US Open 1985 SF Lendl vs. Connors 3/3

[@SuperPrince1007]

Ivan Lendl was so great. He's very underrated. I always liked him. He's one of my favorite all time players. I was very disappointed how cruel the fans were to him.

[@kw19193]

+Steven Leccese So true. But he was equally mistreated by the American media who simply mouthed whatever accusations and insults McEnroe and Connors were saying about Lendl, while at the same time ignoring the serious character defects the two terrible twats reveled in -- after all, American 'champions' (no matter their flaws) are 'good' champions. Fortunately, most of Lendl's contemporaries respected him far more than they did either McEnroe or Connors who were, and by-and-large still are, nothing more than self-serving, bullying twats. Cheers!

[@SuperPrince1007]

I couldn't have said it better myself. The media was disgraceful towatds LENDL who had a lot of class. I hated JOHN McENROE & somewhat liked JIMMY CONNORS. If CONNORS & McENROE played each other I rooted for CONNORS. I loved it though when LENDL used to beat the crap out of McENROE. Yet believe or not I absolutely love JOHN McENROE as a broadcaster. He really is superb at it.

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

class? really - I have studied Lendl and watched dozens of matches. he intimidates the umpires and lines judges with a stare down or by whining. he over-reacts and claims calls went against him when they did not, he throws little temper tantrums - not big ones like Mac or Connors. would not call him a classy player - compared to his rival Mac, sure, but Mac was a brat and whiner

[@gentlemanjim480]

This is liteally exactly what I wanted to say and have always felt. Thanks. Saved me writing a lengthy post. That entitled, arrogant twat McEnroe was almost worse than Connors. Love watching videos of McEnroe's loss against Lendl in Paris after 2-0 sets down. McEnroe recently said it still hurts, which makes it even sweeter.

[@markmauk8231]

what exactly is underrated about him?

[@maturanita]

Poetic justice at its best: Lendl’s first US OPEN title comes after beating Connors in the semis and McEnroe in the finals!

[@abdiver12]

Sometimes I wonder how the course of tennis history would have changed if they had Hawkeye back in the old days. So many terrible line calls that literally changed the outcome of matches and entire tournaments.

[@giovannigalvez8598]

Lendl was great and his game was based on consistency and pressure. But at times I felt that changing gears would have helped him win some of the matches specially at Wimbledon.

[@Head318Hunter]

It's hard to believe that Connors is still using that old 1967 T2000 racket. Nasty

[@jdfagen]

I am a huge fan of Lendl. However, I still can't get over how Connors could be competitive and win all those years with that T2000 racket?

[@luvdasitar]

jdfagen I agree. Some of that hitting is unreal. You can’t middle a ball with that racket let alone hitting winners.

[@zeddeka]

It was even unpopular with players of the 60s and 70s. The likes of Billie Jean King tried it in the late 60s and soon switched back to wood because it was notoriously difficult to control.

[@thomaszeun5551]

My generation 3 greatest or favorites. Christlike E.T. Bjorn Borg, superman Jimmy Connors, and machine man great Ivan Lendl.

[@terminusest9179]

4:35 Could it be that Federer was never the first to do such a racket catch?

[@homerjs225]

Yannick Noah did it too

[@danield.7359]

I always was baffled by how someone who's playing flat balls with a continental(ish) forehand grip could become ever so successful. Almost unbelievably Connors retired 11 years (!!) later in 1996 way beyond his prime and at a time, all of his opponents played a much more modern Tennis. Connors was an exceptional Tennis phenomenon for sure. However, the innovator in Tennis (and hence much more influential in regards of how Tennis is played nowadays) was Ivan Lendl. Some say he's the father of modern Tennis. At the time Ivan wasn't liked much by the media (even though he's actually a likeable person with a goods sense of humor), but I think most Tennis players today would agree with how important Lendl was for the evolution of modern Tennis. For me he's the all time number one.

[@bobmalack481]

He's not using the Continental, Thats an Eastern forehand grip, if not a full out western. Mcenroe uses the Continental, notice how his forearm and wrist are more on top of the raquet shaft and grip. Robert at 67.

[@zuzuspetals2003]

Well, don't blame the cameraman, it would be the director in the booth who controls everything. But yes, I agree, it is very disappointing, especially at the moment Lendl finally beat Connors after two painful losses in previous Finals. I think that was his break through moment. From that point on, he went on to win 3 straight U.S. Opens.

[@fab.ulations]

Lendl was a giant Lendl è stato un gigante

[@jeromepedron4910]

Why didn't the US TV record when both champions shake their hand at the end of the match? Always interesting when it's Ivan & Jimmy

[@Karl-TechHD]

LENDL👍

[@zeddeka]

By this point, Lendl really had Connors' number. Starting at the end of 1984, he won their last 17 matches.

