World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

Bjorn Borg

Talking About Borg (Not Bjorn) At The Georgia vs. Florida Football Game

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

“Do you know what Borg is?” asked the University of Georgia co-ed at the annual Georgia vs. Florida game in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Yes,” I replied. “He was my favorite tennis player as a kid.”

Of course I knew my answer in this conversation from the south end zone stands at EverBank Stadium at this big-time college football game was incorrect in this context, which was during a discussion of University of Georgia parties on “Frat Beach” on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia during the annual football game that is dubbed “The World‘s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”

The student laughed at my answer and I’m not quite sure that she knew that I was referencing Bjorn Borg of Sweden, one of the greatest tennis players of all time and winner of 11 major titles including five straight at Wimbledon from 1976 to 1980, decades before she was born. She may not even have known of the University of Georgia’s own Swedish tennis champ, Mikael Pernfors, who won two NCAA singles titles for the “Dawgs” in 1984 and 1985 and for whom the main stadium court is named on the Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia.

“No… it’s a drink,” she said. “We go to the beach and have Borgs. Everyone gets dressed in costumes and goes to the beach. It’s always the weekend before Halloween.”

Arnold Palmer is the only athlete I can think of that has a drink named after him, a combo of iced tea and lemonade. So what exactly is a Borg, even if it has nothing to do with Bjorn Borg?

It stands for Black Out Rage Gallon, I was told.

I laughed and asked “What’s in it?”

Evidently, it’s a half gallon of water and then the other half is vodka and some sort of flavored drink and I actually couldn’t remember what she said was also in it, maybe out of shock and maybe because I didn’t want to know and certainly it would not be something I would drink a gallon of at one sitting. I have a hard time finishing a gallon of milk before the expiration date.

I wasn’t too much of a prude during my days as a University of Georgia student from 1988-1991. I sometime joke with people that if you go to Georgia you kind of automatically have a minor in drinking. I shot-gunned and funneled beers and would often not shy away from doing a shot of hard liquor. I doubt I would have had a take at a Borg though. While I sometimes wish I could go back in time to be a a college student again, this reality made me happy to only drink one big can of Fosters Lager during my 2023 Georgia – Florida experience.

So for future years at “Frat Beach” perhaps we will see someone dressed as Bjorn Borg as a Halloween costume and (responsibly and legally) drinking a Borg? We shall see….

Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors Say “It’s A Joke” That Vitas Gerulaitis Is Not In International Tennis Hall of Fame

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors, the two most iconic men’s tennis players of the 1970s, reunited at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March and both discussed tennis in the past and present on the Connors podcast “Advantage Connors.”

Late in the podcast, the two discussed the life and legacy of their mutual friend Vitas Gerulaitis, who tragically died in 1994 due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Brett Connors, the co-host of the “Advantage Connors” podcast and the son of Jimmy Connors, chimed into the conversation saying “And we always say it’s a joke that he’s not in the Hall of Fame.”

Borg, surprised, interrupted Brett Connors, asking “He’s not in Hall of Fame? Why?”

“That’s a joke,” said Jimmy.

“It’s a joke. We always say,” said Brett.

Brett then pointed out that in addition to the Gerulaitis playing record, his work as an enormously popular television commentator and his charity and promotional work for tennis should qualify him for induction in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“Even if you combine (his tennis-playing career) with his announcing and his tennis and what he did for the sport, I mean, give me a break,” said Brett.

“That’s a joke Jimmy,” countered Borg. “He’s not in Hall of Fame? Come on.”

Answered Connors, “No, I mean, look, some of those that are in the Hall of Fame maybe shouldn’t be there.”

“And he’s not,” said Borg.

Said Connors, “Listen, maybe if he doesn’t get in, do you all think maybe we should drop out?”

“I’m happy to drop out. I’ll join,” laughed Borg.

So, for starters, let’s look at the Gerulaitis record and how it compares with some of the similarly qualified Hall of Fame inductees.

Gerulaitis “only” won one major singles title, the Australian Open in 1977. In those years, the Australian Open was watered down and fields seldom featured top 10 players. This December version of the 1977 Australian (it was also held at the start of the year and was won by Roscoe Tanner) featured only one top 10 player (which was Gerulaitis) and only four players in the top 20 (Gerulaitis, Tanner, Ken Rosewall and Tony Roche). Many will argue that this Grand Slam tournament title should not really count in consideration for the Hall of Fame due to its weak field. This is a fair point. During this era of tennis, events such as the Italian Open and the WCT Finals and the year-end “Masters” titles were considered bigger titles than the Australian Open. So, with that information, consider that Gerulaitis won the Italian Open twice, in 1977 and in 1979 and he also won the WCT Finals in 1978. So could you combine the Gerulaitis win at the 1977 Australian Open with his two titles in Rome and his WCT Finals win into what can be considered as one worthy, non-diluted major tournament victory?

Gerulaitis also was runner-up at two major championships, at the 1979 U.S. Open (losing to John McEnroe) and the 1980 French Open (losing to Bjorn Borg). Gerulaitis and Borg also played one of the great Wimbledon semifinals of all-time in 1977, with Borg edging Gerulaitis 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6. Gerulaitis also was the runner-up at the Masters (again considered bigger than the Australian Open at the time) in 1979 and 1981. In doubles, Gerulaitis won one major doubles title at Wimbledon in 1975 with Sandy Mayer.

Other criteria to consider a player for the Hall of Fame are highest ATP ranking, number of singles and doubles titles and if a player was part of a winning Davis Cup team. Gerulaitis reached a career high ranking of No. 3 and won 26 singles titles and 9 doubles titles and helped the United States win the Davis Cup in 1979.

Is this a resume that is Hall of Fame worthy? It’s close…

However, let’s compare his record alone to others in the Hall of Fame. As Connors eluded to with his “look, some of those that are in the Hall of Fame maybe shouldn’t be there” comment from the podcast. In the early days of the Hall of Fame, election was a bit more liberal and it was also kind of considered an American Tennis Hall of Fame and players like Frank Shields, Dennis Ralston, were inducted, despite not winning a major singles title. But let’s compare him to other recent male inductees, and let’s also not compare Vitas to players who have been inducted simply based on their doubles attributes.

The player in the Hall of Fame whose credentials are closest to those of Gerulaitis is Yannick Noah. Like Vitas, Noah won only one major singles titles, the 1983 French Open (which was a much celebrated win as the first by a French man since 1946). Like Vitas, Noah won one major doubles title (the French Open in 1984). Like Vitas, Noah reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 3 (but was No. 1 in doubles). Similar to Vitas, Noah won 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles (against 26 singles titles and 9 doubles titles for Vitas.) Noah only reached one other major semifinal other than his run to the French title in 1983 and that was in Australia in 1990 (against two other major runner-up showings from Vitas and five other semifinal finishes (1981, 1978 U.S. Opens, 1979 French Open, 1978, 1977 Wimbledon). Both were immensely popular players, who transcended tennis into pop culture.

Another recent inductee whose resume compares to Gerulaitis is that of Michael Stich. The German won the Wimbledon singles title in 1991 for his lone major singles titles (but, of course this is the ultimate of all major singles titles). Like Vitas, he also finishes as runner-up at two other majors (the 1996 French Open and the 1994 U.S. Open). Stich also was part of a winning Davis Cup team, reached one notch better than Vitas in the world rankings at No. 2, and won the year-end ATP Finals in 1993, which is comparable to the WCT Finals win for Vitas and his two runner-up showings at the Masters. Stich won 18 singles titles (eight fewer than Vitas) and 10 doubles titles (one more than Vitas) and a Wimbledon doubles title, also like Vitas.

