All Courters Rule on Wimbledon Grass

Borg was winning but the experts called for serve and volley. In the late 1970s, it was still claimed by some that winning Wimbledon required a serve and volley style. This of course was an absurd assertion, as Bjorn Borg had already dominated the tournament for years. Year after year, major analysts dismissed the Swede’s chances of winning the tournament again because he played primarily from the backcourt. Even his fellow players had trouble understanding that a fundamental transition had occurred. Take Brian Gottfried, for example, the American who faced the Swede in the 1980 Wimbledon semis. A true attacking player, Gottfried had won a grass court tournament at Surbiton coming into Wimbledon, scoring impressive wins over Stan Smith, Phil Dent and Wotjek Fibak. Going into the tournament, he felt that he might be able to suffocate Borg by getting on top of the net at every possible chance. That wasn’t how it happened. In his match against Borg, Gottfried tried to force the action, but often found himself standing above the net cord with his mouth agape in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 Gottfried believed he could smother Borg at the net. “To me one of the miracles of…