Borg /McEnroe is a biopic drama about two athletes, both at the top of their careers, whose personalities couldn’t have been more different.

“They called Borg ‘The Iceberg.’ He was the handsome ‘good guy,’ who kept his emotions in check and was loved by everybody. McEnroe stood out as the spirited rebel, nicknamed ‘Superbrat.’ They were like fire and ice, almost completely opposite athletic archetypes,” said producer Fredrik Wikström Nicastro of SF Studios in an interview with the Czech daily during shooting in prague.

The pivotal scene in the film is the famous 1980 championship match at Wimbledon, where the then 24-year-old Swedish “Iceberg” confronted his 21-year-old American rival, known for his uncontrollable outbursts. It was these scenes that were filmed in prague, at the Štvanice tennis courts, which for a time morphed into the Wimbledon arena.

“Borg/McEnroe has a powerful tension about it, on a par with the electric energy of Toronto on opening night,” said piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF. “The story of this nail-biter matchup changed the sport of tennis forever, and the outstanding performances from LaBeouf and Gudnason will be a spectacular way for festivalgoers to kick things off.”

The film takes place in Sweden, the US, and Monaco, with scenes filmed in Sweden as well as Prague. The three stars are Shia LaBeouf (John McEnroe), Sverrir Gudnason (Björn Borg), and Stellan Skarsgård as Borg’s coach, Lennart Bergelin, with Tuva Novotny, an actress of Czech origin, cast by director Janus Metz Pedersen in the role of Borg’s girlfriend. Filming in Prague took place in August 2016, in cooperation with the Czech company Sirena Film. The Czech Film Fund provided incentive support amounting to 415,000 euros, with the filmmakers spending almost 2.3 million euros in the Czech Republic.

"Prague was the setting mainly for the scenes from Monaco and London, where much of the story takes place,” said producer Nicastro. “We first scouted locations in london, then Latvia and Estonia. We found great locations here, with incentives and local organizations playing a role as well.