I vote for Marat Safin! :D

Bjorn Borg. Sigh. He gets my vote as well on a variety of levels. :D He is the original tennis sex symbol and surely the gold standard. I also vote for his shorts as tennis attire of the century.

pure class this guy. what marat does now borg was first to do. :D

I was wondering how long you'd wait to put this up. Right well in time for the tournament. LOL.

Cheryl said it best, Bjorn was and is the gold standard. If there happens to be an overall GOAT award he gets it. I'm only befuddled when deciding if he looks better then or now.

I gather many girls will pick Marat for this and any other contest too. LOL. They can't go a day without him.

serious that the name of safin cannot be in a sentence with borg. not close imo even when little girls screams louder!! :D

Louder screams mean more devoted fans? LOL. Marat takes the lead there I'd guess.

borg------>greatest, hottest whatever else. tbhwy i think he improved in looks as an older guy.

you never hear this? little teenager girls screaming like banshees for him all the time, like i say before he is being treated like jesus. :/

I lean that way also. He looks like a silver fox now.

Girls treat Marat like Jesus? LOL. I haven't heard it before now.

silver fox----->perfect. he looks better than the guys less half his age!

yes like jesus. go read top comment again and see. this writing talk of borg, probably nobody better than him ever live. what is there you see? one of his little girls says I VOTE FOR MARAT SAFIN. :/

I can't take credit for that comment, dear. I'm not sure where I found it, but some writer penned it for an article and it right well struck a chord with him. Silver fox seemed to fit him as a glove would.

What can I say about that? Marat has a vocal group of supporters who want to be heard.

problem with them is making normal fans look stupid. never you gonna hear nothing intelligent come from screaming safin fangirl. sad plus true! :/

That's the name of the game, dear. Being a fan gives them a chance to let go and support their man in any way they want. You can't regulate intelligence, trust that I have tried and failed quite well miserably. LOL.

i was too young 2c him play but loves loves loves this blog. that b&w pic of him is amazing. i have to replace agassi as all time hot!!!

Your author can thank me for retrieval, otherwise she wouldn't have had it. LOL. Most of us are too young to remember, praise videos and highlight reels to seal the gap.

I quite concur about the black and white photograph, dear. I love it so.

seeing it gets me thinking how ugly macenroe must have felt.

he's another athlete who could have made $ as a model i swear.

I wondered how long it was going to be before it would appear. John McEnroe was on the other side of the spectrum. Never should he pose next to Bjorn, unless he is content to look like his duf. LOL.

??? dunno what that is rq... "duf"?

i didn't want to ask first, in case i should know but don't--->ends up looking stupid.

That's an oldie meaning "designated ugly friend." LOL. Gosh I'll be in a heap of trouble for saying that about him, but John was never a looker.

lmfao awww so mean rq!!! mac isn't great but u think he's that ugly? {dies next to borg}

Yes dear, I do.

super short answer & you never do that. why rq lol i'm nosy...

I harbor dislike for John, because he was all the things SI said he was. He made himself look bad, and for all his triumphs didn't do a thing to improve the American image. He was abusive, and people have forgotten it just because he's greyed around the temples.

I have scant good things to say about him and find it ironic that Bjorn is friends with him to this day. LOL.

mac----->jerk
borg=class

they've got totally different personalities lol...

one have class, one is biggest ****hole tennis ever has seen. :D

elle- who is that sampras or connors? haha

I don't support players who transfer abuse to the outside, yelling at line judges or chair umpires, what have you. John did that and I detested it. It's unfair to hold players to a Bjorn model of conduct or gold standard, but John was really out of control.

please you are joking. connors is same jerk without class like mcenroe, you ever seen him play? wiping out lines plus every time yell at someone. so he is great of a player but got nothing for sportsmanship. :/

Jimmy Connors didn't irk me the same way John did, but he was hardly better. I have never enjoyed the antics of loud and obnoxious players.

lol he was bad! there were a couple brats in that era. they needed borg to even things out.

Another guy who had burned more than he made friends with. It lingers, dear. LOL.

mcenroe and connors still hate each other don't they?

