US Open-1979, McEnroe Nastase

[@CathyKitson]

Even 40 years later that tennis is still awesome. It could easily stand up amongst the best today.

[@jackkitchen737]

This truly was the match that cemented the US Open night time legacy

[@vccstudents]

My favorite Nasty moment was at the '82 U.S. Open when he played Connors. He said to a lines man, "You look at me like that again, and I kill you.," in that crazy accent he had. Connors went to serve, and he stopped mid-serve and busted out laughing. The crowd started laughing, and Connors said, "Let's play." Connors went on to win the championship that year, and he also had won Wimbledon. His career was having a re-birth.

[@alessandroalessandro6771]

if someone is interested to know, after this match, which finished at 1 in the morning, both players, along with Nastase´s wife and Roy Emerson, had dinner together

[@Sidonia1]

Yes, in Mc Donalds.😀

[@Parramatta84]

Nasty ! 4:16 I remenber when I was a young player in the '70 the way he hit the ball with the wrist putting the ball wherever he wanted.

[@drutgat2]

Thanks so much for posting this. McEnroe out-Nastaseing Nastase. As McEnroe said in one of his books about Nastase (quoting me, although I'm sure McEnroe did not know it) Nastase was "poetry in motion". He is my favourite player, and McEnroe my next fave, so seeing this was fantastic. Such a shame that Nastase could let his temper take him off-track - If that had not been the case I am sure that he would have won the two Wimbledon finals he was in.

[@fjordking]

mcenroe only favorite player was mcenroe is a punk talented still a punk

[@pietrogazzera5733]

Those were tennis players! No sonic-booms, no self-playing raquets or such of things! Gone!

[@MMM18092]

Nastase looks so casual when playing, looks like he doing a Sunday afternoon hit in his local park.

[@stanislavdermek4982]

Very good comment! He did it many times before and that might be one of the reason why he didn't achieve more. But for him tennis was fun and that was his approach to life in general

[@KingCast65]

I wish we could get the whole match! Love the way these guys played tennis. Love the VW Rabbit ad at the end. Thanks so much again for this. I remember reading about it I was in 10th grade or so... fans were hucking beers on the court, etc etc... great stuff. Both men and Agassi the best hand-eye ever right.

[@jeffcostello4779]

Thanks!:) I have 27 minutes of this game on another site here. Not much tennis, but lots of fun!:) kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6S6mYl_ndidkK8

[@drvijil]

I had been watching some of the small grass court tournaments played before Wimbledon and saw most points won within 3 swings of the racquet....boring. This video shows me that tennis was much better and entertaining with the wood racquets. Nastase was a gifted, albeit tempermental, player who often showed moments of brilliance. I saw McEnroe play in his prime and he was an amazingly natural talented player. This video is of good quality and it was good to see these two gifted, entertaining characters play tennis the way it is meant to be played. Thanks for posting.

[@oldpossum]

Marvellous Nasty's top spin down the line backhand winner at 4:13!

[@jamesyu9926]

Some phenomenal shot making by two most naturally gifted tennis hands ever.

[@jackkitchen737]

Great match. And what's little known about it is that McEnroe set a record which will never be broken, by hitting 732 overheads in this contest.

[@alastairfaulds8184]

I don't care what anyone says- tennis with wooden racquets was far more entertaining. The skill involved!

[@cliffbacken5726]

yes..!!!!!!

[@MrPernell27]

More skill, less power! Much better. Too many fucking aces and service winners now. Frames are too big, strings too good allowing way too much spin.

[@gpipeline]

Alastair Faulds why should anyone care what you think

[@stevencoldicott2725]

What about jimmy and his t2000

[@stevencoldicott2725]

Nobody will ever hit the ball as flat as Jimmy, he was so good

[@nastaseis1261]

This is awesome to see after all this time. of the 3 recent uploads this one has the most tennis. It looked like a normal match in the first 2 sets. All it took was one bad call for Nastase to go berserk and lose his concentration. People forget that Nastase was the only one to take a set off Mac the entire tournament. Nasty and Mac still have the most ATP titles, singles and doubles combined, of anyone. When giants roamed the courts!!

[@pikaso6586]

Great players indeed and amazing show, but let's not forget that only a few privileged people could play tennis at that time....

[@hemattheij9694]

@@pikaso6586 and so what?

[@hendrik19601]

Indeed, very few players have won more than one hundred tournaments singles and doubles combined

[@sharpasaneraser]

this is what i wanted to see...thank you

[@LV_FUD80]

I wish the Serve & Volley game would come back. The Baseliners have made Tennis rather one-dimensional. It's cool to see 100+ MPH serves, but I preferred watching guys who could play in and around all 4 sides. That was the kind of game that Johnny Mac was a genius at playing!

