Tennis · 1980 · London, England
The Tie-Break
A 34-point fourth-set tie-break, championship points saved at one end and set points at the other, and Björn Borg still wins a fifth consecutive Wimbledon.
Borg def. McEnroe, 8-6 in the 5th
Result
McEnroe won 18-16
4th-set tie-break
5th consecutive
Borg's Wimbledon titles
Björn Borg, chasing a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, led John McEnroe by two sets to one and held championship points in the fourth-set tie-break, only for McEnroe to save them one after another and eventually take the tie-break 18-16, an extraordinary 34-point sequence still regarded as the greatest the tournament has produced.
The tie-break alone ran for about twenty minutes and turned over repeatedly. McEnroe fought off match points, Borg fought off set points, and neither could land the finishing blow until McEnroe finally levelled the match at two sets apiece.
A player who had just lost twenty minutes like that might reasonably be expected to fold. Borg broke McEnroe's serve in the fifth instead, won it 8-6, and had a fifth straight Wimbledon crown. The ice-cool Swede and the furious New Yorker never had a better afternoon than that one.
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