On the women’s side, another comparable inductee is Gabriela Sabatini, who like Gerulaitis was enormously popular during her career. She won one major title in singles, 1990 U.S. Open and had two runners-up finishes at the 1988 U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 1991. She won 27 singles titles and 14 doubles titles (including a major at Wimbledon) and reached a career high of No. 3.

It’s a very close call when comparing credentials.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame also has a contributor category and in this category, there is even stronger argument for the induction of Gerulaitis.

Recent contributor inductees include Andres Gimeno and Manuel Orantes, both of whom won one major, the 1972 French for Gimeno and the 1975 U.S. Open for Orantes. Also Sven Davidson, a name that is barely heard of and spoken of in today’s game, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 with only one French singles title on his resume as well as two other French runner-up showings in the 1950s. Other comparable contributors with credentials and recognition on par with Gerulaitis include Charlie Pasarell and Butch Buchholz, fine players in their day but most recognized as the founders of the fantastic events in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, respectively.

Cliff Drysdale was also a recent Hall of Fame inductee in this category. While Drysdale only reached one major final (the 1965 U.S. Championships), he was a significant player in tennis governance in the 1970s and is perhaps best known for his ESPN commentary for over 40 years. One could argue that Gerulaitis was equally as important as a TV commentator for tennis during his shortened years in the booth.

“He would be the voice of tennis,” said Brett Connors on the Advantage Connors podcast of Gerulaitis if he was still alive to be the charismatic commentator that he was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It’s been over 30 years since Gerulaitis was the TV face and voice of the U.S. Open on USA Network. In a famous U.S. Open five-set quarterfinal against Andre Agassi, Connors was practically having a running conversation with Gerulaitis who was commentating the match from the TV booth. “What do you think of that Vitas?” Connors would say into the courtside microphones during the fifth-set dramatics against Agassi.

While many of these Hall of Fame contributors have faded into distant memories, Gerulaitis is still part of the almost every day conversation in media and even on recreational tennis courts around the world based on a post-match press conference from January 12, 1980. “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row,” was his quote, perhaps the most famous quote in tennis history, after he ended a 16-match losing streak to Connors with a 7-5, 6-2 victory in the semifinals of the year-end Masters Championships at Madison Square Garden.

In June, the Hall of Fame sent out an email that laid out the process for nominees in the contributor category, which will considered every two years. For more information click here https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/eligibility-voting-process?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=263535707&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-939DXpRt7NfsLL5PcZDBuCx_pziTsOSY_TcMoa9l7NGI5EVXR5EZFYQT3YPqm5VwzFwbFuYowVpQlPjusbCVdHCDCQrUmVcRgO6g_zEXliNkQLBl4&utm_content=263535707&utm_source=hs_emailand

Vitas Gerulaitis may one day receive the recognition that many feel he certainly deserves. After all, no one shuts Vitas Gerulaitis out of the International Tennis Hall of Fame 33 years in a row, right?

Most Famous Wimbledon Matches Played On The Fourth of July

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Other than fireworks, apple pie and Joe Chesnut eating hot dogs, Americans associate the Fourth of July with watching Wimbledon on television. Here are some of the most famous Wimbledon matches played on July 4th, as documented in my book “On This Day In Tennis History” which you can buy and download as an ebook or audio book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257421/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_Y6KFNSAVDRNJGX0TTA3A

July 4

1981 – Twenty-two-year-old John McEnroe wins the men’s singles title at Wimbledon for the first time in his career, ending five-time defending champion Bjorn Borg’s 41-match winning streak at the All England Club with a 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6 (4), 6-4 final round victory. “On all the important points,” says Borg after the final, “John hit his first serve. And that was crucial, especially in the tiebreakers.” McEnroe goes on to win two more Wimbledon titles (1983, 1984), while Borg never again plays in The Championships, virtually retiring from the sport at the end of the 1981 season.

1982 – In the longest men’s singles final in Wimbledon history at the time, Jimmy Connors edges John McEnroe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in 4 hours, 14 minutes to win his second men’s singles title at Wimbledon. Both players finish the match having won 173 points each. Says Connors, who claims his second of two career Wimbledon titles, to go with his 1974 title, ”I was going to do anything to not let this chance slip by. I was going to fight to the death.” With rain delaying play in the mixed doubles event, Anne Smith and Kevin Curren are forced to play four mixed doubles matches on the final day of the event, winning the title with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 final-round decision over Wendy Turnbull and John Lloyd.

1993 – Pete Sampras wins the first of his record-tying seven Wimbledon championships, defeating fellow American Jim Courier 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3 in the men’s singles final. Sampras fires 22 aces and puts to rest the controversy of him being ranked No. 1 in the world, despite not having won a major tournament title since the U.S. Open in 1990 and Courier holding the Australian Open title and reaching the final of the French Open. Says Sampras, “There’s been a lot of controversy over the computer, how come I’m No. 1 (when) Jim was in the finals of the French and won the Australian. He can’t take this title away from me and now I’m No. 1. I don’t think there will be any more controversy.” Courier’s final round showing makes him the 14th man to reach all four major singles finals in his career.

1947 – With King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in the Royal Box, Jack Kramer cruises to his first Wimbledon title, defeating fellow American Tom Brown 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in just 48 minutes. Kramer wins the title losing only 37 games in seven matches and is the first man to win at the All England Club wearing shorts rather than the traditional long flannel pants.

1999 – Pete Sampras claims a piece of tennis history winning his sixth Wimbledon crown, defeating fellow American Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the men’s singles final. The win was the 12th major singles title for Sampras, tying him with Roy Emerson as holder of the most major men’s singles titles. In the women’s singles final, Lindsay Davenport wins her first Wimbledon singles title, defeating seven-time champion Steffi Graf 6-4, 7-5. Following the match, Graf announces that she will not return to the All-England Club as a player, “I won’t be back. I won’t be here as a player again,” says Graf. “Right now I’m a little sad about everything. I’m not ready to talk about what I’m going to do next.” Weeks later, Graf subsequently announces her complete retirement from the game.

1975 – Billie Jean King wins the most lopsided Wimbledon women’s singles final since 1911, defeating Evonne Goolagong 6-0, 6-1 to win her sixth singles title and 19th overall title at the All England Club. King’s 19th title ties her with Elizabeth Ryan for the all time Wimbledon record. Ryan never won the singles title at the All England Club but captured 12 doubles and seven mixed crowns between 1914 and 1934. Following the match, King says she was retiring from Wimbledon singles play because of her depilating knee. “I want to quit on top,” she says, “and I can’t get much higher than this”. She, however, eventually returns to singles play in 1977 and reaches the semifinals in 1982 and 1983.

1970 – John Newcombe wins his second Wimbledon men’s singles title, defeating countryman Ken Rosewall 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the first five-set final in 21 years at the All-England Club. Rosewall, denied the Wimbledon title for a third time, reaches the final 14 years after losing to Lew Hoad in the 1956 final.

1987 – Thirty-year-old Martina Navratilova wins her eighth Wimbledon women’s singles title – tying Helen Wills for the most ever at the All England Club – defeating Steffi Graf 7-5, 6-3 in the women’s singles final. The win is Navratilova’s sixth straight at the All England Club. Says Navratilova, ”I don’t know how many of these you have to win to be considered the greatest player of all time. But the closer I get, the more it really doesn’t matter. There are great players in different eras and I’m one of the greatest in mine.”

