Borg Won’t Go Against the Grain : Tennis: One of the game’s greatest players is trying to make a comeback. But he refuses to give up his old-fashioned wooden rackets.

Like an old warrior tempted by the prospect of future battles, Bjorn Borg has drawn his trusty wooden sword and begun preparing for a return to tennis.

It has been nearly a decade since Borg won the last of his 11 Grand Slam titles. It has been several years since a professional player used a wooden racket, still Borg’s favorite weapon.

Though most wooden rackets today are consigned to museums or musty closets, Borg had 10 of the relics restrung and shipped to him as he began serious training this summer.

Percy Rosberg, the Swede’s first coach, said Borg tried modern rackets during exhibition tours with John McEnroe a few years ago and did not like them. He occasionally practices with oversize graphite rackets now, without much success.

“He is having a tough time getting used to the new rackets,” Rosberg said. “Bjorn told me he lost control on the third or fourth stroke in a rally.”

Borg has been working out with top British junior players in London. He has refused to put a timetable on his comeback or predict whether he’ll be able to return to the tour.

But he said he’s overcome the malaise that led him to quit at the age of 26 and that he’s enjoying tennis again after a decade of personal and financial problems.

“When I retired I was not really putting in 100% every match,” he said. “Now, mentally I feel strong for tennis and I want to put my mind back into it.”

But even if Borg is able to work his 34-year-old body into top shape, can a man using a wooden racket compete with players such as Pete Sampras, who hits serves at 125 m.p.h. with a racket made with space-age technology?

“For sure the game has become more powerful and moved on,” Borg said. “That is why I have to make sure that physically and mentally I am match-ready.”

Other athletes have made gallant comebacks in recent years, but the wooden racket sets Borg apart.

George Foreman uses the same gloves as other boxers. Jockey Lester Piggott, who rode a winner in the Breeders’ Cup last month after a five-year layoff, employs the same racing tools as his peers.

Rosberg said graphite rackets increase ball speed by up to 12 m.p.h., which means Borg would be using a cannon against a ballistic missile.

Borg, who has denied reports he is seeking a comeback because he needs the money, said he is most comfortable with wood.

“I tested other rackets, but I feel at ease with my old one,” he said. “Many claim that it’s impossible to play tennis with a wooden racket nowadays. I know it’s possible.”