Laver - Rosewall 1970 Dunlop final

[gzhpcu]

Found this one. Whole match....

[stotty]

Terrific find, Phil. I shall sit down and watch it from start to finish. I like the introductory commentary already.

[bottle]

I watched the whole match, too, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and believe it gives a lot to learn from.

Isn't it wonderful that really great players can step so quickly up to the line and serve with no hemming and hawing and futzing-- with no hesitation at all.

So much better than what we see now.

[don_budge]

Found this one. Whole match....

I think this is a first of sorts. An entire match from this era. These guys are real tough hombres. Compared to the pampered babies playing the tour nowadays. Look at what they took out on to the court. Laver had four racquets...Rosewall had three. Dunlop and Slazenger. All wood strung with animal intestines. Natural.

I could go on and on and I just might. It's such a treasure. The camera certainly doesn't do the game the justice it deserves because we are so brainwashed from watching the suped up modern game with the huge racquets. When you factor in what these guys are playing with and if you have ever done so yourself you realize just how amazing these guys were.

First ball that lands short is immediately turned into an approach to the net. The white clothes with the shirts TUCKED in...at all times. Not a single request by either player to ask a ball boy to get them a towel. I assume it was hot in Sydney but the players had towels at court side. During play they restricted themselves to wiping their hands on their shorts, shirts or wristbands. They soldiered on.

The players today make such a big deal about changing their racquet on certain games. These guys just played the game. Maybe they used the racquet until the string broke. Who knows what their game plan was for their equipment. One thing is for sure...it wasn't such a huge factor as it is now.

The commentary is fascinating. Apparently Richard Gonzalez was playing doubles with John Newcombe in one of the semi finals. And of course...none of the relentless bouncing of the ball in the pre-serve routine. Laver one bounce. Rosewall none. Can you imagine what these guys think about the Nadal pre-serve routine? The Djokovic pre-serve routine? I wonder what they really think about the towels. Their lips are sealed. You cannot bite the hand that feeds you.

Thanks for the video Phil. What a treasure. There aren't too many from this era in the full match mode. Can't they digitally remaster these to improve the clarity?

[gzhpcu]

Here is long total match: Laver Roche Australian Open 1969 semifinal