1989 – In her final Wimbledon, Chris Evert rallies from a deficit of 3-5 in the final set, where she was at one point only two points from defeat, to defeat Laura Golarsa of Italy 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the women’s quarterfinals. The win is ultimately Evert’s last at the All-England Club after 18 years of competing at The Championships. Writes Robin Finn of the New York Times. “Evert has wanted to control the setting and status of her exit, and not until she arrived at Wimbledon for the 18th time had she thought she was ready to begin viewing her tournaments as if she might never see them again. She could bear the thought of leaving the game, but only if she left it with her reputation intact, as a viable Grand Slam challenger and not a hanger-on. To accomplish that, she needed to advance to the semifinals at Wimbledon, advantage point from which she thinks she can begin to make an honorable exit from tennis.” Says Evert in her post-match press conference, “In the third set I thought, this isn’t the way I would like to go out of the tournament if it would be my last tournament, which it probably would be.”

1988 – Twenty-two-year-old Stefan Edberg wins his first Wimbledon men’s singles crown, defeating two-time champion Boris Becker 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. The final marks the first Wimbledon final to be played over two days as rain post-pones play from Sunday with Edberg leading 3-2 in the first set. Says Edberg, “It’s hard to believe I really won it. This is something I’ve worked a long time for. It was my target this year. It’s a fantastic feeling that hasn’t sunk into my system yet.”

1996 – Three-time defending champion Pete Sampras is dismissed from the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in a flurry of 29 aces from Richard Krajicek 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Says Krajicek of his upset victory, “It’s a good feeling. I mean, I’m not unbelievably excited yet because I’m still in the tournament, but I have a proud feeling that I’m the first one in four years to beat him at Wimbledon.”

Reilly Opelka and John Isner Play The Longest Men’s Singles Tiebreaker Ever At The Dallas Open…Or Was It?!?!

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Records that are equaled five different times deserve to be broken.

Saturday at the first-year Dallas Open in Texas, John Isner and Reilly Opelka played the longest tiebreaker in men’s singles play in ATP history when Opelka won a 24-22 second-set tiebreaker in his 7-6 (7), 7-6 (22) semifinal win.

Back at Wimbledon in 1973, Bjorn Borg, then just a 17-year-old won a 20-18 tiebreaker over Premjit Lall to close out a 6-3, 6-4, 9-8 (20-18) first round victory. 1973 Wimbledon. Since then, five times (as outlined below), the 20-18 tiebreaker threshold was equaled, but not eclipsed in men’s singles, in matches featuring Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Goran Ivanisevic and others, including another player named “Bjorn.”

While a women’s singles match and women’s doubles match broke the 20-18 mark (as seen below), the longest ever tie-breaker on record in a “tour-level” match was 50 points (26-24) Michael Mortensen and Jan Gunnarson beating John Frawley and Victor Pecci 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (26-24) in the first round of Wimbledon in 1985.

The Opelka vs. Isner match harkened me back to a story I wrote about an even longer tiebreaker in very distinct and unusual circumstances, as excerpted below.

The longest tie-breaker on record was played last weekend.

Except, it’s not on record.

The talk of the tennis world on Monday – particularly on Twitter – was of a 70-point tie-breaker played Sunday between two members of Monaco’s Davis Cup team in the third round of qualifying at the $10,000 USTA Futures event in Plantation, Florida – Benjamin Balleret defeating Guillaume Couillard 7-6 (36-34), 6-1. The tie-breaker was 20 points longer than the previous longest tie-breaker on record, which was, according to THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS, a 50-point (26-24) tie-breaker in a Wimbledon doubles match from 1985.

The only “problem” with the Balleret-Couillard tie-breaker is that there is, technically, no real “record” of it.

After word of the epic tie-breaker was distributed via social media from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), I sent an email to David Littlefield, the USTA/ITF Tour Supervisor on site at the event, to get more details on the historic match, such as number of set points each player had, how long the tie-breaker was in length of time and any other stats that could be mustered. The official chair umpire’s scorecard is always the official record of any tennis match that is played.

Littlefield reminded me in his return email to me late Monday night that the Balleret-Couillard match was only a qualifying match in a Futures event, the lowest level tournament in pro tennis and, as he wrote, “all matches in qualifying are played without any chair umpire or any lines people. The players call their own lines and the matches have a few ‘roving’ certified officials that watch several courts at once and may be called on from time to time to settle any disputes between the players. There is no ‘official’ record of the match, such as a scorecard, no total time of the set, nor any way to know the number of set points any of the players had in the course of the tie-break.”

He went on to write that the now famous tie-breaker was witnessed by spectators and that the players are true professionals who “would not just make up a score for the hell of it.”

Couillard tweeted that he had 11 set points in tie-breaker, meaning that Balleret had at least 19 set points.

Balleret is 29 years old and currently ranked No. 636 after posting a career high ranking of No. 204 in 2006. That year, he qualified for his hometown ATP tournament in Monte Carlo, defeating former top-five player Jonas Bjorkman in the final round of qualifying. Couillard is currently unranked, held a career-high ranking of No. 569 in 2002 and is 37 years old.

According to the authoritative THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS book ($35.95, available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559386/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_H3S87FHAE9J2X11RA0HY the longest tie-break on record – 50 points – came in the first round of Wimbledon in 1985 when Michael Mortensen and Jan Gunnarson defeated John Frawley and Victor Pecci 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (26-24). The full list of the longest tie-breakers from the Collins’ book is found below.

Longest Tie-Breakers

Men’s Singles

38 – (20-18) Roger Federer d. Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (20-18), semifinal, 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Houston

38 – (20-18) Bjorn Borg d. Premjit Lall 6-3, 6-4, 9-8 (20-18), first round, 1973 Wimbledon

38 – (20-18) Andy Roddick d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (18-20), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-3, first round, 2007 Australian Open

38 – (20-18) Goran Ivanisevic d. Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (20-18), first round, 1993 US Open

38 – (20-18) Jose Acasuso d. Bjorn Phau 7-5 7-6 (20-18), first round, Toronto, 2006

38 – (20-18) Goran Ivanisevic d. Greg Rusedski, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (20-18), semifinal, Queens Club, 1997

Women’s Singles

40 – (21-19) Emmanuelle Gagliardi d. Tara Snyder 6-7 (19-21), 6-1, 6-1, second round, Madrid, 1999

Men’s Doubles

50 – (26-24) Michael Mortensen and Jan Gunnarson d. John Frawley and Victor Pecci 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (26-24), first round, Wimbledon, 1985

Women’s Doubles

42 – (22-20) Nicole Pratt and Bryanne Stewart d. Corina Morariu and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (5), 7-6 (22-20), first round, 2006 Amelia Island

Ben Balleret of Monaco has a unique footnote mention in "The Bud Collins History of Tennis"
Ben Balleret of Monaco has a unique footnote mention in “The Bud Collins History of Tennis”

Guillermo Vilas: Numero Uno For 1977 – A World Tennis Magazine Throwback

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Guillermo Vilas was thrust back into the tennis spotlight recently with the article by Peter Bodo regarding the effort to retro-actively award the Argentine the No. 1 ATP singles ranking from the 1970s, which you can read here: https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/29237076/an-argentine-journalist-13-year-quest-do-right-tennis-legend-guillermo-vilas

In March of 1978, World Tennis magazine proclaimed that Vilas was the No. 1 player for the year, despite not officially reaching the No. 1 ATP ranking. The magazine’s editorial laid out its argument for Vilas in an article entitle “Vilas! Numero Uno” that we have excerpted below.

