Wimbledon intercourse image had ‘women throwing themselves at him’ like The Beatles

Tennis gamers have largely grow to be recognized for his or her champion mentality on the court docket and their personal, well mannered nature off it – see Roger Federer. While a few of the greatest names as we speak hold the give attention to their tennis, the sport’s stars as soon as had a really totally different repute. And two-time Grand Slam champion Tracy Austin has defined precisely how her technology earned a repute for being celebrities and intercourse symbols.

The sport has largely evaded the realm of superstar in current a long time, with solely the likes of the Williams sisters and Naomi Osaka making appearances on discuss reveals. But tennis stars had been as soon as as well-known as The Beatles, with girls “throwing themselves” at Bjorn Borg whereas different stars hit headlines for his or her relationships with one another.

“I mean when Bjorn walked through the grounds of Wimbledon to go to the tea room, he was like a rockstar,” Austin informed Express Sport. “It was like The Beatles, you just saw this magnetism and people wanted to know more about him and who he was dating so it wasn’t just the tennis but it was the off-court stuff.”

And it wasn’t simply the 11-time Grand Slam champion who was making waves when it got here to his love life, as Chris Evert additionally hit headlines as she had relationships with a number of colleagues and actor Burt Reynolds. “We don’t see a lot of it now,” former world No 1 Austin continued.

“But with Chrissie dating Burt Reynolds and engaged to Jimmy and then she marries John Lloyd, that might pull in some fans who are not interested in sport and cross-courts and backhand lobs, you know what I’m saying? There were a lot of just the tennis players you’ve got to respect them as champions but celebrities. When I came home I was on so many different shows that didn’t have anything to do with tennis. So it kind of crossed over the barrier of just sports.”

Austin burst onto the scene when she was simply 14 years outdated and on the age of 16, she defeated Evert to win her first of two US Open titles. The American described the period as a “tennis boom” and stated that even within the midst of the golden period, the gamers had been conscious of the hysteria they had been inflicting.

“It was very apparent,” she stated. “You had Bjorn Borg who was swarmed, the young ladies just throwing themselves at him like the Beatles and he was just a sex symbol to tell you the truth. And very quiet, played from the baseline, very stoic.”