Mats Wilander - 'There was no Wilander hype in '82 at French Open like there is with Carlos Alcaraz' - Legends' Voice

40 years ago, Sweden was mourning the retirement of a legend. Bjorn Borg left tennis at 26. He was the king of tennis, and especially the king of Roland-Garros, where he won for the last time in 1981.

Then, a year later, the new Borg arrived. He was Swedish, too. He was 17 and surged to the title in Paris, creating one of the biggest surprises ever at the French Open.

His name was Mats Wilander and he was probably the most surprised of all. Ad/> When he came to Paris, Mats never imagined or even dreamed of winning a Grand Slam. Roland-GarrosNo foot fault: Fans flock to watch Nadal practice in Paris following injury scare14 HOURS AGO — — - My mindset before the 1982 French Open was that I was a little bit surprised that I was actually winning matches and surviving as a professional.

I was just happy to win matches, to be honest. I knew I was probably by far the best 17 years old player in the world and I also only knew how to play on clay. I won the boys' singles in Roland-Garros in 1981.

I played really smart when I was a kid but against men, I never really had a plan. I was naive and not even close to being good enough to beat anybody. I was very confident in my ability to understand what with my game I could do against everybody, but not very confident that it was ever going to be enough to win.

I knew what I was capable of doing, which was not much. No first serve, no forehand that hit winners. Good backhand, but no slice.

I knew how to volley, always knew because I was playing a lot of doubles. But that's all. That's who I was.

I never, ever had the imagination that I could win a Grand Slam. There was no Wilander hype in '82 like there is an Alcaraz one today. Not at all.