By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
With the 2018 tennis season over, it’s time to reflect on the year that has passed. Tennis observers will chime in on the players of the year, the most improved players of the year and the rookies of the year. What about the match of the year?
I think that very strong consideration for men’s match of the year goes to Kevin Anderson’s 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 26-24 win over John Isner at Wimbledon, which was historic not only in length, but also in being the driving force behind Wimbledon changing its final-set tiebreaker rule, that will now take place at 12-12.
I like to go against the grain a bit in most things in life and also in claiming a match of the year as I did in proclaiming that Stevie Johnson’s five-set Davis Cup loss to Denis Istomin in Tashkent, Uzbekistan was the 2015 match of the year here http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/12490
The match that I will call the men’s match of the year for 2018 is Rafael Nadal’s late-night, five-set quarterfinal win over Dominic Thiem at the US Open. The match will go down as one of the most exciting, most talked about and longest match in the history of the U.S. Open and I’ll give it the nod over Anderson vs. Isner since it was in a fifth-set tiebreaker and the long, drawn-out fifth set that had fans fidgeting in their seats, not on the edge of their seats as the Nadal vs. Thiem epic did.
Nadal’s win was by the narrowest margin possible – a 7-5 final-set tiebreaker – to win by a 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5). Despite the 6-0 first set, the match lasted four hours, 49 minutes, making it the seventh longest U.S. Open match on record. Here’s the list I compiled last summer after this historic match was finished, expanding upon the USTA’s list of the Stefan Edberg vs. Michael Chang 1992 US Open semifinal that lasted 5:26.
5:26: Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang 6–7, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4 – 1992 semifinals
5:10 Richard Krajicek defeated Todd Martin 6–7, 4–6, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4 – 1993 third round
5:09 Sargis Sargsian defeated Nicolas Massu 6-7, 6-4,3-6, 7-6, 6-4 – 2004 second round
5:01 Ivan Lendl defeated Boris Becker 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 – 1992 fourth round
4:54 Mats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 – 1988 final
4:54 Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2 – 2012 final
4:49 Rafael Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) – 2018 quarterfinals
A Google search revealed that a 1993 third round match between Richard Krajicek and Todd Martin actually lasted 5:10, Krajicek winning 6–7, 4–6, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4 in five hours, ten minutes. This is one minute longer than when Sargis Sargsian defeated Nicolas Massu in the 2004 second round in 5:09 by a 6-7, 6-4,3-6, 7-6, 6-4 scoreline. In 1992, Ivan Lendl defeated Boris Becker 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round that was described in media reports as the longest at the U.S. Open at the time, breaking the previous mark of 4 hours 54 minutes in the 1988 final between Lendl and Mats Wilander, won by Wilander 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7,6-4. The 2012 U.S. Open final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic also lasted 4 hours, 54 minutes, Murray winning 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2. Nadal and Thiem’s epic landed next at 4:49.
Nadal and Thiem’s epic ended at 2:04 am, the seventh U.S. Open match in history to finish after 2 am, 22 minutes shy of the all-time record.
“It’s still in its own right, a classic, and one of the U.S. Open matches of the last 10 years, to be sure,” said tennis historian Steve Flink in the US Open press room the day after the classic late-night match.
I always turn to Flink when it comes to judging the greatest matches of all time. After all, I published his book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” (for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257936/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_u2x.Bb1DPE948 via @amazon). He expanded upon his criteria for what constitutes, in his mind, a match that bears inclusion as one of the greatest tennis match of all time.
“Almost all of the match ups in my book involve two great champions pitted against each other,” said Flink. “Sampras-Agassi, Evert-Navratilova, Borg-McEnroe. You go straight on down the list, right on to Djokovic and Nadal, which closed the latest book. They’re all major champion versus major champion, and I tried to make that that lofty standard hold up. That’s not to say that the tennis played by Thiem wasn’t up to it. It was a phenomenal display from him, in defeat, but I want to wait and see him. I think he still has to climb the ladder so he can start winning majors. If we put out a new edition of the book tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel like I had to add this or take something else out.”
“The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” features profiles and rankings of the greatest matches of all time dating from the1920s featuring Bill Tilden and Suzanne Lenglen up through the modern era of tennis featuring contemporary stars Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Flink breaks down, analyzes and puts into historical context the sport’s most memorable matches, providing readers with a courtside seat at these most celebrated and significant duels. Flink also includes a fascinating “greatest strokes of all-time” section where he ranks and describes the players who best executed all the important shots in the game through the years.
The book is published by New Chapter Press, the premier global publisher of tennis books.
The hard-cover book, that makes for a centerpiece of a coffee table or at your local tennis club, retails for $28.95, and can be purchased here on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257936/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_Qj-rybVBRK7ZW or at www.NewChapterMedia.com and where ever books are sold.
Flink, one of the most respected writers and observers in the game, is currently a columnist for TennisChannel.com. A resident of Katonah, N.Y., he is the former editor of World Tennis magazine and a former senior columnist at Tennis Week. The book has received high praise from some of the most respected names in the sport, including Chris Evert, a winner of 18 major singles titles in her career, who wrote the foreword to the book. Said seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, “Steve Flink was there reporting on almost every big match I played in my career. He has seen all of the great players for the last 45 years. I encourage you to read this book because Steve is one of the most insightful writers on the game that I have known and he really knows his tennis.”
