Part 2 - 1975 Australian Open Final - Connors Vs Newcombe (40th Anniversary Edition)

[@Marmorbruk]

I love the way Newcombe serve.

[@mikehzz9848]

Grass courts were fast, balls shot through low and the bounces were all over the place. You had to be able to volley very well unless you were exceptional. Big racquets brought a lot more power and sets just became serving contests, very boring. They slowed the courts up, played less on grass and you have the power hitting predominantly baseline rallies we now see. It's evolution brought on by racquet design and the economics of court surface maintenance. Grass is a very expensive fickle surface. Everyone these days should go have a game on a slick grass court to impress on themselves just how good these guys were.

[@kingarthurusatenniscoach1415]

Polish wood and wet grass played on both.. Tough and very difficult to play

[@abdiver12]

Phenomenally good quality footage for the year. Thanks for posting!

[@SCHEY101]

Wow those commentators were so dynamic! 🤩🤘

[@ayokay123]

When tennis was much more entertaining to watch, not to mention more difficult to play well. Racquet technology changed everything...for the worse.

[@aaronaragon7838]

Agreed. Space-alloy rackets created the pure shot maker able to smack a winner from anywhere on the court. The physique of the players standardized...compare the body types of Fed, Rafa, Novak: really the same guy. I stopped watching tennis after the Sampras-Agassi era ended.

[@bobbygans1893]

technology ruined tennis more than any other sport. truly sad. about late 90s , tennis was destroyed forever.

[@dystopian..]

👍🏻

[@dansmith9724]

@bobbygans1893 the late 90s Pat Rafter brought back some of that old magic with his serve volley tennis. Probably the last real serve and volleyer.

[@raydavies5249]

bigger racquets and the 2 handed backhand crap ruined the game in my opinion...oh and all the grunting too...

[@joemarshall4226]

Brilliant play by New...great reactions at the net...good sportsmanship by Jimmy...may have cost him the match. Jimmy liked to show the crowd good time.....always trying to get a laugh.....he really helped pro tennis get attention....

[@dystopian..]

I miss this era…

[@coerfjoe1]

Amazing-, how self-controlled Connors is outside the 'showy' U.S. and he is humorous instead of obscene. No stalling, picking the best ball from the ball boys etc. with breaks edited out. This is John Newcombe fully recovered from knee surgery displaying his full athleticism, including his running forehand that passed net rushers. He was robbed of a few Wimbledon titles before the associations made peace. In my view, he was the new 'Laver'. Ferocious in singles and doubles, the complete player.

[@zeddeka]

I think a lot of that behaviour from Connors came over time and it really became noticeable when he was kept off the #1 spot by the likes of Borg, McEnroe and Lendl. When he was winning matches easily in 1974, he didn't need to behave like that. The Australian Open back then was really the very poor relation of the grand slams and this was the last time Connors played it. That may explain why he was a little more relaxed here. The Australian open just didn't mean that much then.

[@lick181]

Connors hated the flies, the heat and the partisan crowd. Australian Open was scheduled too early and didn't attract the same quality of players as it does today. Connors was peaking and Newk was nearing the end of his illustrious career. Jimbo was the overwhelming favourite to win but I think he underestimated John and his determination. One of the great tennis matched of all time. As for Jimmy serving that double fault on purpose I don't know that it was good sportsmanship or just arrogance. I'm sure he regretted it later because he was accused of tanking the whole match!!! ..which blatantly wasn't the case. Jimmy changed the game in so many ways.....double handed play,grunting,racket type and of course he brought brashness and cockiness which changed and widened the fan base.

[@alanchong7513]

Great post! Right on the mark!

[@joek724]

I recall Jimmy post match making a comment that he would need give away a point again

[@colderbeer]

Connors also invented the FIST PUMP.........nobody in any sport was doing it until Connors started with it.....

[@michaelhegyan7464]

Don't know if you ever hit with that T 2000, that Connors used, it hit with it once, and it was almost impossible to keep the ball in play..

[@michaelmathews9850]

Great sportsmanship from Connors there!