Hmm, I don't know. I remember he did not get on well with Jimmy and Ivan Lendl. If I am correct, he mended fences with the latter. You may well look up any information about the former, I am not up to date on that.

Good night dear, cheers.

lol i found some :p
TENNIS FEUDS

1) THE BAD BOY vs THE BRAT

It was hate at first sight when Jimmy Connors, who had reigned with Bjorn Borg during most of the 1970s, confronted John McEnroe, an equally fiery Irish-American.

Proud and pugnacious Connors resented the outrageously talented punk who would take attention, money and titles from him. Mac resented the lack of respect Jimbo gave him.

In the 1979 Grand Prix Masters, Connors dismissively predicted, "Remember he's still a young boy; McEnroe will be good practice for me" before McEnroe upset him, 7-5, 3-0, retired, to signal the changing of the guard. "That ****face McEnroe" was how Connors described his arch-rival.

The younger (by six years) McEnroe came out on top, 20-13, in their often controversial matches, although Connors led 8-7 in Grand Slam singles titles. Their verbal volleys were even, though, and always entertaining.

where is this article posted?

i found it on a i never go there trip to tennis warehouse but it's orginally from an article in sports illustrated from 2005 or 2006.

link please? thank you...

here it is from tw- http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=147408

ty :) the girls fights are really funny.

you think of it, none are friends. media make that up like they are, but never the truth. talking to players only meaning they can wait for minute or two before killing the other guy. :D

If you google 'tennis feuds' you will find a number of sites giving examples of famous spats.

I have only seen Marat on TV but I was lucky enough to see BB play at Wimbledon a number of times. And I can assure you tennis had never seen anything like the groupie fan hysteria and screaming that greeted Borg - only equalled by the scenes normally saved for pop groups.

Wimbledon seemed to bring out the worst in McEnroe and he got a perverse pleasure in stirring up the rather stuffy establishment figures that dominated The All England Tennis Club in that era - but the crowds loved these punch ups and they made good copy for the English tabloid papers who purported to disapprove but knew the public lapped up the stories of his tantrums. His autobiography 'You Cant be Serious' should be required reading for anyone wanting to understand this man better. He has also made the transition to become a superb live tennis commentator.

I agree with everybody who says BB has aged well and is, if anything, more attractive now than he was in his prime as a tennis player.

borg hysteria was like boy band hysteria. anyone have links to it anywhere?

Well I wasn't too young when he was playing. The only choice I could make for the greatest on so many levels is Bjorn Borg.:)

McEnroe was the flip side of the coin. Brash but entertaining and YES I said that. :x

I don't have a link to any hysterical sort of event, but he has a few fan clubs that are fun viewing.

http://www.bjornborg.20m.com/

"Quiet sensuality!" Dani does it again! The standard of the language is top notch! RocketQueen! If I laugh any harder I'll have a baby! GOAT? Hilarious. I'm a cow!

didn't safin say grass was for cows in an interview? funny talk coming from a semifinalist.

DvD Looking at the shots of BB in his prime highlights the fascinating history of the rise and fall of the hemline in tennis shorts. Borg had (still has) those amazing long, muscular legs and wore the shortest shorts of all that allowed us to appreciate them to the full. Perhaps you could start a campaign for a return to the hot-pants of the 60s and 70s!

Thank the good lord I returned with a glass of red! HA ed's comment is a regular *brilliant riot!! If there is any place to vote for a return, I'll withstand the bf's eyerolling and vote. Borg was a trendsetter and I want to campaign for a return. *smiles*

:D plus one :D no resistance coming from me----->raise the hemline

Hilarious all round. Glass of red! Tea he! I almost didnt see my own reply. Hilarious!

Going back to the McEnroe-Borg story - go to
www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468303266.html
to read the contemporary reports of that era.

Going back to the McEnroe-Borg story - go to
www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468303266.html
to read the contemporary reports of that era.

By drooling over BB we all seem to have gone off at a tangent from the main point of your article. Please add Ken Rosewall to be considered for your GOAT list. If only because he spanned possibly the longest period - 25 years - winning titles on all surfaces during a career which spanned the change from amateur to professional status.

interesting article about them albeit nearly impossible to read it all. paragraphs would be great next time.