SECOND SCREEN

Tennis does not lend itself to films, but this autumn there are two, with the most eagerly awaited – Battle Of The Sexes, a recreation of the famous 1973 encounter between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs – due out in November.

So, we can warm up with Borg Vs McEnroe (15A)★★★, which recreates events leading up to the epic Wimbledon final of 1980, when the great Bjorn Borg was aiming to land his fifth title in a row while the unruly upstart John McEnroe was out to stop him.

I went in having totally forgotten who had won and if you can do the same, I’d recommend it. With a hefty chunk dedicated to the final – widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever – not knowing the outcome definitely adds to the excitement.

Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason (below right) is astonishingly convincing as the ice-cool Borg, while Shia LaBeouf (inset below) gives it his best shot as the volatile McEnroe – and, yes, we do get the notorious, ‘You cannot be serious!’

I loved being reminded of a time when the likes of Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis and Ilie Nastase made tennis such a compelling game, but despite sterling supporting work from the ever-reliable Stellan Skarsgard as Borg’s coach, the end result lacks the vital cinematic oomph to make it a classic.