Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase talk about their glory days and the state of men's tennis.
Legends discuss their glory days and the current state of men's tennis
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray are among the stars that will contest the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 this week.
It's the perfect time, then, to assess the state of men's tennis with some all-time greats who also happen to be former winners of the World Tour Finals.
Ladies and gentlemen, quiet please for Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase...
Firstly, Bjorn. When you were playing there was no sign of any emotion on your face. But what was going on in your head during a match?
Bjorn Borg: Of course, there are emotions inside but I just managed to handle everything in the right way. If you made bad points or bad mistakes you get mad and angry. But if you compare me to John, he was always playing angry, but I was a different person. Of course, I had the emotions inside. When I got back to the hotel with my coach then I let my emotion out. I could tell him what an idiot he was or something and he understood me. He left me to do my own thing.
John, when you look back on your career do you ever get embarrassed by how you behaved on court?
John McEnroe: Let me put this to you. YouTube is only a recent invention. And now I have my kids saying to me: "What in the hell were you doing?" Sometimes they look at it saying: "That's really funny! Look at the old man! That's pretty pathetic!" but I think that if you go through life and you've not been embarrassed by anything you've done that would be pretty remarkable to put it mildly. To quote a US president who said about 100 years ago: "It's better to try and fail rather than not try at all". So I went out with the attitude that "Yes, I was going to make some mistakes, there were certainly some things that if I could take back I would take back but I felt that hopefully that people who came to see me play got their money's worth and saw someone that played with passion and cared about the sport and hopefully they would look differently later on.
Ilie. Who did you find to be the tougher opponent, John or Bjorn?
Ilie Nastase: Actually John was a little bit behind us. I played him when he was 15 or 16 at Virginia Beach and it was the only time I beat him.
John McEnroe: No, it wasn't - but thank you for remembering it that way!
Ilie Nastase: I looked at John and said: "Who is this crazy guy? He's a kamikaze!" Anyway, I had great matches against Bjorn. Some of the matches I cheated on because you were still young, and I was cheating a lot. I knew that when we played the Monte Carlo final and the final in Madrid. I cheated a lot.
How did you cheat? I was putting pressure on the umpires to give me the calls, the close calls went my way. Everyone else was doing it - I can tell you that.
Fast forward to today. How do you think technology has changed the game?
Ilie Nastase: It's not only tennis - you can see it in skiing, golf. The talent's okay, but if you've got a good racket, the racket matters. I can see it for myself. When I was World number one, I served slower than I do now with this racket, at 64.
Bjorn Borg: I think the biggest revolution in rackets has been the material on the string. When we played we had a gap down the strings and it was limp, but today, it's amazing what you can do with a tennis ball.
John McEnroe: It would have been interesting to see the players of today play with a version of the rackets that we used. They are bigger, stronger, and have better access to training than we had and they are more aware of what they need, and what they should eat. Along with the strings that Bjorn mentioned, I'd love to see the best players - the Federers, the Nadals - play with the wooden racket.
Inevitably we have to ask why has Andy Murray not won a Grand Slam yet?
Bjorn Borg: He is definitely ready to win the big ones. Murray's fine in serving and passing. He's playing great tennis. He has the game. He has to get everything together for the two weeks. I know he's working hard. He's definitely got the chance to be the best player in the world.
Ilie Nastase: I think what happened to Murray, happened to [Tim] Henman. He played against Sampras during an unbelievable career. And now Murray is playing with Federer and Nadal, and it will be more difficult.
Bjorn Borg: Your dream is to win a Grand Slam. I remember in my first US Open final I was playing [Jimmy] Connors and I lost a close match. A lot of people came up to me saying: 'Don't worry, you'll win a US Open', but you've got to take the chance when you get it. I had four finals there but didn't win. It was a disappointment.
John McEnroe: There are certain athletes in certain sports where you expect it to happen. Quite honestly, I expected it to happen to me. It wasn't as big a deal back in my day as it is now, when people are also concerned about how much time you have before you win one. There are others where it's a once-in-a-lifetime achievement so it's the defining moment in their lives. And for some players the pressure slowly but surely builds - like for Andy Murray - where it's not as much a shoo-in as it seemed maybe 12 months ago.
How do you rank Nadal and Federer among the all-time greats?
John McEnroe: Roger is an incredible player and one of the best who ever lived. But having said that, what Nadal's done now, won the Olympics, has a winning record against Federer and has won two Davis Cups, there's an argument to be made that Nadal is the greatest player to ever to play the sport. If he remains healthy he'll be the greatest player who ever lived.
Bjorn Borg: I agree. If Rafa remains healthy and motivated, I'm sure he'll win more Grand Slam tournaments. Right now, Roger is the best player who ever played, but Rafa has the chance to be the best player.
Ilie Nastase: I think each great tennis player has his time, and we should protect that. When [Rod] Laver was the best, everyone looked up to Laver. When Bjorn was the best, everyone looked up to him. We have to keep it that way because we cannot say that Federer was the best. Maybe in ten years there will be someone better than Federer! In soccer it's the same thing - people compare Pele and Maradona. It's stupid to compare. I think we have to wait a little for the best champion of this time.