 

World rankings are almost always filled with controversy, subject to endless debate, and complicated by the different criteria each list requires.  How much weight do you place upon the major championships? How crucial are head to head confrontations of the leading players? What of the total record of the player, his week-in, week-out performance in WCT and Grand Prix competition? These are some of the essential questions every world ranking must take into consideration. There won’t be many seasons like 1974, when Jimmy Connors won 14 of 20 tournaments, lost only four matches, won both Wimbledon and Forest Hills, and emerged as the indisputable No. 1.

In recent years, the game has been fragmented. During one week in November, 1977, for instance, Guillermo Vilas was winning a Grand Prix tournament in Santiago, Bjorn Borg captured another Grand Prix event in London, and Jimmy Connors edged Roscoe Tanner in the WCT Challenge Cup final in Las Vegas. The occasions are rare when most of the leading players compete in the same tournament. Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, the two most important championships in the sport, are two such occasions.

In the 1977 ranking year, the Grand Prix Masters, always a major title, took on greater significance because seven of the first 10 in the world were there including the top trio, Borg, Vilas and Connors. If a player dominates the major tournaments and backs it up with a decent record the rest of the year, there can be no question that he is No. 1, as was the case in 1975 and 1976. The major championships were divided in 1977. Borg won Wimbledon, Vilas the U.S. and French Opens, Connors the WCT Playoffs in Dallas and the Masters in Madison Square Garden.

In the next most important crop of tournaments, a few other players grabbed the spotlight. Vitas Gerulaitis won the Italian and the Australian, although the fields for both were not remarkably strong. Dick Stockton won the U.S Pro Indoor over Connors, and Brian Gottfried won the American Airlines Games in Palm Springs with a comeback over Vilas. The No. 1 ranking for 1977 came down to a battle between Vilas, Borg, and Connors, who not only won the majors, but boasted better records than anybody else.

Vilas won 21 of 34 tournaments over the year, and at one stretch claimed a streak of 50 straight matches and eight titles. Connors was finalist at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, losing to Borg in the former and Vilas in the latter, and won 84% of the matches he played. Borg, the Wimbledon champion, lost narrowly to Connors in the Masters final. In the end, Connors was eliminated from contention for a couple of reasons. He did not have as good a record as he did in 1976 when he won 13 of 23 tournaments, including the U.S. Open. In 1977, Connors hurt himself with those critical losses to Borg and Vilas and the two biggest tournaments of the year. This on top of the fact that he won only eight of 21 tournaments (four were defaults) meant that a win at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open was essential for the No. 1 ranking. His victory at the Masters was a definite sign that Connors is keen to reestablish himself as the best in the world in 1978 (It would be for the third time in five years) but the Masters was not enough to overcome Vilas and Borg for the top spot in 1977. When Borg destroyed Vilas 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Masters, many felt that Bjorn deserved the No. 1 ranking on the basis of his Wimbledon title, his head-to-head edge over Connors (2-1), and Vilas (3-0). Overall, Borg did win 13 of 20 tournaments and lost only one final. But that final, his narrow loss to Connors at The Masters, was critical.

Borg needed another major title to go along with Wimbledon. Vilas won two, the French and the U.S. Open, and had overall the best record of any players. Connors had two, Dallas and the Masters. Since Borg played World Team Tennis (in which he led the league in men’s singles) he had to make the most of his few appearances in major championships. At Wimbledon, he registered two magnificent victories, 8-6 in the fifth over Gerulaitis in the semis and 6-4 in the fifth over Connors.

At the U.S. Open, he was unlucky as the shoulder injury forced him to withdraw from his fourth round match with Dick Stockton. Then, after his convincing win over Vilas in the Masters semifinals, Borg led Connors 2-0 in the final set, after a run of eight out of nine games. If he had managed to fight off Connors, he would have had a second major championship to back up Wimbledon, and he would certainly have deserved the No. 1 ranking. But it was not enough for Borg to simply settle manners with Vilas with a victory over Guillermo at the Masters. He needed a second major championship to surpass the extraordinary consistency of Vilas’ year.

 

Guillermo Vilas won 140 matches and lost only 14 all year. Borg was 81-7, and Connors finished 70 -11. The quality of Borg’s record is almost equal to Vilas, but WTT kept him out of the summer circuit, and deprived him of more head-to-head showdowns with Vilas.
In 1976, Connors edged Borg for No. 1 on the basis of his superior total record and his 4-0 advantage of matches with the Swede. Why should Vilas get the nod over Borg in 1977 if Bjorn beat him every time they played and both have had good records? Answering a tough question with a tough question. How would anybody foresee Vilas breaking Rod Laver’s Open Era tennis record of 31 consecutive match win (1969) with a 50-match string of his own? Moreover Vilas, a confirmed clay court expert (who fell to Billy Martin on the grass at Wimbledon) reached the Australian final on grass at the beginning of the year and won the South African Open on cement in November. Vilas played and played and played, and lost only two matches over the last six months of the ranking season, and his victory indoors over Connors at the Masters is impressive despite the decisive loss there to Borg.

As in 1976, Borg proved his greatness by winning Wimbledon again. But when it came down to erasing all doubts by emerging on top in one crucial match, Bjorn fell just short. By the time of the 1977 Masters, Borg needed more than a head-to-head win over Vilas to take No. 1 away from Guillermo. Bjorn needed to win the Masters.

 

Guillermo Vilas on the March, 1978 edition of World Tennis Magazine
Guillermo Vilas on the March, 1978 edition of World Tennis Magazine

40 Years Ago On August 29 – “The US Open Belongs To Us, The People, The Tennis Fans”

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

In was on  August 29, 1978 when American tennis was turned on its head. Gone was the national championship of the United States being staged at a staid private club at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills as the U.S. Open debuted at the new USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. The era of the big and loud U.S. Open began.

The anniversary is documented in the my book “On This Day In Tennis History” here:
The gates open at the new USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. for the grand opening of the newly-constructed public facility that is the new home of the U.S. Open. “Tonight the US Open belongs to us, the people, the tennis fans,” says actor and comedian Alan King, the master of ceremonies for the opening session of the tournament. “Ten months ago when we broke ground I thought they were crazy. But here we are. This is where the legends begin.” Bjorn Borg and Bob Hewitt play the first match at the new facility with Borg winning the best-of-three set first round match 6-0, 6-2. “Probably when I get to be 75 years old and look back, I’ll say I was the first one to play in the new stadium,” says Borg after defeating Hewitt in front of only 6,186 fans during the opening night session of the tournament.

In his life-long book on tennis “The Bud Collins History Of Tennis” Bud Collins presented the massive change in American tennis culture and growth in the following way.

     Perhaps nothing better symbolized what happened to the once-elitist, white-flanneled sport of tennis in the 1970s than the fact that the U.S. Open, America’s premier tournament, moved to a public park, in Flushing Meadow, Queens, N.Y. The USTA National Tennis Center was built, remarkably, in one year on 16 acres of city-owned land in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, adjacent to Shea Stadium.

