FULL VERSION Newcombe vs Connors 1975 Australian Open

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Copyrights - Seven Network (Australia)
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Thank you for your gracious use of this classic match!
PertSnergleman's Review:
Newcombe had been drifting along for a few years now. He was known, fairly or not, as a booze hound and skirt chaser who enjoyed all the benefits of international celebrity. That wasn't his only problem. The swashbuckling, mustachioed Aussie was the best grass-court player of his generation, the winner of three Wimbledons and two U.S. titles. But he owned just one trophy from his own country's championships, even though few top American and European players bothered to make the trip Down Under during the holidays. The reason for his poor performance at home: Newcombe was always a little too in awe of his legendary Australian elders. He couldn't win the big ones against the aging Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.
Newk did not have the same respect for the bratty young American who now owned the Australian title. Early in December, as the start of the Oz Open loomed, he even gave up the "tasty brown stuff" -- beer, that is -- so he could completely focus on toppling Connors. He came into the tournament fitter than he had been in years.
So did the tall, athletic Australian best the feisty 5'10" American with good, old-fashioned serve-and-volley power? Not exactly. He certainly rifled in his serve when he needed to. And he definitely hit a lot of stout volleys that jumped, rabbit-like, toward the first row. But he had studied his opponent and worked out a more nuanced strategy. He would provide his friend Ashe with a detailed blueprint for success later at Wimbledon.
"You have to know how to serve to beat Connors," Newcombe said after the match. "Serving to Jimmy is like pitching to Hank Aaron. If you don't mix up your stuff he'll hit it out of the ball park. He's strong from the service line, but he's got certain weaknesses in his volley. He doesn't disguise his shots, except for his lob. He relies on his power stroke and the brute strength of his forehand. And on his second serve he likes to stay back because he's not sure of it."
The tennis world was now primed for a rivalry between Connors and Newcombe, the young buck and the old master, but it wouldn't happen. Newcombe had done what he'd set out to do: proven he was still the king by putting the upstart prince in his place. That was enough for him. He wanted to partake of the tasty brown stuff again. He eased toward semi-retirement, concentrating more on doubles.
For his part, Connors would take a long time to recover. He'd lose five of his next six major finals -- and then go four years before reaching another one. He'd never play the Australian Open again.

[@nordattack]

Newcombe, one of the greatest classic style players of all time. Truly and honor to watch a player like this work and such a relief to watch him rather than the monotonous whacking and grunting of the modern baseline game.

[@piedro132]

Great video, classic tennis, pleasure to watch. furthermore I would suggest to all the viewers that complain about the speed and doubt the skills of these players, please go and buy a wooden racquet and try to hit any ball as precise and hard as Newcombe and Conners.

[@theacechip]

Exactly. As much a fan of tennis as I am, its amazing to watch (and hear) the shot speed during this match.

[@ericcarver3604]

You misspelled connors.

[@nhilltiger]

Thanks for posting this great piece of tennis history. Newk still using a wooden racquet, gut strings, Jimmy using the new Wilson T2000. Amazing given the size of the racquet heads how every shot was hit in the centre. Another factor is this court was playing very fast (dry, end of tournament) and really favoured the serve volley play, very difficult to play the match from the baseline. Newk beat Tony Roche in the semi, Roche was a nightmare on these courts, swinging lefty serve which skidded, then followed up with deep volleys. Newk was brought up on these sort of courts as a junior, Connors as an adult adapted to the surface very well. You can see from this telecast that Kooyong was at the end of its time as a grand slam, hence the new facility at Rod Laver arena.

[@ozneroll2132]

Just wanted to say thanks to the person that posted this video

[@rickbruner]

