PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Björn Borg is one of Sweden’s absolute best athletes of all time.
Now Lasse Kronér reveals how he managed to create a memory for life.
By simply refusing to accept the legendary tennis king’s money.
The vast majority know who Lasse Kronér is. One of our most popular TV presenters after leading programs such as “That’s how it sounds”, “Bingolotto”, “Smarter than a fifth grader” and the long-running “Doobidoo”.
The Björn Borg
But before his career as a well-known TV personality, the Gothenburg citizen had a long period as an artist in the cult band Triple & Touch. Together, the trio toured and offered concerts all over the country during the years 1985 to 1999.
One of the most memorable gigs ever happened Björn Borg contacted the band. The legendary tennis icon is one of Sweden’s foremost athletes of all time and has won most things that can be won.
Borg’s call
An incredible 97 singles titles, of which a whopping 11 Grand Slam titles and five straight at Wimbledon stand out the most. In addition, Borg was ranked as world number one for a total of 109 weeks, an incredible result for the Swede who dominated world tennis for a long time in the 70s and 80s.
Now Lasse Kronér talks about the phone call from Mr. Borg that changed everything.
– Björn had seen Triple & Touch at some event and so he wanted us at his, I think it was, 40th anniversary party out on Värmdö. He asked what we should have and Göran, who was in charge of the money, said what we should have,
but then I speak up during this meeting, because I was never allowed to talk about money because I don’t know anything about money, says the TV profile when he is a guest on the podcast “Fördomspodden”.
– “No, I don’t want to be paid anything”. And then Björn says: “Huh, why not then?”. “Well, I don’t want to be paid,” I replied. “But then we share the money”, said Göran naturally.
– “No”, I said then. “You don’t. But you each take your share and I play for free. Because that’s what I want to do.”
– “But what do you want then?”, said Björn. “I want a set against you,” I replied.
– And then he said: “You get it!”
“Worth everything”
Then came Björn Borg’s 40th birthday party and Triple & Touch kept their promise of a gig. Then it was time for the tennis icon to keep his promise to Kronér.
– So we played at the 40th anniversary party and it was a fantastic event. We were there all evening and then towards the end when the sun started to rise, he said: “Now is the time”. And then I got a set. He won, he says in the podcast.
It became an unforgettable memory for life when Lasse got to play a set against his great idol.
– Just the feeling, it’s still worth all the money on earth. The feeling of standing on the other side of the net and Björn Borg serving against you. It was something… I’m totally sports crazy, I’m not that impressed when I meet musicians, but Björn in particular was such an incredible icon when I was growing up. To stand there on the other side was such an experience and it was worth the money I paid for it. Best gag I ever got in my life. He won 6-0.
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