     Relocated to Flushing by drawling, cigar-chomping USTA President W. E. “Slew” Hester, a 66-year-old wildcat oilman from Jackson, Miss., the U.S. Championships was retreating from 97 years in such patrician clubs as Newport (R.I.) Casino, Philadelphia Cricket Club and the West Side Tennis Club. Hester talked like a Southern conservative, but proved in a memorable two-year term to be perhaps the most progressive president in the history of the USTA. Many second-guessed him in September 1977 when, fed up with the reactionary board of governors of the West Side Tennis Club, he announced that the Open would be moved. Few believed the new complex Hester envisioned a couple of miles away could be completed in 12 months, and many considered the project “Hester’s Folly.” But Hester’s perseverance and leadership, despite arthritis so severe it was difficult for him to walk, enabled the USTA to cut through bureaucratic red tape, union disputes and cost overruns and get the splendid complex built in time for the 1978 Open.

     The USTA National Tennis Center was dedicated on Aug. 30, 1978. Its main arena—Louis Armstrong Stadium, site of the Singer Bowl for the 1964-65 World’s Fair and named for the late jazz great who lived nearby—accommodated nearly 20,000 spectators, with barely a bad seat in the house. In addition to the steeply banked, red, white and blue stadium, the complex included a 6,000-seat grandstand, 25 additional lighted outdoor courts, and 9 indoor courts, all with the same acrylic asphalt surface that approximates the hard courts most Americans play on. Under a lease agreement between the USTA and the city of New York, the facility is open to the public year-round and is available to the USTA for tournaments and special events 60 days a year, at a modest fee. The USTA, in turn, spent $10 million to renovate and enlarge a stadium that was intended for concerts but had fallen into terrible disrepair.

      The result was the most significant new venue for world tennis since the modern All England Club was opened in the London suburb of Wimbledon in 1922 and Stade Roland Garros was dedicated as a civic monument in Paris for the 1928 Davis Cup Challenge Round.

1978 US Open Program
1978 US Open Program

Caroline Wozniacki Joins Bjorn Borg, Tamarine Tanasugarn In US Open Trivia Book With Win On New Grandstand

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

Caroline Wozniacki joined Bjorn Borg and Tamarine Tanasugarn in the US Open trivia book Monday.

Wozniacki defeated Taylor Townsend  4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to become the first player to win a match on the new. Grandstand court at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.Borg and Tanasugarn hold the distinctions of winning the first ever matches on Louis Armstrong and Arthur Ashe Stadium respectively. Borg defeated Bob Hewiit 6-0, 6-2 in the first ever match on Louis Armstrong Stadium, then the main court for the US Open in a best-of-three set first-round match in the first round of the 1978 US Open. Tanasugarn beat Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-0 in the opening match on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the first round of the 1997 U.S. Open.

Ironically, Wozniacki and Townsend’s historic match came 88 years to the day of Borg’s win at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which was the officialy first session unveiling of the USTA National Tennis Center after its move from the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills.

That days history is excerpted below from the “On This Day In Tennis History” book, ebook, audio book and mobile app, available where books are sold and at www.TennisHistoryApp.com

August 29, 1978…

The gates open at the new USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. for the grand opening of the newly-constructed public facility that is the new home of the U.S. Open. “Tonight the US Open belongs to us, the people, the tennis fans,” says actor and comedian Alan King, the master of ceremonies for the opening session of the tournament. “Ten months ago when we broke ground I thought they were crazy. But here we are. This is where the legends begin.” Bjorn Borg and Bob Hewitt play the first match at the new facility with Borg winning the best-of-three set first round match 6-0, 6-2. “Probably when I get to be 75 years old and look back, I’ll say I was the first one to play in the new stadium,” says Borg after defeating Hewitt in front of only 6,186 fans during the opening night session of the tournament.

 

New Grandstand
New Grandstand

From USTA Futures Event In Vero Beach, Top U.S. Prospect Francis Tiafoe Targets A Junior Grand Slam Title

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

VERO BEACH, Fla. — It’s not every day that Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post focus their journalistic endeavors on the sleepy Florida coastal paradise of Vero Beach and its $10,000 USTA Futures level tennis tournament. While the event – the SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic – is among the most successful Futures events in the USA – now in its 20th year – the focus of this media interest is entirely 16-year-old Francis Tiafoe, perhaps the brightest future hope for American men’s tennis.

Tiafoe became a lightning rod for attention in American tennis circles when he became the youngest player to win the boys’ 18 title Orange Bowl last December as a 15-year-old, joining a list of champions at the 67-year-old international event headlined by Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier. Add in the fact that he has an incredible story of being the son of immigrants from war-torn Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa and that he picked up the sport while his father worked as a maintenance person at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. (Read more in this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/sports/tennis/francis-tiafoe-top-ranked-junior-grew-up-at-tennis-center-and-it-shows.html?_r=0) With a current world junior ranking of No. 2, Tiafoe is now stepping up onto the next rung of the ladder of competitive tennis on the “Futures” tour – the lowest level of professional tennis.

“It’s definitely tougher. You have to come in with a different mentality,” Tiafoe said of playing pro-level tennis after his 6-4, 6-2 second-round loss in Vero Beach to Gregory Ouellette, a 27-year-old former All-American at the University of Florida, ranked No. 592. “Here, they don’t really care if you are good junior. They don’t care who you are. They want to win the match. It’s completely different. In the juniors, I‘m pretty well respected and I can win matches off my name. Here, you have you work for every match and every point. It’s not easy. I really need to get used to this level.”

“It’s good for Francis to be here and play some matches against these guys maybe lose a few matches and stay humble and keep on learning and getting better,” said Misha Kouznetsov, Tiafoe’s coach from the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, a USTA Regional Training Center for High Performance. “Here you always have to hold serve and you have to always be aggressive. You cannot have mental breakdowns. You have to stay right on it. In juniors, you can get always with a lot of stuff.”

Next for Tiafoe is continued introductions into pro tennis on the USTA Pro Circuit and similar-level ITF Futures events in Spain before competing at the French Open juniors and junior Wimbledon. Main draw or qualifying wild cards into ATP events in Newport, R.I., Atlanta and Washington, DC could materialize in July. Tiafoe will also compete at the USTA National Boys’ 18 Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he will hope to earn the automatic wild card entry into the US Open that is awarded to the winner.

Ranked No. 1,296 in the ATP rankings this week, Tiafoe is a high school sophomore – home-schooled working with three different teachers, mainly over Skype, as well as with other tutors. In addition to practicing and improving his tennis skills and technique, Kouznetsov said he works on tennis specific track work and improving his fitness and endurance.

When asked in Vero Beach what his goals were for the rest of the year, Tiafoe was succinct and clear on what he wanted to achieve, a sign of a someone bound for future success.

“The goal is to win one of the Slams this year in the juniors,” Tiafoe said. “By January of next year, I want to be 400 or 300 in the world in the ATP rankings. I want to go into the pros next year with a pretty high ranking and see if I am going to go to school or not.”

Tiafoe said that his final tournament as a junior player will be the U.S. Open junior championships in September before he will focus entirely on playing for ATP ranking points to help determine whether he will turn professional or attend college.

“I want to turn pro,” Tiafoe said when asked if he was leaning more towards college or turning professional, “but you never know what will happen.”

 

Francis Tiafoe
Francis Tiafoe

The Top Five Forehands of All Time

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The forehand is perhaps the most the most destructive weapon in the sport of tennis. Who in the history of the game had – or has – the best forehand of all time? Steve Flink, tennis historian and journalist and author of the new book THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME (available here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Tennis-Matches-Time/dp/0942257936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346763283&sr=8-1&keywords=Greatest+tennis+matches+of+all+time) ranks the top five forehands of all time as part of his book. The list is exclusively excerpted below.

