Tennis World english 38 Tennis World English 38 | Page 27

by
an
impeccable
McEnroe
volley:
12
-12.
The
crowd
sensed
that
something
had
changed.
McEnroe
seemed
bolder
on
the
following
points,
and
finally
managed
to
convert
one
of
his
many
set
points.
It
was
16-18,
and
the
crowd
was
beside
itself.
All
this,
as
I
explained
at
the
start,
happened
at
Wimbledon.
But
my
dream
was
getting
stranger...Soon
I
found
myself
at
Madison
Square
Garden.

I
recognized
the
man
on
the
chair
by
his
moustache
as
Mike
Lugg,
one
of
the
most
famous
chair
umpires
on
the
Tour.
I
just
heard
him
repeat
the
same
phrase
a
few
times:
“The
ball
was
out.”
It
was
one
of
Borg’s
shots
that
the
linesman
believed
was
good,
but
the
chair
umpire
saw
as
out.

You
might
be
thinking,
"Is
that
all?"
But,
my
friend,
it
was
special,
unique...impossible!
Bjorn
Borg,
the
man
of
ice,
had
melted.
The
Swede
approached
the
chair
and
started
arguing
a
line
call!
Borg
asked
for
an
explanation
and
received
one,
but
he
was
not
at
all
convinced.
"I
saw
it
clearly
and
it
was
clearly
out,"
said

Lugg
.
Borg
looked
at
him
blankly.
But
his
protests
were
to
no
avail.
An
umpire
cannot
go
back
and
change
an
overrule,
as
the
Scandinavian
should
know,
but
he
would
not
listen
to
reason.
"You
ask
the
line
judge,"
he
kept
saying.
Mike
Lugg
suggested
that
he
return
to
his
post
and
reiterated
that
the
score
was
4-3.
So,
it
was
another
tie-break.
I
saw
the
shot
again
in
slow-motion,
a
forehand
pass
that
flirted
with
the
baseline.
It
seemed
to
me
that
the
ball
landed
inside
the
baseline.
Lugg,
I
thought,
was
wrong.
But
it
was
not
a
match
point
and
there
was
no
apparent
reason
for
Borg
to
get
so
angry.

Borg
would
not
let
up.
He
stated
his
case
over
and
over
again,
with
the
crowd’s
whistles
and
boos
almost
drowning
out
his
words.
McEnroe,
as
surprised
as
anyone,
simply
stood
there
adjusting
the
strings
on
his
racket.

Then
Lugg’s
voice,
amplified
by
the
microphone
above
the
cacophony
of
background
noises,
said:
"Warning
mister
Borg,
time
delay!
Delay
of
game
penalty!"
It
was
the
first
warning
of
a
delay
of
game.
It
increased
the
whistles,
but
Borg
remained
motionless.
Lugg
then
invited
him
to
return
to
the
court,
to
no
avail.
Then
came
the
penalty
point.

5-3
McEnroe!
For
a
dream,
I
admit
that
it
was
extraordinarily
detailed.
I
saw
the
score:
Borg
had
won
the
first
set,
and
this
was
the
tie-break
in
the
second.

That's
why
I
think
it
was
becoming
a
matter
of
principle.
Suddenly,
another
man
appeared.
He
was
slightly
balding,
with
glasses
and
a
blue
jacket.
He
looked
like
the
director
of
the
tournament.
The
two
men
conferred,
and
Borg
was
eventually
convinced
to
return
to
the
court.
But
not
before
yet
another
point
penalty