Borg vs. McEnroe — Fire and Ice, Tied at 7-7

They played 14 official matches. The record finished 7-7 — a genuine, perfect tie, which might be the only fair outcome for a rivalry this defined by opposites.

Fire and Ice

Bjorn Borg was ice: a cool, near-expressionless Swede who almost never showed a reaction on court, win or lose. John McEnroe was fire: an American with a notorious temper, prone to on-court outbursts at umpires that became as famous as his tennis. The nickname stuck because it was accurate, not because it was catchy.

The tiebreak that never ends

Their 1980 Wimbledon final is still, decades later, cited as one of the best matches ever played. Borg won it 8-6 in the fifth set — but only after McEnroe saved five match points and won an 18-16 fourth-set tiebreaker that alone lasted 20 minutes. A few months later, McEnroe beat him in five sets at the US Open final, a match also remembered as an all-time classic.

The rematch that flipped it

In 1981, McEnroe beat Borg in the Wimbledon final, ending Borg's streak of 41 consecutive match wins at the All England Club. Borg walked off the court before the trophy ceremony and the press conference had even begun. He beat McEnroe again shortly after that at the US Open final — decisively, in four sets. Two players, two finals, and two very different ways of leaving the court.

What came after

Time did what tennis couldn't — it made them close. Years after both had retired, their relationship improved enough that McEnroe personally talked Borg out of auctioning off his Wimbledon trophies in 2006. Fire and Ice cooled into something else entirely.