I never saw Newcombe play live, but I did see Connors at Wimbledon. Truly one of the great talents in history. His mother did a great job of giving him technically sound strokes that were always met far in front of his body and aligned with his target. The greatness of his game was in its simplicity. This technical prowess, combined with his natural gifts (balance, speed, hands, etc.) allowed him to continue to beat players 20 years younger than him into his early 40s. All due respect, but the gentleman below who thinks a modern 4.0 player could beat these guys is in fantasy land. A 4.0 player using a modern racket would still lose 6-0, 6-0 to Jimmy of 1975 using his old T-2000. On this particular day, it was very windy, and I believe it affected Connors' flat shots with their low margin for error more so than Newcombe's. Overall, there were far more unforced errors from both players than would normally be the case. It was also nice to see the "early Jimmy" here. He was far more innocent and easy going than the Jimmy of a few years later who was at times combative, lewd, and rude to court staff. Not sure what happened. Perhaps his success went to his head, the pressure of staying on top got to him, or old, bad boy Mac just brought it out in him. One thing is certain, in 1975, he was beloved by the Aussies and was very humble and gracious in defeat. Newcombe's praise of Jimmy as a class act was unexpected here, as the press, and Jimmy himself, have mainly pushed the image of Jimmy as an oft unlikable rebel and "outsider" all these years. Here, he was anything but...

[@bramvalkenburg5655]

A modern 4.0 player won't have any chance because of the technical deficiencies in either one of their strokes. They probably lose on serve and get lost because of the slice.

[@SuperBronaldo]

Vintage gold! Thanks for sharing! Gee the ump likes the sound of his voice though!

[@jasonbrooks6562]

Newcombe had s strong serve and steady volley, but it was a suprise connors didn't win this. Kooyong where the aussie open was held was a dump.

[@EJP286CRSKW]

Jason Brooks Were you there? That 'dump' has hosted over 30 Davis Cup ties.

[@mobystwin]

I didn’t like Connors at the time but I always appreciated him. He was an animal that never gave up. I like McEnroe’s frequent comment “ ..am I trying as hard as Jimmy Connors would?”

[@KingCast65]

Well stated. Too few people know this full history.

[@michaelnilsson3596]

Newc! One of the Very Best! Always class & style.

[@ttrdf]

loved jimmy's gesture in the third set, can't tell the line calls but I can tell that he felt uneasy taking those two points that he did what he did, it was a grand and brave gesture

[@nikita-dh5je]

Thank you for sharing with us this great, classic, and very sportsmanlike tennis match. John Newcombe's last major singles victory. Newk and Connors played three big matches in their primes, Newk winning 1973 Forest Hills Quarters en route to title, Newk winning this 1975 Aussie Open final, then Connors winning 1975 Las Vegas Challenge match where they both made huge money. This match was great, but it really should have happened 4 months earlier at Forest Hills, except Newk was upset by Rosewall in semis. Strange how Newk could handle Connors game, struggled against Rosewall in 1974, but Connors breezed past Rosewall. I guess it's all about matchups. Fourth set tiebreaker as good as 1980 Wimbledon tiebreaker. Classy trophy presentation by all involved (except Gloria, did i see her give the crowd obscene gesture)?

[@ChristianCentury2000]

I'm glad that Jimmy Connors went to Australia and participated in the Australian Open tournament!

[@magino789]

So fun to see marlboro adds at the end of the court :)

[@michaelireland7239]

yeah come to marlboro country and couch your lungs out

[@garylohr8450]

With JC you can't judge a book by its cover. His autobiography was great. Jimmy was quite the party boy. I wish JMC and Jimmy were closer in age can you imagine the human hurricanes that would have taken place. Always loved Jimmy during his late career US Open runs I never got to sleep before 1am. His flat ball style when on is hard to beat but when it's not the errors will doom you. Thanks for the memories.

[@michaelnivens6267]

Newcombe was simply amazing

[@davidkaiser]

An amazing match. The temperament of both of them is incredible--stoic warriors. Newcombe was an amazing player--the least athletic of great champions, but he had some great shots and always knew exactly what to do.

[@markhobson5769]

RIP Michael Williamson (1928-2019) & Colin Long (1918-2009). But Frank Sedgman is very much still alive & well & also very much still with us on this Earth.

[@roscoegarbonzo9966]

Thing of Beauty! Newc has such a beautiful & fluid motion

[@haroldsmyth6685]

My favorite opponent to watch vs connors. Picture serve

[@rjamesyork]

Newcombe’s serve doesn’t get talked about enough. It took something special to shut down Connors’ return in those days.

[@danguee1]

Given that tiny little wooden racquet and ropey strings, that's actually a monster serve he had there.....

