2015 Wimbledon Championships…ATP 2000…London, Great Britain

[don_budge]

Jumping the gun? Perhaps. But this may be my last Wimbledon…it's all about Roger Federer. I just couldn't wait any longer. Maybe we can do a little warmup in the meantime. Here's one for beginners…it's John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at the 1980 Wimbledon. It's the finals. They are both playing with little wooden racquets. But the play belies the puny equipment. The play is large…it was never larger. On the stage was the greatest matchup of all time. These two great actors…these two diametrically opposed beings. They came together to delight us with their play. Sadly…it was only a farewell to what is now referred to as "Classic Tennis".

John McEnroe vs. Bjorn Borg 1980 Wimbledon Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXpo9LwCmAo

I remember watching this match. I won't say what I was doing…but I told this one fellow here in Sweden over dinner one night with our golf school. We ate veal with caviar and a creme desert. He remembered pulling off the road and checking into a Scandia Hotel here just to watch the match. If you saw this match you remember where you were. It was unforgettable. Tennis was evolving…only evolving. The wooden racquets were testimony to this fact. This sad fact.

[klacr]

Wimbledon: the greatest fortnight in sports.

Wearing all white at my club for the next two weeks. Members say I'm strange, but I'm good at what I do so they will give me a pass.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[tennis_chiro]

Wimbledon: the greatest fortnight in sports.

Wearing all white at my club for the next two weeks. Members say I'm strange, but I'm good at what I do so they will give me a pass.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Why would a smart guy like you wear anything other than a white shirt in the hot Florida sun? I always teach in a white shirt and almost always white shorts...and I usually teach at night!

don

[lobndropshot]

Because black is cooler than white. http://io9.com/5903956/the-physics-t...ck-this-summer

[stotty]

The greatest game ever in Stotty's book...

Jumping the gun? Perhaps. But this may be my last Wimbledon…it's all about Roger Federer. I just couldn't wait any longer. Maybe we can do a little warmup in the meantime. Here's one for beginners…it's John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at the 1980 Wimbledon. It's the finals. They are both playing with little wooden racquets. But the play belies the puny equipment. The play is large…it was never larger. On the stage was the greatest matchup of all time. These two great actors…these two diametrically opposed beings. They came together to delight us with their play. Sadly…it was only a farewell to what is now referred to as "Classic Tennis".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXpo9LwCmAo

I remember watching this match. I won't say what I was doing…but I told this one fellow here in Sweden over dinner one night with our golf school. We ate veal with caviar and a creme desert. He remembered pulling off the road and checking into a Scandia Hotel here just to watch the match. If you saw this match you remember where you were. It was unforgettable. Tennis was evolving…only evolving. The wooden racquets were testimony to this fact. This sad fact.

Still the best match ever played in my book. The final set was a phenomenal feat of mental strength. Going 0-30 on serve in the final set, Borg strengthened his resolve and lost just one more point on his serve during the entire fifth. It took Borg just those two points to regroup after the terrible blow of losing the fourth. Borg said walking back to his chair to change ends after losing the fourth was the worst he had ever felt on a tennis court. You would never have known it. His inner feelings were impenetrable like no other player ever. What an asset to have in a game like ours.

I always think those two took the level of tennis about as far as it was ever going with wooden rackets. They eked the most possible out of those weedy little frames.

[tennis_chiro]

Because black is cooler than white. http://io9.com/5903956/the-physics-t...ck-this-summer

I don't buy it. Maybe when the sun is mild. That's also why I don't understand how players play in t-shirts without an open collar. I have to have the polo shirt collar and the buttons undone. I can handle 75 to 80 in the shade, but when the sun is beating down on me, I need my white reflecting clothing.

don

[lobndropshot]

And I will keep my radiant clothing.

[klacr]

Why would a smart guy like you wear anything other than a white shirt in the hot Florida sun? I always teach in a white shirt and almost always white shorts...and I usually teach at night!

don

Because I do like a little flash and color. I usually wear Nike because That's what my pro shop sells and Nike has been good to me over the years. In the last year I've been wearing lots of Berdych's H&M stuff. To be honest, the heat doesn't bother me. Yes, I'm a sicko but I thrive in hot, muggy conditions. It was only 91 degrees today with 90% humidity. Downright chilly for these parts this time of year. Bring the heat and suffering, then I really show the folks what I'm made of.

