My dad’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time but he’s not my idol… now I get to play my true hero as a pro
LEO BORG has drawn Rafael Nadal in a blockbuster first round at the ATP 250 event in Bastad.
Borg, 21, is the son of tennis icon Bjorn – who hung up his wooden racquet more than 40 years ago.
The elder Borg, 68, is one of the sport’s biggest ever stars – winning 11 Grand Slam titles before dramatically retiring aged just 26.
But his son Leo, who sports shaggy blond hair vaguely reminiscent of his father’s, has a different idol – Nadal.
He revealed: “I met Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup because my father is the captain of the European team.
“He was always my idol since I was little.”
Borg is ranked No467 in the world, with his career high placing of No334 achieved in September last year.
He primarily spends his time on the lower-tier ITF and Challenger circuits – but as a Swede has received a wildcard into the Nordea Open, hosted in Bastad.
Nadal, 38, has also taken a wildcard into the event – having opted to skip Wimbledon in order to focus on the Paris Olympics, which will be played on clay.
He was last in action at Roland Garros, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in round one.
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The 22-time Major champion has entered the singles and doubles event in Bastad.
In addition to beginning his singles campaign against Borg, the Spaniard will also partner up with Casper Ruud in the doubles.
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The pair, who were handed a wildcard into the draw, will play second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes Varela in round one.
Main draw action in Bastad will get underway on Monday.
Borg, meanwhile, was last in action in June – when he lost in round one to world No782 Alan Fernando Rubio Ferreros at an ITF event in San Diego.
His ranking was not high enough to get him into the qualifying event for Wimbledon.
Earlier this year he did get his hands on some silverware.
Borg won an ITF M15 event in Kingston, Jamaica back in May.
Last year, Borg insisted that he wants to become a professional tennis player in his own right, rather than having to live up to his dad’s considerable reputation.
‘I WOULD LIKE TO REACH THE TOP TEN’
He said: “I want to be a professional and make a living from tennis… I would like to reach the top ten.
“The truth is that I have always wanted to play tennis on my own initiative.
“I know that he is proud of me, of what I am doing, and I hope I have a good future.”
On living up to his famous surname, he added: “I was having a hard time with it when I was younger, with people following me on the court or outside the courts, and I was not used to that.
“But I’m getting used to it and I can control it more.
“I just have to control it because it’s going to be following me all my career. It doesn’t bother me. I’m just focusing on my goal, on my tennis.”
Nadal is set to play singles and doubles at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
He is scheduled to play in the latter event in a blockbuster team alongside Carlos Alcaraz – who will contest tomorrow’s Wimbledon men’s singles final against Novak Djokovic.