[@blairmalmer2607]

What a wonderful match to revisit. Connors was still young in his career at that point and Newcombe was older and a wiley veteran. Great Win for Newcombe here. But I do think that Newcombe did not have the devastating backhand that players today seem to have. If you look closely, Newcombe hit a lot of high bunts on the backhand that would not work in today's game. I was a bit surprised that Connors did not take advantage of that and concentrate on pummeling Newk's backhand. However Newcombe was a great player in his day to be sure and came up big in this match. He deserved the win no doubt..Jimmy of course would go on to cement his place in tennis history as one of the all time greats.Love to see this old time match where it was not all about serving 130 miles per hour with no rallies. Very entertaining!

[@davidavila3994]

Newcombe..What a Volley

[@espenBredessenJones]

jimmy looks like he's wearing Stan Smith Adidas . I miss those days when the Australian and the US open were played on grass

[@nemoschmitz2374]

I prefer having 3 surfaces instead of 2

[@seveglider8406]

The Australian Open never should have changed surface.

[@hardsam68]

To all those saying the AO was the weakest grand slam it’s still a grand slam and that’s really the end of it so that’s baloney when you look at this match

[@mobystwin]

Tennis was great, exciting in those days. Playing at the caliber they did with the rackets that were available most days made tennis so much more interesting than the pure power game it is now.

[@honuman39]

Power is a definite factor in today's game but look at Federer. He's a great combo of power and finesse. There's a lot of players like that use finesse today.

[@seveglider8406]

@@honuman39 Federer is one of the very few modern day players who has variety in his game.

[@rjamesyork]

@@honuman39Medvedev? Alcaraz?

[@gregoryphillips3969]

Best match of John Newcombe's great career. He wasn't supposed to win here. He was extraordinary.

[@danguee1]

Maybe - but he won 7 GS titles to Jimmy's 8 - and was the number 2 seed for this tournament. And it was on Aussie grass. And he'd won it 2 years before. And he was better at big finals than Jimmy: 70% GS final success vs Jimmy's 53%. I think your comment is a bit one-dimensional.

[@gregoryphillips3969]

@@danguee1 What do you mean? Connors had come off of a year in 1974 where he was so good that his coach Pancho Segura said that Jimmy would rule tennis for the next 10 years. Jimmy was 23 years old Newcombe was 31, and as he stated in the post match interview he liked the brown stuff (beer), but he laid off of it during the Australian Open. If that's not a setup for the younger man to win l don't know of a better example. All of Newcombe's other wins came against his contemporaries. He breat a man in Connors who was there to prove that it was his time and Newcombe said not yet.

[@rjamesyork]

@@danguee1Connors had won three majors the previous year and you can hear the commentators say that Newcombe was struggling with his form, including in this tournament. Nothing one-dimensional about it.

[@seabrookthemagnificent9580]

Newk set the standard for graciousness, not to mention sheer willpower in tennis, and the legacy carries forth today in both Federer and Nadal, and the other gents of our current golden era. It is great fun to travel back in time, and my thanks for posting this vid to PertSnergleman. Just one open question, though, was that a brewski Newk popped the tab on at the end of the match?

[@seabrookthemagnificent9580]

My apology for replying to myself. Oh that's okay. Well, thanks. Forgot to mention that I hope the current Aussies on tour will study the great Aussies that went before, and learn how gentlemen behave on court, and set standards of excellence.

[@kifinov1239]

@@seabrookthemagnificent9580Cough ...... cough ........ Kyrgios ....... cough ........ cough ........

[@j-mharari3374]

How wonderful it was these days......

[@martynhanson]

One last point. Connors won three slams in 74 and then lost the same three finals in 75. I really thought, in 1974, he was going to win loads more than he did.

[@nikita-dh5je]

Connors wasn't really that good in 1974 and he wasn't that bad in 1975. He was incredibly lucky in 1974 in many ways, including getting Rosewall in both finals, whose style of play matched up terribly with Connors and was so tired he could barely run. In 1975 it was different, Connors played three players, Newk , Ashe, Orantes, who were much tougher obviously in that they beat him. Connors was maybe better in 1975 than 1974, he just ran out of luck that he had in 1974.

[@zeddeka]

@@nikita-dh5je I think the major difference is that in 1975, people figured out how to play him. Connors had some glaring weaknesses in his game, and the players figured out what they were - mixing up the pace and spin, and in particular playing low slice shots to his forehand.