[@KingCast65]

Sort of. He was also kind of braggadocio.

[@ruthlesshack1279]

@@KingCast65 meaning what?

[@KingCast65]

@@ruthlesshack1279 Just that great sportsmanship and Jimmy Connors were not exactly synonymous

[@jamesbedukodjograham5508]

Ce match est tres important parce que on voir du Tennis a un niveau de grande Qualite en 1975. Ceci prove une Qualite Totale.

[@michaelhegyan7464]

Different sport now..it really sucks, glad I played the sport during the tennis boom era of the 70`s..!

[@beavercleaver7848]

I was just saying to someone that that boom happened then, previously empty public courts were full, with peoole sitting and laying on the grass outside the courts waiting their turns to play, and courts sprouting up in the yards of private homes all over suburbia, because the men's pro tour had just signed a contract to have their tournaments' semifinal and final rounds nationally televised in the United States every Saturday and Sunday. That tour had been just a vague rumor to most of the denizens of the USA before then. When they learned that it was much harder to play the sport well than it looked on TV, interest waned, and the public and private courts were mostly deserted again..

[@zeddeka]

The last time Connors ever played the australian open. Up until the late 80s, the Australian Open was really the poor relation of the grand slams and many of the top players used to skip it. The list of winners in the late 70s is bizarre - some very unknown players.

[@tenniscollector]

The first part of your comment is right , the turning point was really in 1983 where the tournament attracted McEnroe, Lendl, Noah and Wilander.

[@kingarthurusatenniscoach1415]

Jmmy Connors was too kind serving a double on purpose when the crowd was against him..A true gentleman

[@uncletony6210]

gentleman Connors???

[@enematwatson1357]

Nobody ever accused Jimmy Connors of being a gentleman. 😁

[@colderbeer]

@@uncletony6210 That double fault was pure class....yes, gentleman.

[@uncletony6210]

@@colderbeer you mean the guy who simulated fellatio with his racket handle? the guy who flipped someone the bird pretty much every match he ever played in the 1970s? The guy who called the ump an "abortion?" you mean that guy?

[@td866]

@@uncletony6210 the guy who yelled about having a woman call lines during a match, the guy who called lendl a fucking faggot....

[@valentinpicioiu1006]

Connors and Nastase...brilliant ! The same talent !

[@michaelbarlow6610]

As Jimmy Connors accurately stated in 1989 on the final Sunday of the Wimbledon tournament during an NBC Sports roundtable discussion of tennis racket technology with Bud Collins and Bob Costas, the graphite rackets "were taking 'C' -level pros and making them 'B'-level, 'B'-level pros into 'A'-level pros and 'A'-level pros into Wimbledon-level pros" and that if the sport went back to wood, then you would find out who really had the talent to play the game and make the tennis tournament events. He was absolutely right about that! But unfortunately the sport is never going to go back to the wood equipment because such a move would entail a very expensive round or series of lawsuits filed by the players' unions, the ATP and the WTA against the ITF (International Tennis Federation) which sets the rules for the game.

[@michaelhegyan7464]

Yeah...I recall, Mcenroe mentioned that also, going back to a wood racquet..

[@markmauk8231]

