In May 2016 , it was announced that Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf were cast as Björn Borg and John McEnroe , respectively . In an interview with '' Variety '' at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival , LaBeouf was excited about the script and working with Scandinavian directors , stating , " They make better movies . Scandinavian film making is different . It 's a different pace , a different relationship between the crew — the bonds are different " . In the same article , it was revealed that Stellan Skarsgård had been cast as Borg 's coach Lennart Bergelin , which is his first role in a Swedish film in several years . On August 16 , it was announced that Tuva Novotny and Robert Emms had joined the cast as Mariana Simionescu and Vitas Gerulaitis , respectively
2016 Cannes Film Festival
2016 Cannes Film Festival
Borg vs McEnroe