[@kikegalo6154]

You gotta love ballboys wearing Marlboro red tshirts

[@山下唯-w5t]

Newcombe would be a player who mass-produces service aces now.

[@SpiritofPluto]

Thank you so much for this vid!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@petes6521]

Really good video quality.

[@mikejones-qk2ou]

Good "sense of humor" in this match! Fun to watch!

[@martynhanson]

Yes, tennis was in flux. Borg only played in 1973 and Mac didn't play for years - not sure when. There were other things like the Masters, Team Tennis ,etc. Meanwhile, The Australian championship didn't get back to total respectability until they built the new complex, then all the players came.

[@smftrsddvjiou6443]

Mac started 1979 (late 1978) in the tour , made a surprising semi at Wimbly 1in 1977 as junior amateur.

[@seveglider8406]

The Australian Open was resurrected when it moved to the beginning of the calendar year. The new venue also helped.

[@preciousjey]

Connors practice one handed backhand is not too shabby.

[@peterbrown6434]

Great final!

[@purveyoroffinefoodslaszlo9955]

Strong presence from Marlborough here and throughout the 70's down in Melbourne. I'm surprised they didn't have cigarettes for the players to smoke between changeovers. Tobacco and rigorous aerobic athletic sponsorship, very strange bedfellows.

[@seveglider8406]

Remember the Virginia Slims Tour?

[@berndeigner8837]

JC never played again in Melbourne. Did he play another tournament in Australia in the course of time. And why ? Had there been any trouble downunder?

[@timobrienwells]

He played the Sydney indoor several times after this. Won in 1977 and 1978. Beat Newcombe once.

[@zeddeka]

The Australian open really was the poor relations of the grand slams back then and many of the top players didn't consider it a big tournament and didn't play. On many occasions they couldn't attract enough players to get a full draw and the top players often got byes in the opening rounds. In those days too it was held in December just before Christmas and lots of players didn't want to spend Christmas away from family. Bjorn Borg for example only ever played it once. Connors played it in 1974 really as a means to get experience and ended up winning against a weak field. He played it in 1975 largely because he was defending champion and after that saw no reason to return. Chris Evert on the women's side was similar, often skipping the tournament. After she won for the first time in 1982 she apparently said to Martina Navratilova "Thank God. That means I don't have to come back." Although she did.

[@hardsam68]

That’s old of rubbish as she was back several years after that , oh and by the way Evert was beaten by Goolagong in the 74 final after she wiped the field in her half of the draw and this was also a reason possibly, Evert also played the bonne bell cup Australia V America AND played the 78 Federation Cup so before you start passively bagging the tennis history of my country get your tennis facts right

[@markbrandis5684]

@@hardsam68 what you say isn't convincing at all,sir!

[@miguelbarahona6636]

Dramatic match.

[@mtb10s40]

Great match! Thanks for showing it. How is this SO much clearer than matches shown in 80, 90 or 2000’s?

[@PertSnergleman]

Hey there MTB 10S - yeah this came from a full-on 70's VHS commercial release - luckily our capture software is compatible and the heads on the old VCR are crispy clean... Enjoy!

[@filmo70]

This was the last match Connors ever played at the Aussie Open!!

[@martynhanson]

Also, Borg played only once in 73 and McEnroe didn't play until the new stadium 1985. The next thing for people to do is to investigate why. That requires some work/research.

[@filmo70]

@@martynhanson That era cared about winning the calendar year Grand Slam not career slam wins like now. With it being the last major and close to infringing on a Christmas break, without someone having won the first three they just skipped it. McEnroe first played in 1983

[@robocop5935]

McEnroe came to Australia in 83. Lost to mats wilander in 4 sets in semis. Previous to 83. The big players didn't turn up after this match. Only vilas turned up really.

[@preciousjey]

How very neutral Advantage Server Advantage Receiver. I have those lawn chairs in green and white.

[@superpunkrotten6650]

Great Newcombe

[@paulauvray1962]

John Newcombe le gentleman des courts 🤔🥰

[@duncanmiddleton768]

Any chance of the semi-final of Newcombe against Roche?