Why would that be an accurate statement from Connors? Its the same for everybody, dude. Material evolved and players had to adjust. No C-Level gets to B-Level because of different material unless some former B-level cant handle it and drops to C-level, which means you can reverse that argument. Just because a wooden raquet requires a different style of play doesn't mean you need more talent or skill to be a great player with it. Its a typical, ignorant comment from someone who likes to glorify the past and fails to see the whole picture. Connors was stating his opinion, but that doesnt make it a fact.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@@markmauk8231 . Your response is a typically ignorant comment by someone who obviously knows zero about the game of tennis! Of course your use of the improper, street slang word "dude" , as the old expression goes, "speaks volumes" about your lack of intellectual firepower! Wood and metal rackets because of their much smaller head-size and lack of power relative to modern, larger, stronger graphite rackets DID require tennis players to have real ability compared to graphite rackets which have (along with lubricated strings which studies have proven add 20% more spin to the ball than regular, non-lubricated strings) irrefutably cheapened the game by making it too easy to master the game of tennis! Connors was absolutely right in what he said about the graphite rackets elevating players from "C"-level to "B"-level, "B"-level to "A"-level and "A"-level to Wimbledon-level pros! You fail to see that reality because you (and so many others like you) so enjoy deluding yourself into laughably, erroneously believing that modern players are greater than their earlier and previous era counterparts when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth! You idiotically criticize the great play of the champions of the wood and metal rackets era as being inferior to that of the modern graphite era players, which proves conclusively just how stupid you truly are! Just look, for example, at how John McEnroe's level of play was elevated a full notch by his switch from his wood racket to the midsize Dunlop Max200G graphite racket in 1983! McEnroe could not have had the phenomenal season he had in 1984 in which he went 82-3 if he had been still playing with a wood racket! The graphite racket allowed him to hit the ball with more power and spin than he could with his wood racket as he himself accurately stated many years ago! And as McEnroe stated years ago (and Boris Becker agreed with him), Becker could not have won Wimbledon in 1985 playing with a wood racket! As McEnroe stated back then, it was the larger, more powerful, midsize graphite racket that made the difference in Becker winning that 1985 Wimbledon title! That's reality!

[@jpan7071]

I’ll see your “improved tennis racket technology” and raise you with “much more competitiveness” of today’s players. We have just lived through the reign of the three greatest players in tennis history (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) the likes of which we will never see again. Laver won two calendar grand slams so he’s in the GOAT conversation. And Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, and John McEnroe helped popularize tennis like never before. None of it has anything to do with tennis racket technology. Rafa, Roger, and Nole are all amazing athletes-tennis racket technology just magnified their prowess. Besides, once you start talking technology in sports, we’ll that’s a slippery slope because then you start talking about bats in baseball, helmets in football, goggles in swimming. Slippery slope indeed.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@@jpan7071 First, you're certifiably wrong that the Federer/Djokovic/Nadal era is the most competitive in tennis history when the factual reality is that it has been THE WEAKEST era in men's pro tennis history with ONLY 3 all-time great players at and near the top of men's pro tennis and no all-time great players (especially serve-and-volley players) to challenge them, whereas by contrast, from the mid-1970's thru the 1990's there were no less than 10 all-time great players at and near the top of men's pro tennis playing at one time or another during that period including Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Vilas, Lendl Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Agassi and Sampras! Second, the deplorable changes in the conditions under which the game is played and the changes in racket technology are NOT a "slippery slope" in any sport when it comes to the fact that succeeding generations of players benefit enormously from the cheapening of the various sports by those deplorable changes - no less than Ivan Lendl (in2019), Boris Becker (in 2019) and John Newcombe (in 1990) agree with me on some of the points I make! That is factual reality despite your, and others like you, abject failure to recognize and comprehend that! I have in other numerous posted comments on tennis videos on KZbin, thoroughly debunked and crushed with irrefutable evidence the certifiable myth that Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are the 3 GOAT male tennis players! I won't waste my time any further trying to convince delusional nitwits like you who, as the late Vincent T. Bugliosi accurately stated about the mainstream news media, "can invariably be counted upon to do only a modicum of analytical thinking" that those three albeit great players are definitely NOT the three GOAT male tennis players!!!! There's an old expression that is perfectly applicable to you and to others like you who suffer from the all too-human affliction so well described by the great writer/social commentator George Orwell of seeing what you expect to see and not what is actually there in front of your eyes in terms of events and trends in society, which is - "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink"! I can't help you to see reality when you and others like you pigheadedly and stubbornly refuse to see it!!!! So enjoy your certifiable delusion!!!!

[@michaelbarlow6610]

Interesting and notable thing about the Connors-Newcombe 1975 Australian Open match is that Connors didn't grunt when serving. It must have been after 1975 when he started grunting when hitting a serve. Most of his tennis career he grunted loudly when hitting a serve!

[@peterbrown6434]

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@alexodonnell6191]

Dear God, Newcombe was GOOD/GREAT....where did he go ???

