the other.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

Time and Borg wait for none. The legendary Swede won his 11 Grand Slam singles titles at breakneck speed, requiring just 21 tries. And when he lost his last Major final at the 1981 US Open, he left the stadium in his car even as John McEnroe was lifting the trophy.

On Tuesday at the KSLTA courts, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai got a taste of this. Due to felicitate Borg and India’s very own Vijay Amritraj at 9.30 a.m. on the sidelines of the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger, Bommai could arrive only at 11.10 a.m. because of other official commitments.

By then, Borg, who had recced the felicitation area twice earlier, perhaps in the hope that the event would start soon, left to watch his son Leo play his first-round match (11 a.m.).

Bommai then spent some time witnessing the action from the VIP section, even as Borg – always his own man – sat at the other end, with his wife Patricia. The six-time French Open and five-time Wimbledon champion didn’t change his mind even as Bommai exited the VIP area.

In sport, as in politics, it is difficult to be an enigma. Borg was one forty years ago. He remains one to this day.