Within the millennium in Sweden the sportsman of the century was appointed. It was Björn Borg! The famous tennis player.

Björn was born on June 6, 1956 in Södertälje, Sweden. When he was nine years old he got his first tennis racket from his father. For five years Björn took a train to Stockholm every afternoon after school to practice tennis for three hours. Then after the tennis practice he had ice hockey training. He just loved sports!

From the beginning he played with a ping-pong style using his wrists to give the ball a spin. His two-fisted backhand probably evolved from his hockey stroke and from the weight of his racket. He changed his two-handed stile to a one-handed forehand to make his topspin perfect.

Björn won his first tournament when he was eleven. In the next four years he captured all the junior titles of the world. He dropped out of school when he was in the ninth grade and qualified for the Swedish Davis Cup team, becoming the youngest player ever to win a Cup match. In his first decade of competition in tennis, he compiled a record of career that was the most wide-ranging in tennis history. His string of single titles on the grass of Wimbledon (1976-1980) and the clay of the French Open (1974-75, 1978-81) are remarkable. His preference for extremely tightly string racket was unusual. His consistency, concentration and speed on court was something no one ever seen before.

Quotation of Borg: "My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. How down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories." With 62 single titles Björn will not only be remembered for his sheer athleticism on the court but for his long hair, headband and superbly bandy legs. He stopped playing on the top of his career only 26 years old . Nowadays he got his own clothing mark named after himself and have recently made a song together with Tomas Brolin and Dr. Alban. It wasn't good but at least it was a song. We in Sweden have selected Björn Borg to the sportsman of the century, do you agree with us if we say that he is the best European sportsman of the century?

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