As for Wimbledon, Borg-McEnroe was really something. A glorious event not just in tennis, but in sports.

But for Wimbledon 2015, This may be Fed's last chance. Will also be interesting to see how Djokovic shakes off the french open loss and defends his title.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Wimbledon History: Black and White…Classic vs. Modern

Because black is cooler than white. http://io9.com/5903956/the-physics-t...ck-this-summer

Talk about incendiary titles. White versus Black. But we are talking clothing here. There is something about the white clothing that speaks of respect for the game. Leave it to Wimbledon to hold on to one of the remaining vestiges in this regard. But the people of the Middle East seem to be most comfortable decked out from head to toe in all black.

But with regard to the Borg and McEnroe…some of the following stands out in contrast to the play of nowadays.

-the wear of the court
-the white tennis balls
-ball kids are retrieving balls…not towels
-players bring the essentials to the court
-classic tennis…all court tennis from baseline to the net
-serve and volley
-interesting tactics
-wooden racquets with gut string
-no hawkeye
-both players bounce the ball once or twice before they serve

and all the rest…

I always think those two took the level of tennis about as far as it was ever going with wooden rackets. They eked the most possible out of those weedy little frames.

I am not certain that John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg took the game to its highest possible level. It certainly was historically great. Even so there may have been other rivalries in the offing. The sad part is that we will never know.

If only Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander, Pete Sampras and all of the rest right on through to the current and only Living Proof Roger Federer all had used the same equipment as McEnroe, Borg, Connors and Lendl. We would have had some of the best tennis that ever was played. That is the thing about the game as it was…it was constantly evolving and revolving. It went through cycles of play. But historically it was possible to compare eras…and players. These days with manufactured conditions the tendency is to proclaim the top player the greatest ever…which was never the case before.

But here is the line of demarcation. It's the line between night and day. It's the Twilight Zone. Betwixt and between. It's the tweener.

John McEnroe vs. Jimmy Connors 1984 Wimbledon Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNScWVIQACQ

Please go to posts #136-#148 in the "Thoughts about Tennis Tradition" thread to read my thoughts about the 1984 Wimbledon Final between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

[stotty]

Not so fast...

I am not certain that John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg took the game to its highest possible level. It certainly was historically great. Even so there may have been other rivalries in the offing. The sad part is that we will never know.

A player using a wooden racket would have to come up with something quite special to beat McEnroe on grass. People forget and things get lost in the sea of time. One of McEnroe's great gifts was his ability to disarm others and make them feel inept. He took pace AWAY from players and used spin and feel to make their life really awkward. In short, he could make others play badly. This skill of taking pace off the ball is now largely obsolete, obsolete because all the players these days can generate pace from almost nothing. But it's largely the rackets that have given them this ability. On a level playing field it would take a player to dethrone McEnroe on fast grass court if both combatants used wooden frames. And don't forget McEnroe went on to be an even better player than he was in that 1980 final...there was more to come.

Just my tuppence worth...

[don_budge]

The McEnroe/Borg Rivalry…The Classic Confrontation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXpo9LwCmAo

According to the most excellent commentator…"this was the Classic Confrontation. The best server in the world versus the best returner in the world. The best volleyer in the world against the best passing shots in the world. The most volatile player in the world against the calmest player in the world".

He continues…"it was a classical dilemma for his opponent because the McEnroe serve on grass is so difficult to return and he is the man with the fastest hands in the business. He can turn his wrists over at the last minute and he has really brought us some superb passes and some early approaches by the taking the ball early on the rise. His is the game made for grass. But the dilemma for Borg is that he dare not stay at the back of the court against a man serving and volleying and playing as well as McEnroe is today…so he is having to come in and I think we have seen quite clearly how unhappy he really is in that forecourt position…even though he has been practicing it most of Wimbledon."

It was the "Classic Confrontation" and it was some rather astute commentary by the man in the booth.

[don_budge]

From the past to the present…"The Living Proof"

Wimbledon: the greatest fortnight in sports.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

A player using a wooden racket would have to come up with something quite special to beat McEnroe on grass. On a level playing field it would take a player to dethrone McEnroe on fast grass court if both combatants used wooden frames. And don't forget McEnroe went on to be an even better player than he was in that 1980 final...there was more to come.

