Federer the favourite for Wimbledon? He's not even in Borg's top two

Bjorn Borg knows a golden age when he sees one.

Burnt-out at 26, this tennis deity, underwear magnate and chilled epitome of healthy Swedish living can also spot the end of the line for a great player, so Roger Federer will wince to find himself third on The Iceman's list of this year's likely Wimbledon winners.

Bad tidings for Federer, who seeks to surpass Borg's sequence of five consecutive singles titles, but good news for Andy Murray, of whom Borg said on Centre Court yesterday: 'He's such a talented player, Andy.

Old and new: Borg doesn't believe Federer will win six consecutive Wimbledon titles

'He can play on any surface and I believe he can beat any player, win any tournament.

'He's still very young. He's been a little unlucky with injuries, so it's going to take time for him to get back. But I see him as a future Grand Slam tournament winner. Yes, I do.'

They were painting the lines for next week's Championships and Borg, whose immense charisma stemmed from his inscrutability, stared long and hard at the perfect grass where he ran up five victories from 1976-1980.

With his six French Open wins, he annexed 11 Grand Slam titles in eight years and was John McEnroe's implacable foe in one of sport's greatest individual rivalries.

For anyone over 40, there is a tendency to believe this artistic intensity can never be replicated on Centre Court, just as some boxing aficionados cannot look beyond the eras of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and rugby will always be the Welsh teams of the Seventies to those who love to suck in nostalgia's sweet air.

Nothing wrong with that. Sport is about deep personal memory. But Borg, 52, is not from that school.

He said: 'This is definitely a golden era, with Novak Djokovic joining Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top. The rivalry now is three guys instead of two and that's great for tennis.

'Nadal and Djokovic played unbelievable grass court tennis in the final at Queen's.

'If Nadal survives the first three rounds he is my favourite to win. My second choice is Djokovic and my third is Federer. He plays consistently well here but the way Djokovic and Nadal played last week you would think they'd been playing on grass for three weeks. They'd just come from the French Open and they played unbelievable tennis.

'Nadal was serving better, moving better, playing a bit more aggressively. I think he's found the 100 per cent point where he knows how to handle his grasscourt game. He's 100 per cent sure. You can see his confidence. To beat them both, Federer must play better than last year.'

It is reassuring to find one of the game's masters so enthused but also radiating contentment.

The emotional dislocation of his immediate retirement years was blown up into a 'breakdown', a tragedy of sporting triumph that led only to emptiness.

But his command of life now matches his mastery of the court.

He said: 'The priority is family. I live in Stockholm. I play my four or five hours of tennis every week. I'm involved with the Bjorn Borg clothing company, which is doing really well. I have a kind of perfect life. I'm a very happy person and I have been for many years.

'When I retired from tennis, I should have been more prepared. I was 26, I was very young, I just wanted to get away from tennis and try different things, learn things.

'For many years now I've found the harmony and the happiness in my life. Some people never do.'

Love for the game, he says, never left him, even after an abortive comeback attempt, with his wooden racket.

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He says: 'When I stepped away I lost the motivation, But still I was following tennis every year. From 1981, my last year, I have watched every Wimbledon final.

'I'd never miss a Federer-Nadal match, because you know they're going to play great tennis. They bring out the best from each other, like me and John did.

'Before the French Open Final in Paris (which Nadal won, with contemptuous ease), I said I thought Federer had a chance to win.

'That's the best I'd seen him play on clay. But when he played Nadal he didn't really play his game and he tried to create too many chances. Mentally, it's tough to have a loss like that, but he'll forget that now. When he left Paris, he was thinking only of Wimbledon.'

Demons featured heavily in our conversation, mainly in relation to Murray, but Borg is steadfast in his faith in Britain's No 1.

His enthusiasm is real, not diplomatic: 'Andy can play soft, he can play aggressive, he can stay back, he can come in. I think he just needs to be playing enough, and staying away from injuries, to get mentally tough enough.

'If you look at Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, it's very rare you see those guys injured. You need to play all the time to get tough on the court, physically and mentally. With injury comes frustration.

'If Andy keeps playing tough matches, in tournaments, eventually he will get everything together, because he has that much talent. And I believe he wants to be a great player, to win that Grand Slam tournament.'

The great judges keep saying this about Murray. So the hot ball of responsibility is now firmly in his court.