[@davidavila3994]

With class

[@chardenouxsylvie8167]

Lendl, Wilander et Edberg ont sauvé ce tournoi qui était boudé par les joueurs (seuls Vilas, Gerulaitis et Tanner y allaient). Les organisateurs ont ensuite compris qu'il fallait le programmer mi janvier.

[@romcallis]

Back when 3 of 4 GS were on grass

[@ירוןארד]

Actually, that year US Open was played on clay.

[@bigalexg]

Did you notice that a thoughtful young fellow was bringing the boys a glass of water between games?

[@coastallad1010]

Got to love the commentary,grand slam final and one of them didn't even know the rules of tennis.

[@EJP286CRSKW]

Steve Lynch That's just a way of explaining it to the viewers. Tiebreaks were petty new then. Two of the commentators are Frank Sedgeman and Colin Long, and I can assure you they both knew the rules.

[@Dbdbe1]

The usual ‘experts’ totally ignoring the fact the rackets are made of wood, I see...🙄

[@mihaiapstru7483]

Wilson T2000 made of wood ??? Seriously...

[@drieaz]

@john smith too many concussions for you,fool.

[@netman42CT]

@john smith Connors holds the record for most tournament wins 109......I have been on the court with him, and he was very nasty and smart. Newcombe would have destroyed many players with his serve and volley, wood or metal (he later used a Rawlings Aluminum frame).

[@AllRound_GG]

Those were the days. They should return the Australian Open to Kooyong. It was such a better venue. Technology has ruined tennis! It's such a shame.

[@zeddeka]

Kooyong was a bit of a joke. The courts were bizarre as they were built on a slight slope to help with drainage. As John mcEnroe put it, "you were playing uphill" because of the slope. The complex itself was way too small and the Australian open had become the very poor relation of the grand slams, with few of the top players competing for a long time. The move to the new stadium was an attempt to resurrect the Australian open, and you have to say that it has worked.

[@SuperHammaren]

@@zeddeka Is it still possible to play at the Kooyong?

[@dundalis]

Lol if they kept playing at Kooyong Australia would have lost its classification as a grand slam. Australian open would just be a minor tournament no one cares about

[@nikita-dh5je]

To Pert Snergleman, Thank you for putting the entirety of this great, classic match. However, your opening isn't exactly accurate. Newcombe never played Rosewall or Laver in the Australian Open, he lost to other people the other years. And I think he was too much in awe of Laver over the years but not Rosewall, he beat Rosewall at Wimbledon twice and were roughly even in their rivalry. But I don't mean to nitpick, thank you for putting the entire match up, do you have the 1976 final where Newk was upset by Edmonson? I'd be interested to see how in the world he lost to Edmondson who was barely ranked.

[@YesSirPhil]

I would love to see the guys from today play on this court with these rackets/balls. Just for a 2 month long grass court season. This would be interesting to watch.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

They would break strings after 10 shots.

[@smftrsddvjiou6443]

Back then Tennis was an Art. An Art to hit the ball with those rackets. Therefore, different spins, placement, changing pace to force an error. Nowadays is topspin,topspin,topspin,.....stop,stop,lob,topspin,topspin,topspin,topspin,topspin,topspin...stop,stop,lob,topspin,topspin... going on for 6h and more.

[@seveglider8406]

Present day Tennis is BORING!

[@BCNbananas]

Thank you for sharting. Do you have the women's finals, too?

[@maxipazz8214]

Why don’t we ever get to see the women’s final with Goolagong and Navratilova

[@MarcelaR-dh1ok]

Saw Newc play Stan Smith ...Nassau Coliseum ...73??

[@nikita-dh5je]

1974.

[@nikita-dh5je]

Newcombe's backhand was weak compared to his forehand, however in this match his backhand was instrumental in his win over Connors. He had several backhand winners, including an amazing backhand return of serve to cancel set point in the tiebreaker. Perhaps Connors played to Newk's backhand too much, too predictable and Newcombe knew what was coming.

[@robin231176]

Newcombe "past his best", Connors in his prime..boy that was some performance.

[@planetx1595]

2:33:37 Advantage reciever?

[@malhotraroger9106]

How would these legends have fared in today’s game ? Eg , Newcombe vs Federer , Connors vs Djokovic .

