Borg relishing a McEnroe clash

Dubai: The legendary Bjorn Borg is relishing his final match-up with his oldtime foe John McEnroe at this week's The Legends Rock Dubai.

The three-day event, with the Borg versus McEnroe encounter as the highlight - gets under way at the Madinat Jumeirah with the Kids Day from 3 pm today.

"I am ready for John McEnroe," Borg said at the official announcement of the event yesterday.

"It has been quite a while since we played each other... maybe four years now. I met John two weeks back, and I think both of us are looking forward to this encounter here," Borg stated.

McEnroe arrived on the direct Emirates Airline flight from New York late last night. Two weeks back, McEnroe played in the men's doubles with Jonas Bjorkman as his partner.

Final encounter

"He is in good form and I too have been looking forward to this day," Borg admitted.

"But for sure, this will be the last time ever that we will play each other in the singles," he insisted.

Ever since he visited Dubai last year, Borg has taken a fancy for Dubai. He visited again in March this year with his entire family. "I love this place and since we had such a good event last year, I hope we can repeat the same success this year too," Borg stated.

The Swede was nostalgic about his past on court meetings with McEnroe. "We've played so many times in the past, and every meeting was something special. I always have this special feeling when I play John, and this stems from the fact that both of us have tremendous respect for each other, both on and off the court," Borg said.

"I want to do well, especially because this is McEnroe," he smiled.

However, he is not too worried about the final outcome when they play their historic singles match on Thursday. "If any of us lose, then it is not the end of the world," Borg shrugged.

Reverting back to his rather short but brilliant career on the men's Tour, the Swedish legend insisted he has nothing more to prove. "I simply have no regrets in life. Andre Agassi had a brilliant career that lasted till his late 30s, but I stopped quite early. But I had some great moments during this period," Borg stated.

The three-day event, which is being organised by Delwood, features other greats like Ilie Nastase, Mansour Bahrami, Henri Leconte, Guy Forget, Emilio Sanchez and Peter McNamara.

"The highlight will be the singles between McEnroe and Borg," stated Farbod Dowlatshahi, President of Delwood.

With HSBC as the title sponsors, top companies such as Rolex, Cadillac, Cacharel, Damas, Saks Fifth Avenue, ARN, Pocari, Christie's and Gulf News have backed this event.

The King Hussain Cancer Foundation and Dubai Centre for Special Needs will be the two charities benefitting from the auction during the event.