Without question it is one of the greatest. I would venture that the U. S. Open is on a par with Wimbledon. Two sides of the same coin. Wearing white? More power to you. But the history behind the Wimbledon Championships is rich and perhaps without parallel in all of sports. Behind that history was the tradition…largely a thing of the past.

John McEnroe and the game of tennis were certainly continuing to evolve. This was something that was a given. Without intervention…it would surely have been interesting. Here are the highlights of the absolutely last all wooden tennis racquet final ever held at Wimbledon. McEnroe simply took the next step…the next logical progression. He does it with a switch to the beloved Dunlop Maxply. The iconic Dunlp Maxply. He beats "The Once and Future King" of Wimbledon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elK42cXMM48

It is the history behind the game…that makes the game what it is. Of course it took a wrong turn for all of the wrong reasons. Tennis mirrors life and vice versa. We live in a world where there are no rules. It has been said that the object of the game of life is to learn the rules. At least they haven't changed the lines of the court. Those lines…those mystic lines. When a tennis player steps in between those lines…he becomes what he is.

There are ghosts on the courts of Wimbledon. All of the greats and all of the also rans. Roger Federer is the end of it. He is "The Living Proof". After Roger…there is no other that will have any connection with that past.

[stotty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXpo9LwCmAo

According to the most excellent commentator…"this was the Classic Confrontation. The best server in the world versus the best returner in the world. The best volleyer in the world against the best passing shots in the world. The most volatile player in the world against the calmest player in the world".

He continues…"it was a classical dilemma for his opponent because the McEnroe serve on grass is so difficult to return and he is the man with the fastest hands in the business. He can turn his wrists over at the last minute and he has really brought us some superb passes and some early approaches by the taking the ball early on the rise. His is the game made for grass. But the dilemma for Borg is that he dare not stay at the back of the court against a man serving and volleying and playing as well as McEnroe is today…so he is having to come in and I think we have seen quite clearly how unhappy he really is in that forecourt position…even though he has been practicing it most of Wimbledon."

It was the "Classic Confrontation" and it was some rather astute commentary by the man in the booth.

The commentator was John Barrett, assisted by Dan Maskell and Mark Cox...back in the days when the Brits did the commentary.

McEnroe started the match with a real American swagger about him. Confidence oozing out of body and racket. His feel and racket-work is sublime. Every is working and clicking into place...

So easy was it for McEnroe he even starts to indulge here and there midway through the second set...and even at 5-6 in the second...two drop volleys that proved catastrophic. Borg only needs a glimmer. He should have known that.

Borg had played terribly yet hung in. His largely underrated serve plays a big part in his survival. He found his biggest serves when it mattered most. Slowly but surely he finds his range on serve and starts to nail McEnroe's backhand...deep serves to McEnroe's backhand. It's the one department where McEnroe cannot hurt him from...a safe haven.

I love the guy with the fat cigar clapping like mad in the crowd at the end of the second set. He looks a real cockney character...a Bob Hoskins type.

I'll watch some more tomorrow....

[stotty]

John McEnroe and the game of tennis were certainly continuing to evolve. This was something that was a given. Without intervention…it would surely have been interesting.

But was it evolving...and in what way? Where is the evidence that McEnroe and Borg were better than Gonzales or Hoad (the zeniths of those duets being twenty five years apart)? What evidence suggests the game had evolved to a higher level in those twenty five years? Gonzales confounded the theory the game goes onwards and upwards in 1971 when he thwarted the world's best of the day at 41 years of age. The game hadn't gone anywhere since his earlier days, in fact, if we believe ageing plays its part, it could be construed the game had gone down a level.

I am not convinced the game was going to evolve much more with wooden rackets (or diddy rackets as I call them; as metal was around then also), as the evidence provided by Gonzales alone refutes it.

Thanks for bringing up this conversation. It's a great prequel to the championships themselves.

[don_budge]

1982…John McEnroe vs. Jimmy Connors: The Final Standard Sized Racquet Final

It's a great prequel to the championships themselves.

That's right…that is all that it is. No more…no less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD2_PtudiFo&list=PLE669FA8CA2577EEF

John McEnroe has switched racquets once again. Now he has his own Dunlop Maxply McEnroe. The Mad Max. Jimmy Connors with his iconic Wilson T2000. There's a couple of racquets for you. The play and behaviour speaks for itself. Barrett and Haskell probably somewhat horrified.

Two antagonists on the same court. It made it hard to find somebody to root for.