[@honuman39]

Not well, if you take their games as you see them here. It's kind of amazing to see how inconsistent their groundstrokes are and how quickly someone misses a shot considering how slow the play is with the wooden and metal rackets. They're not nearly as fit as players are today.

[@egrorian1]

Mmm. I think you'll find the likes of Borg and Vilas were every bit as for as the players of today.

[@fedecasares]

And I wonder how today's players would have done with a wooden racket, heavier balls and without all the paraphernalia (technology) they have today. Hmm ... more than one would not have even made it to the top 20.

[@ManOnJupiter2]

@@fedecasares It is always difficult to make comparisons but I think that today's speed of the ball forces the players to be better athletes. Then, you may be right, some player of today may find difficulties in adapting to smaller ovals and wooden rackets, but, I guess today's champions would still win hands down

[@absoluteb22]

Bulk of players from today wouldn't stand a chance using the rackets and strings on show here.

[@tomschmitz1336]

what was the head to head with connors and newcombe? i think connors would take him on clay, hard courts and perhaps indoor with only grass being newcombe's best shot? interesting that newcombe lost to rosewall a old rosewall TWICE in 74, at wimby and at the u.s. open, but connors destroyed rosewall both times...

[@thanghoang3198]

Well, it's also about matchup, because a Connors-Rosewall match means pitting the biggest returner against the weakest server in the tour. Rosewall's biggest weakness was his serve, and Connors' biggest weapon was ROS. This could potentially be the worst matchup in any era, worse than Agassi-Becker or Nadal-Federer.

[@nikita-dh5je]

Newcombe beat Connors at the US Open in 1973 quarterfinals in straight sets on grass, this Australian Open in 4 sets on grass for 2 wins. Connors beat Newcombe later in 1975 in Las Vegas challenge match 4 sets indoor, then a few times later before Newcombe retired in smaller events in 2 sets I think.

[@hardsam68]

As usual That’s got nothing to do with this match

[@driger888]

wow, vintage. connors was partying too much in 1975 is the real story.

[@driger888]

connors own statements.

[@davidavila3994]

And Newcombe's Lobbing Shots...hahaha

[@calvinnay814]

Connors reached the finals in Australia, Wimbledon & the U.S. Open to defend his title, but lost each time. was 1975 considered a successful year for Jimmy?

[@tenniscollector]

Probably not by his standards, but most players ranked below him would have been honored to reach the finals, i'm sure.

[@KralArtus]

It depends. He stayed world Nr 1. in ATP ranking all this year (and it continued this way until 1978), though he won no GS tournament in 1975 or 1977... Seems any tennis player from this years to be more succesful?

[@uncletony6210]

When Connors won 3 of the 4 in 74, it was anticipated that he would dominate the rest of the decade. No one would have guessed he'd only when two more slams though 1979.

[@robertwolff3221]

Wonder if Newk was a drinking beer after the match.

[@driger888]

connors had a flatter serve in his younger days. connors had his chances. too many errors, and should have never intentionally double faulted. its shame he never played the tournament again. he seemed to be well liked.

[@bradleysmall2230]

notice the glasses of water w ice cubes as opposed to sports drinks and plastic containers of water. I wonder if ever players just drank coca cola

[@espenBredessenJones]

I can remember Yannick Noah making the mistake of drinking coca cola at Roland Garros in the late 80's & then vomiting right on the court

[@travels129]

Newk wouldnt take any crap from jimmy like mac did

[@dks13827]

Newc won here !!! Good. JC thumped him in Las Vegas, though.

[@MichaelS0504]

Commentators explain the rules of tiebreak ) old times )

[@uncletony6210]

tiebreaks were new to the game.

[@miguelbarahona6636]

Jimmy was too cocky. At the warmup of this match he was hitting one handed backhands. In Wimbledon 1975, he was also too confident against Ashe, when he realized, the match was over.

[@uncletony6210]

I was going to type the exact same thing. He was even hitting topspin forehands in warmup! overconfidence - in any sport - is a guaranteed loss. That's what happened here.

[@driger888]

connors was injured against ashe. newcombe just played great tennis.

[@miguelbarahona6636]

@@driger888 Ashe served amazingly in that Wimbledon final. His first volley, each time, was perfect. Ashe played the match ofhis life.

