Borg Passes Past Purcell on His Way to Semifinals : Tennis: Legendary Swede wins, 7-6, 6-4, in Digital PC Champions tournament.

It was fast and it was furious, and when it was over Bjorn Borg and Mel Purcell sat on a couch sipping beers and discussing the Digital PC Champions tournament’s best match to date.

“Everyone expects the greatest from him and they’re getting it,” said Purcell of Borg, the 7-6, 6-4 winner of their quarterfinal match Friday night at the Sherwood Country Club.

“I tried to chip and come in, but you have to be wary at the net because he passes so well.”

The legendary Borg may have been better known than his opponent, an assistant tennis coach at Murray State University in Kentucky and the tour’s quickest player, but Purcell was only a few points away from besting his Swedish foe.

“He’s all over the court,” said Borg, who also defeated Purcell in the second round of Wimbledon in 1981. “I was hitting on the lines and in the corners, but Mel, he was hitting well too.”

The pair played at an almost-frantic pace that featured virtually no down time between serves and kept the ball kids scrambling to retrieve errant shots before play resumed.

Borg, who won a 7-3 tiebreaker to clinch the first set, closed out the match in telling fashion. As a shivering crowd of 3,000 tensed, Borg answered a running volley by Purcell with a perfectly placed forehand down the line and into the corner as Purcell collapsed backward onto the court, arms in the air.

In the afternoon matches, Johan Kriek polished off Mansour Bahrami 7-5, 6-4, and Jose-Luis Clerc defeated Larry Stefanki 6-2, 6-2.

RELATED STORY: C8