Borg was aiming for his fifth straight Wimbledon title, McEnroe hoping for his first. Everything that went before was simply background to this moment. The stage was set. Search for screenings / showtimes and book tickets for Borg vs McEnroe. See the release date and trailer. The Official Showtimes Destination brought to you by Curzon. 1981 – Sixth and final French Open title. Borg won his last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1981, defeating Lendl in a five-set final. Borg's six French Open Grand Slam titles was a record bettered only by Rafael Nadal in 2012. The on-court Sturm und Drang of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe has already been the subject of one HBO documentary. Now, Danish director Janus Metz has assembled a staunch biopic about the two Wimbledon champions that owes a debt to Rush, a film that dramatised another real-life international sporting rivalry, between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The focus is build up to the 1980 Wimbledon final – between “the baseline player and the net rusher” – when a television audience of 17.3 million viewers watched Borg chase his fifth straight title on Centre Court. Newcomer Sverrir Gudnason plays the Swede as a stoic, dedicated athlete who is uncomfortable being recognised walking down the street. Shia LaBoeuf, meanwhile, is the temperamental McEnroe. The narrative leans heavily on their contrasting dispositions – scenes of McEnroe partying are cut against Borg in his hotel room, diligently measuring his pulse rate. The further McEnroe progresses through the tournament, the more enraged he becomes by the media focus on his behaviour, while Borg increasingly shuts himself down, wrestling to keep an unspoken anxiety in check. “Can’t you just talk about the tennis?” Says an exasperated MacEnroe; can’t Borg just talk at all? Sports commentators act as a kind of Greek chorus, filling in exposition as required (“McEnroe is the bigger talent, but playing Borg is like being hit by a sledgehammer”), allowing Gudnason and LaBoeuf to get on with more actorly work. Gudnason is good as the enigmatic Bjorg, eventually making an introverted, enigmatic character likeable. LaBoeuf has been enjoyably unhinged in films lately – American Honey – and he chews his way greedily through McEnroe, savouring every unpredictable tic, cuss and hissy fit. And Mourinho will used the message that Borg’s coach Lennart Bergelin drummed into his fellow Swede during the memorable five-set marathon in 1980. Bergelin’s mantra was: “Don’t panic, don’t look at the big picture, don’t lose focus – just concentrate on winning every point.” It worked for Borg who kept his concentration to eventually prevail 8-6 in the fifth set to become the first man to win five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. Mourinho will deliver the same message to his players today when they go to Arsenal knowing defeat could leave them 11 points behind City – who look to have a home banker against struggling West Ham tomorrow – with the first Manchester derby of the season looming next weekend. Asked if it was a must-win game, the United manager said: “I play a game at a time and I think it is the way to do it. Yesterday I was watching an interesting movie, Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe, and Borg’s coach was telling him all the time – one point at a time, think just about one point. GETTY Jose Mourinho has been taking tips from Bjorn Borg's trainer Just focus on this game Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho “I tell my players to think just about the game. I always say this. It doesn’t matter what comes after, it doesn’t matter what came before. It is just about this game. “So now it is Arsenal. We don’t think about how many points we are in front of them, we don’t think about how many points we are behind the leaders. We don’t think about that – it is just Arsenal. “It is difficult enough for us without being focussed on other things.
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March 2018
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