That would be Italian Adriano Panatta. Bjorn Borg tended to win the French Open every time he entered it. Often there were very few dropped sets.
In 1973, Borg played the French Open for the first time ever. And he looked strong, beating Cliff Richey in straight sets. Pierre Barthes of France won the first set against him the second round, 6-1. But Borg found his resolve and won the next two sets (The first two rounds of the French were best-two-of-three) and the match. He also dropped the first set against Dick Stockton in the third round, but won the next three sets. The kid still had a thing or two to learn about clay, however!
Enter Adriano Panatta.
Borg met his match in this match. Panatta took the first and fourth set tiebreakers. The middle two sets were split and Borg had lost. He'd also lose at Wimbledon to England's Roger Taylor. At the US Open, Bjorn lost to Nikola Pilic. Panatta had beaten Borg twice that year on clay prior to the French, so it was no surprise at the time.
1974 was most notable for Borg in that it was his only appearance at the Australian Open. Phil Dent beat him in the round of sixteen 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. Borg, however, won an event in Auckland on January 12th of that year. He also scored wins over Panatta and Rod Laver himself in a tournament in Barcelona. At the French, he got past Raul Ramirez, Harold Solomon and Manuel Orantes in the last three rounds for his first triumph in Paris.
After losing in the third round at Wimbledon, he faced Panatta again in the finals at Bastad. He won this clay court affair 6-3, 6-0, 6-7, 6-3. It seemed liked Borg had Panatta figured out. And Borg was still only 18.
Borg dropped only one set in his next French Open appearance. It was in the semis against...Well...Panatta. Andriano won the second set 6-1, but Borg won the match and swept three straight sets from Guillermo Vilas in the finals. However, Borg and Panatta went 1-1 head-to-head the rest of the year. And Panatta had an ace on his racquet the next time they played in Paris.
Panatta, you see, didn't win in 1973. Ille Nastase won it. With Borg on the rise and Vilas not far out of the picture, Panatta's time to win it was growing short. Borg, however, nearly lost his round of sixteen match with Francois Jauffret, winning 10-8 in the fifth. Perhaps tired, perhaps due for a loss, Borg lost to Panatta in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.
Panatta again needed a fourth-set tiebreaker to beat Harold Solomon in the finals to claim the prize.
Borg again went 1-1 against Panatta outside of the French Open that year. The two would never face each other again in that tournament, which was a shame since they had many memorable matches after that. Borg skipped the 1977 French Open, won by Vilas. But he returned for 1978-1981 and won all four times.
The loss to Panatta in the 1976 French Open proved to be Borg's last versus the Italian. Borg went 5-0 against him from there (Including a win in one of Borg's last ATP tour matches, prior to his 1991 comeback), finishing up their head-to-head, 7-4 despite a 4-2 head start for Adriano kept the matches close, but Borg found a way.
It really is a shame Borg gave up competitive tennis after 1981, essentially. His rivalry with McEnroe was great, but he had no real rival on clay, other then Panatta. Imagine how many more gems we could have gotten. Certainly nothing would have surpassed their five-set duel in the 1978 Italian Finals!
References
Collins, Bud. The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. Washington, D.C.: New Chapter, 2010. Print.
Haylett, John, and Richard Evans. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Tennis. New York: Exeter, 1989. Print.
Infosys, FedEx, Peugeot, and LeSports. Official Site of Men's Professional Tennis | ATP World Tour | Tennis. ATP World Tour. Emirates. Web. 29 July 2015. <http://www.atpworldtour.com/>
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 29 July 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>
In 1973, Borg played the French Open for the first time ever. And he looked strong, beating Cliff Richey in straight sets. Pierre Barthes of France won the first set against him the second round, 6-1. But Borg found his resolve and won the next two sets (The first two rounds of the French were best-two-of-three) and the match. He also dropped the first set against Dick Stockton in the third round, but won the next three sets. The kid still had a thing or two to learn about clay, however!
Enter Adriano Panatta.
Borg met his match in this match. Panatta took the first and fourth set tiebreakers. The middle two sets were split and Borg had lost. He'd also lose at Wimbledon to England's Roger Taylor. At the US Open, Bjorn lost to Nikola Pilic. Panatta had beaten Borg twice that year on clay prior to the French, so it was no surprise at the time.
1974 was most notable for Borg in that it was his only appearance at the Australian Open. Phil Dent beat him in the round of sixteen 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. Borg, however, won an event in Auckland on January 12th of that year. He also scored wins over Panatta and Rod Laver himself in a tournament in Barcelona. At the French, he got past Raul Ramirez, Harold Solomon and Manuel Orantes in the last three rounds for his first triumph in Paris.
After losing in the third round at Wimbledon, he faced Panatta again in the finals at Bastad. He won this clay court affair 6-3, 6-0, 6-7, 6-3. It seemed liked Borg had Panatta figured out. And Borg was still only 18.
Borg dropped only one set in his next French Open appearance. It was in the semis against...Well...Panatta. Andriano won the second set 6-1, but Borg won the match and swept three straight sets from Guillermo Vilas in the finals. However, Borg and Panatta went 1-1 head-to-head the rest of the year. And Panatta had an ace on his racquet the next time they played in Paris.
Panatta, you see, didn't win in 1973. Ille Nastase won it. With Borg on the rise and Vilas not far out of the picture, Panatta's time to win it was growing short. Borg, however, nearly lost his round of sixteen match with Francois Jauffret, winning 10-8 in the fifth. Perhaps tired, perhaps due for a loss, Borg lost to Panatta in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.
Panatta again needed a fourth-set tiebreaker to beat Harold Solomon in the finals to claim the prize.
Borg again went 1-1 against Panatta outside of the French Open that year. The two would never face each other again in that tournament, which was a shame since they had many memorable matches after that. Borg skipped the 1977 French Open, won by Vilas. But he returned for 1978-1981 and won all four times.
The loss to Panatta in the 1976 French Open proved to be Borg's last versus the Italian. Borg went 5-0 against him from there (Including a win in one of Borg's last ATP tour matches, prior to his 1991 comeback), finishing up their head-to-head, 7-4 despite a 4-2 head start for Adriano kept the matches close, but Borg found a way.
It really is a shame Borg gave up competitive tennis after 1981, essentially. His rivalry with McEnroe was great, but he had no real rival on clay, other then Panatta. Imagine how many more gems we could have gotten. Certainly nothing would have surpassed their five-set duel in the 1978 Italian Finals!
References
Collins, Bud. The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. Washington, D.C.: New Chapter, 2010. Print.
Haylett, John, and Richard Evans. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Tennis. New York: Exeter, 1989. Print.
Infosys, FedEx, Peugeot, and LeSports. Official Site of Men's Professional Tennis | ATP World Tour | Tennis. ATP World Tour. Emirates. Web. 29 July 2015. <http://www.atpworldtour.com/>
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 29 July 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>
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