Top Five Forehands of All Time – Men

1. ROGER FEDERER Some hit the ball more mightily off the forehand side, and others were flashier, but Federer’s forehand is the best I have ever seen. His capacity to station himself inside the baseline and shorten the court for his opponent has surpassed all others. Once he is inside the court, he can go either way—inside-in or inside-out—and hit winners at will. In top form, he clips more lines with his majestic forehand than anyone and yet he makes very few mistakes for someone so adventuresome. 

2. RAFAEL NADAL The Spaniard’s forehand has always been his trademark shot. Nadal tortures his rivals with his rhythmic precision off the forehand. The hop he gets on the forehand with the heaviest and most penetrating topspin of all time is almost mind boggling. He can go full tilt for hours on end and hardly miss a forehand, but it is not as if he is pushing his shots back into play; he is pulverizing the ball and weakening his opponent’s will simultaneously. He sends his adversaries into submission with a barrage of heavy forehands, weakening their resolve in the process. His ball control off the forehand is amazing. I give Federer the edge over Nadal for the best forehand ever, but it is a very close call.

3. IVAN LENDL The former Czech who became an American citizen transformed the world of tennis with his playing style, most importantly with his signature inside-out forehand. There were an abundance of serve-and-volley competitors along with more conventional baseline practitioners during his era, but Lendl changed it all, serving with impressive power to set up his magnificent semi-western, inside-out forehand—the shot that carried him to eight major titles. Lendl’s power and accuracy with that forehand had never been witnessed before.

4. BILL TILDEN Over the course of the 1920’s, when Tilden ruled tennis and studied the technique of the sport with all-consuming interest, the American influenced the sport immensely. He had an estimable first serve and he improved his backhand markedly, but the forehand was Tilden’s finest shot. He drove through the ball classically and confidently and it was a stroke that would not break down under pressure. The Tilden forehand was a shot made for the ages.

5. BJORN BORG, PETE SAMPRAS and JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO Although many observers took more notice of the Swede’s two-handed backhand because he joined Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert to popularize that shot in the 1970’s, his forehand was in many ways superior. Borg ushered in a brand of heavy topspin that was unprecedented and the forehand took him to the top of the sport. He passed particularly well off the backhand and disguised his two-hander adeptly, but the Borg forehand defined his greatness more than anything else. Sampras had the most explosive running forehand of all time and he could do quite a bit of damage from the middle of the court off that side as well. His magnificent forehand was relatively flat and it was awesome when he was on. Del Potro is changing the face of the modern game with his explosive flat forehand, the biggest in the sport today. It is a prodigious weapon, released with blinding speed. More than anything else, his sizzling forehand was the reason he halted Federer in a five-set final at the 2009 U.S. Open.

Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin del Potro

Top Five Forehands of All Time – Women

1 . STEFFI GRAF This was among the easiest selections to make among the best strokes ever produced. Considering how much pace she got on this explosive shot, it was made all the more remarkable by her grip—essentially a continental, on the border of an eastern. She would get into position early and with supreme racket head acceleration she would sweep through the ball and strike countless outright winners with her flat stroke. She had little margin for error, yet the forehand seldom let her down. In my view, it stands in a class by itself as the best ever.

2. MAUREEN CONNOLLY A natural left-hander who played tennis right-handed, Connolly had a beautifully produced one-handed backhand that was a shot which came more easily to her. The fact remains that Connolly’s forehand paved the way for her to win the Grand Slam in 1953. She placed the same value on fast footwork as Graf. Her inexhaustible attention to detail and sound mechanics gave Connolly a magnificent forehand.

3. HELEN WILLS MOODY Brought up on the hard courts of California, taught to play the game from the baseline with steadfast conviction, realizing the importance of controlling the climate of her matches, Wills Moody was not called “Little Miss Poker Face” without good reason. She was relentlessly disciplined in her court craft, making the backcourt her home, refusing to make mistakes yet hitting her ground strokes hard. Her flat forehand—hit unfailingly deep and close to the lines—was far and away the best of her era and one of the finest ever.

4. MONICA SELES Authorities often debated whether Seles was better off the forehand or the backhand. Both were left-handed, two-fisted strokes. Each was taken early. She could explore the most acute crosscourt angles or direct her shots within inches of the baseline off either side. Unlike most of her peers, Seles’s forehand was not one dimensional.

5. SERENA WILLIAMS On her finest afternoons, when her timing is on and her concentration is sharp, Williams can be uncontainable off the forehand. She covers the ball with just enough topspin and takes it early, often from an open stance. It is the shot she uses to open up the court, to either release winners or advance to the net. She can be breathtaking off that side at her best, but her ranking is not higher because her brilliance off that side can be sporadic.

Flink’s new book THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME features profiles and rankings of the greatest matches of all time dating from the 1920s 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. Other champions featured in the book include Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf among many others. Flink’s fascinating “greatest strokes of all time” section ranks and describes the players who best executed all the important shots in the game through the years.

THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME, a hard-cover book that retails for $28.95, can be purchased via this link http://m1e.net/c?137316169-pY4wS1ySk2Uog%407802041-kVv/BOnLe29Us at www.NewChapterMedia.com and where ever books are sold. The book is available in electronic formats, including on Amazon.com’s Kindle here: http://m1e.net/c?137316169-hh.fFBfbas96k%407802042-QV.SRGnum7zco

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 Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” book published by New Chapter Media

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NEW YORK, June 18, 2012 – New Chapter Press today announced the release of the book “THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME” written by noted tennis journalist and historian Steve Flink.

“THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME” features profiles and rankings of the greatest matches of all time dating from the 1920s 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. Other champions featured in the book include Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf among many others.

“THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME,” a hard-cover book that retails for $28.95, can be purchased via this link http://m1e.net/c?136411417-LVOB7oNCoIRGc%407612075-eWVmYMp7oSMI2 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, 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.”

Said former U.S. Davis Cup captain and player Patrick McEnroe, “As a writer and a fan, Steve Flink’s knowledge of tennis history and his love of the sport are second to none, which is why you should read his new book.”

Said ESPN’s Cliff Drysdale, “To see tennis through the eyes of Steve Flink is to wander through a wonderland. These are not fantasies because Steve captures the essence of tennis matches in graphic detail. There is no one more passionate or caring about his subject. In this absorbing book, I can relive matches that I have called on television.”

Said CBS, NBC and Tennis Channel commentator Mary Carillo, “The GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME is a masterful tennis epic. Its pages are brimming with insight, hindsight. And as always with Steve Flink, the 20/20 vision of the subtleties and complexities of a match. From Budge to Nadal and “Little Mo” to Serena Williams, Steve will guide you through the greatest matches you ever saw, or never saw. The game’s finest players and brightest moments will come alive and play again, right before your eyes. This book is a tennis treasure.”

Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer (www.RogerFedererBook.com), “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf (www.CliffRicheyBook.com), “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker (www.TennisHistoryBook.com), “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “The Lennon Prophecy” by Joe Niezgoda (www.TheLennonProphecy.com), “Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Susan Anson, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According To Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin, “People’s Choice Guide Cancun” by Eric Rabinowitz, “Lessons from the Wild” by Shayamal Vallabhjee among others.

Bjorn Borg’s first ever match at Roland Garros

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By Cliff Richey

Roland Garros is a place where I have many memories – some I want to remember the rest of my life and some I’d rather forget. One unique experience I had came back in 1973 when I played a first-round match against a young Swedish player named Bjorn Borg, who was making his French Open – and Grand Slam — debut.