[@tedkier3264]

Right on! physical threats against chair umpires. in my lifetime! thank you for posting,sister!

[@ewanmacfarlane9195]

Equipment changes in sports it's like apples and bowling balls.Asking people with this equipment to hit topspin foerhands that are 90 mph and 3000 revs a second is like asking golfers to use wooden clubs and shoot 10 under on a 7900 yard golf course. The game was different but the skill and touch on show here is sublime.

[@Picklejam08]

These guys didn't take care of themselves in the gym back then. Diet also. McEnroe admits he went to a lot of late night parties and tooted some blow. These top guys today train like crazy. Also, you don't see a lot of running around to the inside our forehand like today to open up the court.

[@terrenceolivido741]

fantastic tennis. in the highlights neither player can hit a winner and the rally's are sublime. Nastase ability to anticipate and lob in defense was fantastic at that time - given the rythms at that time.

[@Elishe750]

Great match, excellent tennis player, Nastase vs McEnroe unique ! Nastase 4:16 McEnroe 0:55

[@danielkelegian5306]

We will never see a player like Mcenroe ever again!!

[@hendrik19601]

the beauty of that tennis !!! what happened? you don't see that anymore, players now act like going to the gym, like mechanical players

[@speakfreeley4473]

Unusual! McEnroe being a good boy. Mind you if McEnroe lost his cool in that game those two would have easily come to physical blows.

[@preciousjey]

Love getting Nasty. Love the Serena Oh No No No my point clip.

[@jackkitchen737]

That point at 3:32.....wow. That was awesome tennis.

[@astrafalustre8259]

Nasty was out of control. Still playing excellent tennis at age 33 but too frustrated to be outclassed.

[@alessandroalessandro6771]

I remember Nastase lying on his back behind the baseline in this match. It was on the news. He was out of his mind. Nobody really knows if he did it on purpose, but it worked fine for him, because both people and press were always looking at him. Mc Enroe was almost worse

[@stevefowler2112]

Johnny Mac was magic on the tennis court...

[@KingCast65]

4:15 LOL.... You know they went out to dinner after this, right?

[@DomenecMelgosaArnau]

Christopher King 8

[@sghitza1]

Yeah... to McDonalds. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@honeybeebadger]

Great tennis

[@milugardeimagenysonido]

This was Kyrgios vs himself X 10...

[@vujasinovicartcritic]

Technology saved Mac, Nike shoes and Dunlop brand. For the Romanian, it was like using sword against M16.

[@miscellanyman263]

Different era, different racquets, diff’rent style of play. The Greatest Of All Time: Björn Borg (sorry Roger Federer, you didn’t change the game the way Borg did).

[@ralfnorenberg3130]

finally someone on youtube that knows who is the real GOAT:::::::::::

[@arch-c226]

Fantastique !!!

[@thomasmcgauley9024]

serve and volley young johnny mac.

[@kennethbrady]

Jeff Costello...THANK YOU!!!

[@CMRinehart]

Nastase is way too old to out play McEnroe and he knows it. Many of the points he is sleep walking through.

[@rajaeelastname4878]

That was enjoyable considering it was an old match

[@jimleveilleurlive3790]

they played like the actual 3d series

[@filutfilaret1619]

sau intalnit amandoi frumosii nebuni ai tenisului masculin.

[@TennisConditioningTV]

pretty nice!

[@billphillips4614]

What Mike Blanchard did by replacing the great umpire Frank Hammond should live in infamy. Just disgraceful.

[@hendrik19601]

they say..... most of the most talented players, I would add " ever ", after them, only Federer

[@bnkundwa]

The world watched Nastase. We made it to the skirt.

[@6reich]

What happened ?

[@guiduv3160]

Mac est le plus grand joueur de tout les temps

[@jeffw1267]

That was dirty for the head referee to overturn the forfeit. I mean if you keep telling a guy to play and he just stands there, what else can you do?

[@jesoby]

Make a great doubles pair.

[@uncletony6210]

Lendl vs. Roscoe Tanner.

[@MrBarrynicholas]

Nastase was well past his 'sell by date'

[@PD-we8vf]

Of course tennis players act like children. They grew up rich and never heard the word no.

[@blackielawless2791]

Sample of players with dirty manners

[@ROBERTORRRR1]

When tennis was only touch and wrist

[@bonhamhouse1169]

Nuts

[@KILLthemALLnow1]

These days their tennis is like training before the match.