[@driger888]

@@miguelbarahona6636 ashe was a great player, and connors was not 100%. not that big of an upset. it was the only time ashe ever beat connors.

[@uncletony6210]

@@driger888 never once heard that Connors was injured against Ashe...

[@tomschmitz1336]

so odd to see connors serving and volleying in 74 and 75 when he was and became a strict aggressive baseliner for the rest of his career.. his serve was never a weapon, so odd that he was regularly serving and volleying in his youth and usually it was to his detriment in losing the final to ashe at wimbledon and here to newcombe... and HE KEPT at it, this losing game both times too? must have been the arrogance of his youth?...

[@uncletony6210]

Jimmy served and volleyed throughout his wimbledon win in 82.

[@jasonbrooks6562]

Connors in the 84 wimbledon s/f against lendl served and volleyed and it worked,he won in4 sets. However in the final,he tried it against mcenroe,and was humiliated.

[@ttrdf]

many baseliners had to adapt to different surfaces and many serve and volleyers had to adapt to different surfaces too

[@EJP286CRSKW]

Both Connors and Borg always serve-volleyed at Wimbledon, and you can see Jimmy doing it here at the AO, as also in 74. The notion that he only played from the baseline is a myth. I think he is a very underrated volleyer. Have a look at the fourth set tiebreak for example. Incredibly gusty backhand putaway on a match point.

[@valeriocostantini1959]

Connors, as also Borg did, serve and volleyed on grass and stayed at the baseline on other surfaces.

[@tomschmitz1336]

in 1974 connors was deemed unbeatable and would reign for a long long time.. the very next year? loses to newcombe in the aussie, ashe at wimbledon (the 1st and only time he would ever lose to him) and then orantes at the u.s. open when orantes had to have been utterly mentally and exhausted from his semi with vilas.....

[@driger888]

aside from settling into superstar status, newcomb played well, connors was injured at wimbledon, and clay wasn't his best surface at the open.

[@tomschmitz1336]

never heard that connors was "injured" at wimbledon before... nevertheless he did play poorly and yes, even tactically stupid against ashe... too bad, because it was such a huge occassion and would be the ONLY TIME he ever lost to ashe... as far as clay, he should have whipped orantes, who was lucky to win against vilas and should have literally been easy pickings since he was EXHAUSTED from his hours long battle against vilas, clay was not connors best surface but he was able to win the next year against borg on the same surface, same court, then again he would lose the next year in 77 to vilas, once again, someone he should beat on any surface...

[@driger888]

he had shin splints against ashe. google it. its well documented. that was the only time ashe ever beat connors. orantes was a young man, probably feeding off adrenaline. connors had also become tennis's first superstar, and was partying a little to much, according to his own statements.

[@lenwelch2195]

Newcomer deserved to win , he played much better , Ashe tactfully beat connors who was unable to adjust , oranges did not play exhausted - he was on a high that happens sometimes when your beyond tired. Connors won in 74 against a 40 year old in finals plus his game was new and no one had a chance to figure out how to play him . Connors was a great player but he wasn’t in top 5 great players of all time . McEnroe and Borg were better players than Connors .

[@driger888]

they aren't beating connors on a hard court, and connors was injured against ashe.

[@bradleysmall2230]

did jimmy fiqure he would never return

[@zeddeka]

The Australian open was very much the poor relation in those days and the players didn't respect it especially. For a long period, Very few of the top players entered and you got some very poorly known winners. I guess Jimmy felt like at that stage it was no big deal because at that stage it wasn't really in the same league as some of the other tournaments.

[@attybong]

is that the surface called har tru?

[@espenBredessenJones]

I think they call it grass.

[@zeddeka]

It's grass. Har tru is a green coloured clay. The us open was played on har tru for a period up until 1977. Look up Connors versus Borg in the 1976 us open final if you want to see a match player on har tru

[@AmurTiger-vm5dy]

Newcombe was more strong than Connors

[@tombryant52jumpscoach]

The announcers really took the shits when Conners leveled at 5 all in the 4th set. Haha

[@kikegalo6154]

Chair umpire quite an amateur. Echoing the out calls of his lines men and even worse, calling out faults on those serves not making it past the net. Maybe that was the etiquette back in the day but it seemed redundant and annoying

[@rjamesyork]

It was the standard at the time. It’s not amateurish; it’s just not what you’re used to.