Bjorn Borg

The day the draw was made that year, my sister Nancy (the 1968 French women’s champ), and I were practicing on a back court and she suddenly stopped our practice session and told me she was going to the event headquarters to observe the official draw. I didn’t go and stayed behind to practice my serve. Nancy came back and I was eager to hear who I was going to play.

“You’re playing some guy named Bjorn Borg from Sweden.”

I had seen Bjorn play an exhibition the year before in New York the week before the US Open, so I knew I was in for a tough match, even though he was only 16 years old. Well it wasn’t a tough match for him! He killed me 6-2, 6-3 (the French Open played best-of-three-set matches in the first two rounds that year).

The match was played on Court Central – the main stadium court. I remember how quick-of-foot Bjorn was. He also never missed. He had those big topspin groundstrokes. Bjorn sort of led the way with the modern game with his extreme western forehand that had a lot of power and of course that two handed backhand of his. I probably didn’t play great that day, but when a guy never misses it gets a little challenging! And of course as we all know Bjorn won six French Opens in eight appearances in Paris. Incredible.

Is Bjorn the greatest clay-courter of all time? Rafael Nadal can settle that this year if he wins a seventh French title. At Rafa’s still young age, I’d bet on him to win a seventh and probably a few more as well. So if Nadal wins this year, let’s all remember the great Bjorn Borg and his great French Open record right after the dawn of Open tennis.

On a side note, my last pro match was in 1992 at a senior tour event in Florida. It was a doubles match. My partner? Bjorn Borg!

Cliff Richey was a Roland Garros semifinalist in 1970 and also a two-time US Open semifinalist (1970, 1972). He lead the United States to victory in the Davis Cup in 1970, the same year he finished as the No. 1 player in the United States and as the first-ever Grand Prix points championship – the precursor to the ATP rankings. He is now a mental health advocate and is the author of the book ACING DEPRESSION: A TENNIS CHAMPION’S TOUGHEST MATCH, available at www.CliffRicheyBook.com

A Look Back at Federer vs. Roddick

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Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick’s most noted tennis matches have taken place on the most famous court in tennis at Wimbledon, but Monday in New York, they will play in the world’s most famous arena – Madison Square Garden.

In the annual BNP Paribas Showdown – this year also featuring Maria Sharapova vs. Caroline Wozniacki – Federer and Roddick will lock horns and look to entertain the fussy and tennis sophisticated New York City audience. Rene Stauffer, author of the Federer biography ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) take readers back to some of the more well-known Federer – Roddick matches in these book excerpts below.

***

2004 Wimbledon Final – Federer def. Roddick 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4

On a rainy, bitterly cold Fourth of July, Federer played Roddick, who not only was in his first Wimbledon final on his country’s Independence Day, but on the birthday of his older brother John. Roddick clearly emerged as a solid No. 2 in the rankings behind Federer and took the identity of Federer’s primary challenger, especially on grass. The head-to-head between the two stood at 5-1 in the favor of Federer, who unlike the year before in his semifinal match with Roddick, was now considered the heavy favorite.

But Roddick and his coach Brad Gilbert both did their homework. Roddick played with an intensity that was palpable all the way to the top rows of Centre Court. Roddick’s power game dominated the early stages of the match as his brutal groundstrokes and lighting serve gave him the first set 6-4. The second set turned into a inexplicable rollercoaster ride—Federer took a 4-0 lead and had a point for 5-0, but lost two service games in a row and allowed Roddick to square the set at 4-4. But the tennis gods were in Federer’s favor. At 6-5, a let court winner gave him a set point. A gorgeously played running cross court forehand winner on the next point gave Federer the set.

The defending champion, however, was still unable to seize complete control of the match. In the third set, he trailed 2-4 when the heavens intervened as rain forced a temporary suspension in the action. The delay lasted 40 minutes and—as strange as it may sound—proved to be a pivotal moment in the match.

The rain stoppage also provided the Australian Pat Cash enough time on the BBC TV coverage of the match to make another false prediction—he wouldn’t bet any money on Federer winning the match. But Federer returned to the court as a man transformed and with a new tactic. As Cash used to do with much success, Federer rushed the net with greater frequency and began to win more and more points in that position. He won the third set in a tiebreak and was able to fend off six break points in the fourth set, before he broke Roddick’s serve at 4-3 without losing a point. In just a matter of minutes, Federer was again the Wimbledon champion.

It was 5:55 pm local time in Great Britain when Federer sank to his knees and rolled onto his back having once again won the greatest title in tennis. The sun, meanwhile, came out from the clouds, and like the year before, showered the award ceremony in sunshine. As with the ceremony in 2003, the tears flowed. “At least this time I managed to hold them back a bit during the award ceremony,” he remarked. “I’m even happier than last year.”

He admitted how surprised he was at Roddick’s aggressive and solid play. Federer said he himself made the decision during the rain delay in the third set to change tactics and to play more serve and volley. Of this, he said, he was proud. “Coach Federer is satisfied with Federer the tennis player,” he quipped.

 

2005 Wimbledon Final – Federer def. Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4

Federer unleashed a storm against Roddick at the start of the match—winning the first set in 22 minutes—a glaring difference to the previous year when the American dominated him from the start. In the second set, after the two players exchanged early breaks, Federer dominated the tie-break, taking it 7-2 to take a two-sets-to-love lead.

Although it was barely drizzling, Wimbledon officials ordered a suspension of play after the second set. Most of the spectators stayed in their seats, including Robert Federer, who watched his son play live in a Grand Slam final for the first time. While wife Lynette sat in the players’ box alongside Roche and Mirka Vavrinec, Robert sat on the complete opposite side of Centre Court.

Robert Federer didn’t have good memories of Wimbledon and it required courage for him to even venture to Centre Court to watch his son. His memories from his last visit to the All England Club in 2002 were still vivid—when he sat in the Players’ Box and expected to see his son roll through an easy first-round win over Croatia’s Mario Ancic. Instead, he witnessed “Rotschi” suffer one of the most bitter defeats of his career. Robert considered himself to be bad luck since then. His son finally convinced him to come. “Forget it! If I lose, then it certainly won’t be because of you,” Roger told him.

Robert Federer followed his son’s first two Wimbledon victories at home in Switzerland. When British reporters caught up with him afterwards, he explained that somebody had to look after the family cat. In 2005, he decided to come to Wimbledon from the beginning as a test. Most British reporters sitting only a few meters away from him in the Centre Court stands did not recognize him behind his sun glasses. The Sun actually ran a story about him, but the man in the photo associated with the story was not even him, but Federer’s physiotherapist Pavel Kovac.

Robert Federer was still nervous during the rain delay, even if his son’s two-sets-to-love lead calmed his nerves. “Even the points that Roger loses he plays well,” he said during the intermission. “I’ve always told him that he has to play aggressively and follow through with his strokes—anything else won’t work.”

Neither the short break—nor the supposed “jinx” presence of his father—could prevent Federer from winning his third Wimbledon title. After 101 minutes of play, an ace sealed his 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory. He fell to the ground and, as before, the tears flowed. Federer became the eighth man in history—and only the third player since World War II—to win three-straight Wimbledon singles titles. The other two to turn the “hat trick” in the last 50 years were Björn Borg and Pete Sampras, but Federer resisted the comparisons. After all, the Swede won Wimbledon five straight years and Sampras won seven times in eight years. What Federer didn’t say and perhaps wasn’t even aware of was the fact that his achievement in winning his three Wimbledon titles was, in fact, more dominant than the first three titles won by both Borg and Sampras. Borg gave up nine sets in the process while Sampras surrendered 11 sets. Federer, by contrast, lost only four sets.

