Borg wants Dubai to stage more events for seniors

Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg, who is coming out of retirement to play in next month's Legends Rock Dubai exhibition tournament, has called for more senior events to be organised in Dubai.

"I think it's a great idea to put up such a great event, which is much more than a simple exhibition," he said. "So I hope that there will be more senior events in Dubai because this is going to be a big success."

The Legends tournament, which will also feature former greats Illie Nastase, Michael Stich, Vijay Amritraj, Henri Leconte, Guy Forget and Mansour Bahrami, will be held at a purpose-built indoor court at the Madinat Arena from November 8-10.

Borg, the winner of six French Open men's titles and five consecutive Wimbledon crowns, retired from the Seniors tour at the end of 2000 but maintains he is in 'good shape' as he still plays 'a lot of tennis.'

"Tennis has always been and will always be a part of my life," said the Swede. "I still play tennis a lot and still enjoy it tremendously. It's kept me in good shape."

Great place

Asked if there was anything special about Dubai that encouraged him to come of his retirement, Borg commented: "At the beginning, when I started to play on the senior tour in the mid 90s, it was for the joy of playing good tennis and to see my old friends again and to spend time with them.

"But after a few years, I did not want to travel much because of my family.

"I've been to Dubai a long time ago and I know that the city is great, the people are great. So I wanted to see how Dubai has developed and to experience all the nice things that my friends tell me about the city," he said.

"But more importantly, I also want to have a few days of great tennis with my other friends.

"Obviously, the fact that this exhibition tournament is organised by Delwood and Little Dreams Foundation made a big difference in my decision, as combining the pleasure of playing good tennis with a good cause behind it is always a winner in my mind," Borg added.

" I hope people will enjoy watching us because we are definitely coming to Dubai to communicate our own enjoyment of being there."

Borg won 62 career singles titles along with four doubles titles. He reached the No 1 ranking in August of 1977 and was ranked in the top 10 from 1974 to 1981.

The Swede retired from the pro circuit in 1983 before making two brief comebacks in 1984 and 1992.

Sports Illustrated had rated Borg as the second best player of the century after Pete Sampras and above such greats as Rod Laver, Bill Tilden and John McEnroe.

In his native Sweden, he was given the ultimate tribute when his fellow athletes selected him as the Sportsperson of the Century.

"Tennis has always been and will always be a part of my life. I still play a lot of tennis and still enjoy it tremendously. It's kept me in good shape."