[@Lava1964]

It was done as late as 1976 at the US Open.@@rjamesyork

[@uncletony6210]

@@rjamesyork it's from the department of the redundancy department.

[@JossLeigh]

How officious was the umpire? Calling fault on a serve when it fails to go over the net and double fault when the second serve is out! Totally unnecessary.

[@tenniscollector]

Today yes, but back then that was the norm.

[@SyncopateTheShot]

The only place they didn’t do that back then was Wimbledon. They did not call first serves or double faults.

[@sino4725]

彼等は、とてもユニークだった。 今の時代とは違って 見てて楽しく、エキサイティングだった

[@captainkirk21101967]

Newcombe's groundstrokes were poor.Yes people bang on about the wooden rackets but look at Borg or Vilas.

[@Baskerville22]

Yeah.......he couldn't win anything with those ground-strokes

[@valeriocostantini1959]

@@Baskerville22 Apart from seven slams? And he had a good forehand.

[@alexbowie6316]

He was a top top doubles player though. It wasn't real ground strokes as his returns were short and at the feet to suit the net game played at the time. It is true though that he rarely hit a topped backhand or a ball the full length of the court.

[@absoluteb22]

Yet Newcombe was number one in the world and won Grand slam titles. Vilas has a lame serve.

[@miguelbarahona6636]

Newcombe vs Borg 3-2. Newcombe vs Vilas 1-1. Newcombe shots poor? Really? You cannot be serious!

[@corriga888]

connors was a grub.

[@HighMo]

FO - how do you figure.

[@gnghngnvbnb7479]

This Nowcombe guy looks like a 3 times a week hobby player by modern standards.

[@andrewbaverstock2672]

Do you know anything about tennis?

[@gnghngnvbnb7479]

@@andrewbaverstock2672 Quite a lot. I had a nice tennis experience a couple of years ago when I tried tennis on the hotel court. I also know that Wimbedon is an important tournament.

[@xtbum3339]

@@gnghngnvbnb7479 You're joking right?

[@gnghngnvbnb7479]

@@xtbum3339 yes

[@rjamesyork]

He’d kick your ass. Even now, in his 70s, and with the wooden racket.

[@fearsomebunny]

Today's USTA level, what are these guys, 4.5? I think 5.0 would kick their ass...

[@egrorian1]

Nonsense

[@monchoman]

No. 5.0’s would be lucky to win a game.

[@info781]

Today's players would have their arm in cold water after 2 hours of using wood racquets and would be crying for mercy. You can't put heavy top spin with those racquets.

[@absoluteb22]

Haha, i suggest you stick to Play Station.

[@HockeyVictory66]

Not with wood racquets. Don’t get me started on the T2000 that Jimmy used. It was the ultimate piece of crap. These guys made playing with wood look easy. In played with wood until high school and it was very difficult.

[@myjianghu]

With their equipment and play style, I hardly believe they can beat a solid 4.0 player nowadays. The serve is too slow, too much unforced error, slow motion groundstroke speed.

[@bobgash626]

Please, of course, you're kidding - right? Especially on grass, their shot placement ability alone would kill a 4.0 player.

[@drieaz]

have you ever played tennis? maybe go with dodgeball instead...

[@billphillips4614]

Ridiculous comment. You must know very little about tennis.

[@JD-jc8gp]

moron

[@woswasdenni1914]

id agree you cant. athelics came a long way, people are faster and more efficent in movement and the equipment makes a dramatic difference. you simply cannot play a lot of techniques with those old rakets. so yea old connors with odl equp. vs modern player with modern equipment - nope no chance for connors.

[@robertoamenabar9970]

I HAVE TO WATCH IT AT SPEED 1,5 TO NOT FALL ASLEEP

[@peterbrown6434]

What about the other 7 in your bed?

[@tennsmoothie]

I find this tennis much more interesting than the current game which is played on the edge of a winner or unforced error on every shot.

[@absoluteb22]

Selfie Stick boy Roberto the narcissist.

[@robertoamenabar9970]

@@absoluteb22 seguí pajeándote con fotos de Laver, eso es lo tuyo.

[@mohammedtahsin3276]

its clear that you dont know jack shit about tennis just falla sleep now