We live in an era where three men – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are rewriting tennis history as they dominate the sport in a manner that is completely unprecedented. Between the trio, they have won 56 Grand Slam titles. Yet there was a time where three other men might well have done the same.

Two Americans – Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe – and one Swede, the eponymous Björn Borg, were constantly in the limelight as the 1970’s gave way to the 1980’s. In total, they won 26 Grand Slam titles between them, but it may have been so many more. This week, we look at why Björn Borg walked away from the game when he was at his untouchable best.

We look at the feats of messrs Djokovic, Nadal and Federer so commonly that it would be feasible to imagine that no other records existed before they came along, or still exist despite their recent dominance of the sport. John McEnroe, however, was one man who created history that still resonates on the ATP tour to this day. Winning seven Grand Slam titles, McEnroe also holds more records than you may be aware of.

For 20 years on the professional ATP Tour, John McEnroe carved out a period of success that, even now, seems scarcely believable. In the first ‘golden years’ of tennis, an era that produced such fearsome adversaries as Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors still saw ‘Mack’ win seven Grand Slams, four U.S. Open titles and three Wimbledon Men’s Singles title. They were just the headlines of a stunning career which began in New York City.