[@beavercleaver7848]

Ball hugger shorts were the style in the day. In basketball, too.

[@tedibair]

find it hard to believe you have no comments on this great match... ho hum

[@mcdonoghrahloh459]

tedibair When Australian was on grass!!

[@john-boy4283]

I think that's the only time I've seen Connors be sportsmanlike

[@ruthlesshack1279]

Looks like you haven't watched Connors over his career then!

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@ John-boy. You are forgetting the Agassi-Connors match at an indoor tournament in Atlanta when Connors got a bad line call and Agassi remained standing behind the ad court side of the opposite baseline to replay the point and Connors waved him over to the deuce court, saying, "Just play the calls". Tony Trabert who was the color commentator for the match said, "Let's keep the audio tape of that--Connors suggesting that they just play the calls!" by which Trabert was saying that Connors never before had displayed a "just play the calls" attitude on a tennis court , constantly complaining about line calls if he felt he received a bad line call in his matches on the pro tour.

[@john-boy4283]

@@michaelbarlow6610 Thanks, don't think I saw that match

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@ John-boy. It may have actually been Cliff Drysdale rather than Tony Trabert who was the TV commentator on that broadcast of the Agassi-Connors match in Atlanta, Georgia.

[@john-boy4283]

@@ruthlesshack1279 Didn't see all his matches, no

[@MrJeepsters]

Quel âge avait Newcombe lors de cette finale ? On site souvent (un peu facilement) Mc Enroe comme joueur de volée, mais, rarement j'ai vu un joueur donner cette impression de facilité et de naturel dans cet exercice.

[@jamesbedukodjograham5508]

Je suis moi meme in Grand joueur de Tennis Aujourdhui Merci en Avance.

[@tomschmitz5745]

amazing that the previous year connors had the world at it's feet and then 1 year later, he would lose the finals of the aussie, the finals at wimbledon and the finals of the u.s. open to 3 different players, two (ashe and orantes) that he owned..connors always had tough matches with newcombe and yet newcombe could lose to 39 year old rosewall the previous year and rosewall would get destroyed by connors at that wimbledon and later the u.s. open..

[@douglasmurch8611]

definitely fun to watch, but skill is relative to the times.

[@colderbeer]

Give today's players those old wooden rackets and watch the decline in play......

[@joseassuncao5598]

MAGNIFICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@emmanuel2339]

1'08 : incredible fair play action by connors ! the ball before was foul and the referee gave him the point and after connors serves a volontary double fault for giving the point to newcombe !

[@tomschmitz5745]

WEIRD to see connors serving and volleying so much in 1975 and in both losing efforts to newcombe here and ashe at wimbledon.. he never had that great of a serve or a volley first off and especially at wimbledon he kept on doing this over and over again and a losing battle simply self absorbed and stubborn refusing to change a losing strategy...

[@joemarshall4226]

Thank you for the psychological evaluation, doctor. why not just say he served and volleyed a lot, and it didn't quite work. You have no idea why he adopted that strategy.

[@tomschmitz5745]

@@joemarshall4226 your right, i have no idea and neither does he, because he kept on doing it and failing at it! end of story....

[@joemarshall4226]

@@tomschmitz5745 For all you know, he was injured or sick or whatever. Maybe he had tried from the backcourt and it didn't work. He was number one in the world. He knew wha the was doing. He just lost to the better player that day.

[@joemarshall4226]

@@tomschmitz5745 And New Mae some very low percentage shots form the back court, especially some of those lobs....

[@Nocturnbandofficial]

Did you watch Jimmy's volleys?! Even McEnroe said later that "Jimmy was a much better volleyer than most people would recognize.." It was his SERVE that never was a big weapon...

[@angelgutierrez-kg5du]

Two lefties

[@angelgutierrez-kg5du]

Me too

[@angelgutierrez-kg5du]

To be lefthanded gives chances in tennis

[@aleksthegreat4130]

John Newcombe is a right hander

[@mikehzz9848]

Newcombe throws the ball to serve with his left hand, but he hits it with his right.