Federer was at a loss for words for his near perfect performance in the final. “I really played a fantastic match—one of my best in my life,” he said. “I was playing flawless. Everything was working.”

Of the 35 grass court tennis matches Andy Roddick played over the last three years, he only lost on three occasions. All three losses were to Roger Federer. “His performance this year was clearly better than last year’s,” said Roddick after his third-straight Wimbledon loss to Federer. “If I had played as well as today last year I probably would have won.”

For a third year in a row Federer was the indeed the answer to the question “Guess Who is Coming To Dinner?” His guests for the Wimbledon Champions Dinner were Tony Roche and Robert Federer. Both men beamed with pride. The Wimbledon victory was very important to them as well.

“To me, Wimbledon is the greatest tournament in the world,” said Roche, happy that he stayed in Europe with Federer for the grass season. “Playing against such a great opponent as Roddick in a Wimbledon final and playing at the level that he did—it can’t get any better than that. On a scale from one to 10, that was a 10.”

The Wimbledon champion was glad that his father was able to be with him at this special moment.

“He still gets upset if I miss a backhand or a forehand,” he said to journalists the morning after his victory. “But I’ve learned to deal with this in the meantime because I know that he doesn’t know as much about tennis as I used to think.”

 

2007 Australian Open Semifinal – Federer def. Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-2

Spurred by new coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick’s career was back on the up-swing. In addition to his runner-up showing at the US Open, Roddick won the Tennis Masters Series event in Cincinnati and after his strong performances against Federer in the US Open final and Shanghai, as well as his exhibition victory over the Swiss at the Kooyong Classic, many speculated that Roddick was on Federer’s heels. The hype increased when the two faced each other again in the Australian Open semifinals. Roddick lost 12 of the 13 encounters with Federer but the longer this losing streak continued, the greater the likelihood that Federer would eventually stumble and lose to Roddick. In what many people predicted would be an upset victory for Roddick  turned into one of the bitterest days of the American’s tennis career. Federer pulled off a masterpiece—one of the best matches of his career. He trailed 3-4 in the first set and then rolled off 15 of the next 17 games and won the semifinal match 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in 83 minutes. “It was almost surreal,” Federer said. “I’m shocked myself at how well I played.” The statistics were incredibly lopsided as Federer hit as many winners in the match as Roddick won points.

Federer hit 45 winners to Roddick’s 11, while he won 83 points to Roddick’s 45. Federer also out-aced Roddick 10 to four, never lost his serve, and converted all seven break-point chances on Roddick’s serve. At one point, Federer won 12 straight games to take a 3-0 lead in the third set. The signature shot in the match came on the opening point of the fourth game of the second set. Roddick unleashed a fierce forehand from short range that landed close to the baseline. Rather than getting out of the way of the rocket forehand, Federer leaned left into the ball and hit a reflex backhand half-volley that traveled cross-court for a winner.

“Darling, you are a maniac,” Mirka told Federer after returning from his day’s work to the locker room. Two-time Grand Slam winner Rod Laver, who witnessed the flawless display of tennis, also showed up in the locker room and congratulated the victor. “Roger played fantastic,” said Laver. “He used all the strokes there were and Andy was a little frustrated. The only thing you could do is go to the net, shake hands and say, ‘That was too good.’”

Roddick’s post-match press conference was one of the most difficult of his career, but the American took the defeat like a man and was at least able to treat the humbling defeat with some humor. “It was frustrating. You know, it was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine,” he said. Federer, he said, deserved all the praise that was being bestowed on him.

 

2009 Wimbledon Final – Federer def. Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14

Two weeks later when Nadal was forced to withdraw from defending his Wimbledon title due to tendonitis in both knees, Federer was positioned as the overwhelming favorite to win the title. Losing only one set, Federer moved into the final where he faced his old adversary Andy Roddick, who defeated Andy Murray in the semifinals to the disappointment of the British hosts. Federer was not only playing against the American, the man whom he beat in the Wimbledon finals in 2004 and 2005, but once again against tennis history.

Legends such as Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg were in attendance at Centre Court, which for the first time featured a retractable roof. The surprising attendee, however, was Sampras, who flew to London from California with his wife just to watch the final. Sampras had said he would be there on the day that Federer breaks his record and he kept his word.

Federer was tense at the start of the match, missing his typical sovereignty and characteristic lightness for Wimbledon. The final quickly turned into a battle of serves. In a spat of bad luck, Federer was broken by Roddick late in the first set and surrendered the first stanza 7-5. Federer was then lucky to escape from being down two-sets-to-love when Roddick took a 6-2 lead in the second-set tie-breaker, four straight set points. But Roddick missed a seemingly easy backhand volley at 6-5 as Federer seized the second set tie-breaker 8-6, winning six straight points.

The two players each held serve six times to force another tie-breaker in the third set, Federer edging ahead two-sets-to-one with the 7-5 tie-break victory. As the match dragged on, Federer could not defend the overpowering Roddick serve. The American secured another service break in the fourth game in the fourth set and forced the match into a fifth-set. Federer and Roddick continued to exchange dominant service games and the fifth set turned epic. The score went to 5-5, then 6-6, then 7-7, and 8-8. At 8-8, Roddick had a major opportunity to break the Federer serve at 15-40, but the Swiss responded with two big serves.

It was not until the 30th game of the final set when the breakthrough occurred. With Federer ahead 15-14, Roddick misplayed a forehand on the second deuce point, giving Federer his first match point. It is all Federer needed to convert as Roddick mishit a forehand beyond the baseline to secure his first service break of the match, and win his record-breaking 15th major singles title.

After 4 hours and 16 minutes, including a 95-minute fifth set, the final score read Federer as the champion by 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 margin. The 77 games marked the longest major final in history.

“I am happy that I was able the break the Grand Slam record. Wimbledon is the tournament that always meant the most to me,” said Federer, who set a personal record with 50 aces in the final. “I felt different after the finals than at most Grand Slam tournaments. I didn’t shed a tear, didn’t get emotional like in Paris, Melbourne and a year ago in Wimbledon. At the end I was totally exhausted and tired because of the length and the importance of the match.”

With his sixth Wimbledon title, Federer also replaced Nadal in the top spot in the ATP rankings. His triumph was complete. He reached his dreams. He set new standards in his sport and his career was closer to perfection than ever before. While debating if he is the best player on earth, he provided overwhelming proof and most people gave him the nod as the greatest ever, including Sampras himself.

“I have to give it to him,” Sampras said after the 2009 Wimbledon final. “The critics say Laver, and Nadal has beaten him a few times at majors. He’s won all the majors, he’s won 15 now. He’s going to win a few more here. So in my book, he is.”

“He’s a stud,” Sampras added. “He’s only 27. He’ll contend here for many years, and the US Open, and all the majors. If he just keeps it going and stays healthy, he could go to 18, 19, potentially. The guy, he’s a legend. Now he’s an icon.”

Federer himself followed the debate of the “Greatest of All-Time” calmly and with reserve. “I enjoy it and I am proud when people write positive about me,” he said in the summer of 2009. “Fifteen major victories, winning all four major titles, reaching the semifinals of 20 Grand Slams in a row and being the number one player for 237 weeks in a row. Now I am certainly one of the best. But I don’t say: I am the best of all times. I have too much respect for tennis history. Let me finish my career first. Then we can compare it with other ones. Maybe I will be still playing in ten years.”