[@7Lukibi99Tore7]

@ SiaWinsi. Connors never played with Wilson T-3000 racket in his career. He played with the Wilson T-2000 racket for most of his career. The difference between the Wilson T-2000 and the Wilson T-3000 rackets is that the T-3000 has a metal plate below the the racket head which bonds the two metal shafts of the racket together and that makes the T-3000 have slightly better control than the T-2000. The T-2000 does not have that metal plate between the two shafts of the racket. It is amazing that Connors never played with the Wilson TX-6000 which was the midsize version of the T-2000 when Connors was looking to play with a racket that had a larger head than the T-2000 which would give him more power than the T-2000.

[@MrArnote]

À partir de 1985 Lendl gagne systématiquement contre Connors,Roland Garros 85 ,us open 85 ,us open 87 et us open 92 ,ainsi que dans les tournois moins importants...

[@leliondescavernes1747]

Oui Lendl ne perdra plus jamais, à partir de sa tte dernière défaite face à Connors en finale de l'important tournoi indoor de Tokyo en 1984...

[@SuperHammaren]

Connors fight well with his old metal racket.

[@GaryAnton]

They are finally considering Jimmy being the greatest. 106 singles plus 26 senior.

[@Ajayk9099]

Jimmy won 109 titles.

[@PerpetualSigh]

Yeah same here; they cut to Lendl's parents if I am not mistaken.

[@braddurian]

For all you Lendl fans out there Connors said it best. “Lendl is number one by default. Borg retired, I got old and McEnroe went nuts”.

[@boonreiver]

Connors was wrong. Lendl had to battle against Borg, Vilas, Connors and Mac when he was Young and his style of play was still undefined. After that he played against Wilander, Becker, Edberg, and when he was older against Agassi and Sampras.

[@eduardoarredondo5282]

Connors was a bad loser never credit lendl McEnroe against his ego did

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

Lendl had also to play vs Becker,Edberg,Willander.He was unlicky,that he had to play with this wooden rackets,that are not suited to his superrior technique

[@luvdasitar]

Connors is wrong. Lendl was a giant in many ways. And I am not even a fan

[@gojipoj]

nothing to do with the racket, you need to know how to play. He was the best return of serve according to many experts. I didn't think much of his returns compared to Agassi which was much more penetrating.

[@tennisboleirorei4430]

SHOWdeBOLA!!!... SENSACIONAL!!!... SENSATIONAL!!!...

[@SiaWinsi]

@JimAsian1 Just preference the ProStaff was a good racket but he just liked is metal T 3000

[@briangottfried8533]

Le règne sans partage d'ivan Lendl sur le tennis mondial,commeça précisément, durant cette quinzaine New yorkaise 85,quand il surclassa succéssivement,Noah, Connors et McEnroe

[@philippestoffels8150]

mac joua 5 sets contre wilander et du jouer la finale le lendemain, en 1985 mac avait encore le niveau pour inquieter Lendl

[@karimborro7252]

@@philippestoffels8150 Pas en 85 Lendl avait commencé son règne il suffit de regarder les confrontations à partir de cette date avec Mac pour être vite fixé

[@dr.josericardot.correa1043]

lendl the best

[@7Lukibi99Tore7]

After Connors played with the Wilson Pro Staff Graphite/Kevlar Midsize racket for about a year he decided he didn't like it because he was not winning tournaments with it ( a notable exception might be the tournament in Japan in 1984 in which he defeated Lendl in the finals) and allegedly threw a bunch of his Wilson Pro Staff Midsize rackets into a courtside garbage can after he lost an indoor match and allegedly yelled at his agent or someone else in his entourage, ''Find me a racket that I can win with!''.

[@EXDRA100]

simpler times

[@vincevega1000]

Enough talk about racquets. They matter lot less than people say. It's the Indian, not the bow and arrow, that matters.

[@TennisLegends-ebay]

What utter rubbish! You go out and play with a wooden racket with old style strings?!

[@crsantin]

Lendl didn’t get a single first serve in on that service break. Some pretty terrible line calls here too.

[@goodyears73]

@vlovesrafa I totally agree with you !

[@thequinnster72]

Wow... Connors is still using his steel framed racket in this match?! I thought he finally abandoned it after his crushing loss at Wimbledon '84 to Mac.

[@fundhund62]

Didn´t have much to do with the racket, though. It didn´t prevent him from beating McEnroe (playing with his graphite Max 200G) soundly at Queens 1983.

[@damienbeauvais6005]

They weren't the best friends!

[@rockpayet6524]

Lendel savait.tout faire,comme les joueurs actuels a son meilleur age

[@babyelian77]

Both calls on the 5-4 and 5-5 were wrong !

[@peterpeterxxo]

no they are not..don't be soft.

[@vincevega1000]

I sense someone does not know much about tennis.