“Facing McEnroe” Book Sneak Peak

I’m happy to announce that I just about finished with my fifth tennis book “Facing McEnroe” which consists of over 60 interviews with various players and tennis world figures about what it’s like to compete against John McEnroe on a tennis court. Here is one interview with the Swede Christian Bergstrom who played McEnroe four times …

Christian Bergstrom: “My first memory is when I saw him on television against Borg in all the exciting matches in Wimbledon. He was only seventeen or something when he reached the semis. Very young. And then went on beat Borg in ’81. Interesting.”

Question: Your most memorable match with McEnroe? You played him four times…

Christian Bergstrom: “I don’t remember, really. I remember one second round French Open. It was the match of the day with all the journalists and everything else. And on clay I was supposed to have a decent chance. But I got killed on center court, 6-3 6-4 6-2 or something. And he played really good – and I couldn’t get my play going. But then we had some matches indoors. Close ones. 7-5 6-4 or 7-6 6-3, things like that. I didn’t beat him but came kind of close in a few sets. So he was tough to play against [smiles]. No rhythm at all. Very strange. Played serve and volley all the time. You’d get no rhythm at all. So he was obviously one of the best players in the world.”

Question: Was it enjoyable to play him? Or was it too difficult and too frustrating to enjoy?

Christian Bergstrom: “It was exciting. And he was always complaining about line calls and even complained at the opponents a lot. Kind of frustrating. But that’s what you have to learn. He was very good at taking advantage of all those things. Because the number five, two, three player – they get always [coughs] … good treatment from the tournament, the umpire and everything. He was good at that.”

Question: Are you able to remember what he complained about about you?

Christian Bergstrom: “Yeah. I remember – not on clay – because it doesn’t sound so much. My best shot was probably the return of serve. And I had good footwork. And he was complaining about my noise on my shoes … ‘Stop that fucking shit over there!’ And he was pissing at me and complaining to the umpire… trying to make me feel bad.Trying to make me play worse. And, of course, he was irritated all the time. But nobody else – I played many other top five and number one players in the world – and nobody ever said anything about my footwork. So that’s kind of typical.”

Question: Lasting memory of John McEnroe, on or off the court?

Christian Bergstrom: “I heard him like when he was an expert commentator. I think he’s really good. Analyzing all the matches and very good, like, he’s very enthusiastic about the game. And on the court he was really a fantastic player with a good feeling, not hitting the ball hard but playing smart. And he just played his own game. And nobody can really imitate that. It wasn’t just his way of playing. Of course he won many Grand Slam titles – he was absolutely a really good star of the sport. Him and Connors were not easy for other players to play against when they were at their best. There were other players who were more respectful to the opponents like Edberg, Agassi, Sampras, all those guys. But that was his way and I guess the people and the tennis fans, I guess they liked him a lot because it was a lot of action going on. And it was good for the sport. But he would have been disqualified many more times now in this time than he was. I don’t think he was ever disqualified. he should have been in Stockholm against (Anders) Jarryd. But fantastic player, of course he was.”

Question: Have you ever bumped into or crossed paths with John in recent years?

Christian Bergstrom: “No. I’ve seen him maybe at some recent tournaments but it’s not a thing that I look after, to talk to him that much. I hope he has a good life.”

"Stop that ******* sh**!"

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