I've been a huge tennis fan all my life and love playing the game as well as watching it. A few years ago, I went with my husband Robert, to watch one of the Masters Tennis events at the Albert Hall where the tennis legends, Borg, McEnroe, Cash amongst others still battle it out on court.
At the end of the match which was won by Bjorn Borg, he hit a number of tennis balls up into the crowd, which had numbers on. If you managed to catch one of the balls, you had the chance of going on to the court to face a serve from the great man himself, Bjorn Borg.
Anyone who could return his serve successfully, would win a trip to the States.
Whilst I do play tennis a lot, I freely admit I can't catch, whereas my husband can but doesn't play tennis. This proved to be the perfect combination as Robert caught one of the numbered balls and immediately handed it to me.
I was to be 6th in the line of people who were to participate. It's safe to say I wasn't exactly dressed ideally to face the great former champion.
It was a night out so high heeled boots and tight jeans didn't exactly make me feel perfectly equipped for the task. I was given John Lloyd's racquet to use. So there I was, waiting to take my turn.
First person goes to try, Borg serves an ace. 2nd Ace, 3rd Ace, 4th Ace, 5th Ace. No one had even managed to get a racquet anywhere near the ball as it sped passed them.
My turn. Here I was, on court, with thousands of people watching me, about to face the serve of one of the biggest legends to have ever played the game - see John Barrett's memory of Borg v McEnroe 1980 Final if you need a reminder! - my moment had come.
Borg is right handed and was famed for his control of the baseline. Here he was preparing to serve to me! He tossed the ball high in the air and with one swing of his right arm, launched the ball towards me. I made contact!
Not only that but I got the ball back over the net..... Alas it landed out, so the trip to the States didn't materialise, but I can still say, I remember returning Bjorn Borg's serve!
Memory added on June 22, 2012
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