[@micheleteso9499]

MC and Nastase play a soft tennis. MC never close the point and Nastase when hit the ball after MC sevices keeps the shot very short... Another tennis another epoque

[@gardenvarietypenis]

playing with woodies so....

[@keithmckeith]

In 1978 or 1979 Borg himself said that McEnroe had already surpassed Nastase in pure touch and dexterity, while the rest of McEnroe's skill set annihilated Nastase. In this match, Nastase knows he has zero chance of victory.

[@nastaseis1261]

In July 1978 Nastase beat McEnroe in straight sets at Forest Hills 6-3-7-6; and regarding annihilation; Nastase beat Borg 6-1 6-1 6-2 in the Masters Final in Stockholm , Nastase's 5th Masters final, of which he won 4; only losing one of the finals to Vilas in 5 close sets. All hail McEnroe, Borg and Nastase, tennis royalty!

[@keithmckeith]

NASTASEis#1! I won't disagree with that!

[@keithmckeith]

NASTASEis#1! Nastase is the only player ever who could walk onto a tennis court drunk, and still win. I do miss that final 'wooden' generation of tennis royalty.

[@nastaseis1261]

no doubt Keith! I remember when Nastase and Connors drank champagne throughout a doubles match in London, and they still won!

[@JIM2oob]

.. didn't annihilate Nastase in the second set. Ilie lost by a few service breaks and his speed was gone. After '76, Nastase was clearly in decline but McEnroe never equalled Ilie's touch. McEnroe was a great offensive volleyer with quick hands and a quicker mind.

[@spyrogyro3390]

Like playing Tennis on the Playstation/Xbox in super easy mode.

[@Picklejam08]

Nastase played like Kyrgios, moments of brilliance and then a lot of stupid points lost to poor execution and strategy. That's why he never won a Slam.

[@andreib2679]

He won 2 grand slams

[@nala3038]

Do some research before you post misinformation, he won two grand slams!

[@Picklejam08]

​@@nala3038Yep, you're right he did win two slams. What about the rest of what I said, comparing his wasted talent to that of Kyrgios.You can also comment on that.

[@Picklejam08]

@@andreib2679 Yep, you're right he did win two slams. What about the rest of what I said, comparing his wasted talent to that of Kyrgios.You can also comment on that.

[@rushrush1209]

I don't care if you're the Pope. If you touch a referee or anyone with your racket like Nastase did here, then you should get suspended from the tour for a year.

[@plalaplili997]

foarte bine a facut, fiecare vietate din america, fie ca e om sau animal sau referee cum ii zici tu, sau orice comisie care se afla acolo, merita un pumn in gura, dar unul puternic, asa ca sa o aduca cu picioarele pe pamant. sunteti mai rai decat tiganii pe planeta asta. iar referitor la tenis, strict luat de pe filmarea cu jocul, ceea ce prezinta ea, mcenroe il face pe nastase gramada, nu e ca intr-un joc echilibrat, ci il umileste la propriu.

[@gb6947]

:))

[@rem672]

Plala Plili Xenofobie much?

[@edwardadelin689]

Mare jmecher Nastase

[@bogdanpanici5010]

uita-te la tine cat esti de prost!..mai rau decat Allain

[@robertoamenabar9970]

NASTASE IS FEMENINE TENNIS

[@jondishmonmusicandstuff2753]

Two deplorables on the same court. SMDH

[@banfasso3109]

tennis was pathetic in 1979. i truly believe that i could go back in time, pick up one of those racquets, and blow either of these guys off the court 6-0,6-0,6-0.

[@joostisabelle]

But you're a girl, so you would surrender feebly.

[@banfasso3109]

+joostisabelle Actually, I'm a 6'3" male who was a national-level badminton player in my U19 and college days and didn't find tennis until my late 20s (after my badminton career was finished) and had a 120mph 80%+ first serve and a 5.5 game within 3 months.... and realized that my natural talent and body-type was far more suited to tennis than badminton and that I would have been a top 100 ATP player for sure had I found tennis at a much younger age, instead of badminton. I'm 38 now and still in great shape from my badminton background, and I'm pretty sure I'd give these guys a match using one of these old racquets.... just because of how good my hand-eye coordination and ergonomic flow is in conjunction with modern knowledge of tennis. I think any 5.5 player could do it if their hand-eye is as good as mine is.

[@Kaddywompous]

Ban Fasso Such spectacular delusion!

[@boraxsopanic2670]

Maybe you could be in the top 100. Nothing earth shattering. It's not like everyone on earth plays tennis.

[@iamtman1]

Bull shit Ban Fasso. They'd both kick your ass 60 60.