Vitas Gerulaitis vs Stan Smith Extended Highlights | 1979 US Open Round 3

Watch extended highlights as Vitas Gerulaitis takes on Stan Smith in Round 3 of the 1979 US Open.
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[@ericw3229]

That is the tennis I loved.

[@paulluk7515]

The pace of the rallies here is not slow considering using the racquets of less advanced technology, truly amazing!

[@JD-jc8gp]

Today's racquets aren't advanced. What's advanced about a bigger head on a racquet. It's like something you'd give to a child.

[@gomezaddams4347]

I know it will never happen, but I wish pro tennis would adopt a rule limiting racquet head size to 90 sq. in. That would at least inspire a bit of a return of the all-court game. Tennis like this match is so much more enjoyable than watching endless baseline bashing.

[@user-uz8nz3uz7v]

Fed played 90 so what? The problem is in balls not raquets

[@MarcoSolidx]

Do you really think these short points more enjoyable than today’s rallies?

[@user-uz8nz3uz7v]

@@MarcoSolidx sure.

[@wallacemckinney3544]

Agreed! So much more entertaining. Standardizing the racquet would level the playing field, particularly on the ATP Tour, to where true athleticism and skill would be the difference between victory and defeat. Slowing the game down a bit would make it more watchable altogether. 160mph aces?…BOOOORIIIIIIING!!! :)

[@jl3322]

Talented Vitas. You are missed. RIP

[@emin7540]

And a very nice guy!

[@jackkitchen737]

I watched a little of this US Open as a 13 year old. I wish I'd have watched this match. I would have appreciated Stan Smith's game a little more. I liked both players. I just never really saw much of Smith's matches, since he was not a contender at this time. But he definitely had game.

[@johncasey9966]

Stan Smith at the net so calm and relaxed but deadly.... poetry

[@ArthurVerhulst]

Fantastic camera angle. This should come back: I'm sure it would attract more viewers

[@alanchong7513]

Exactly! This is the most attractive angle for TV coverage. Makes you feel close to the action!

[@uncletony6210]

@@alanchong7513 I agree.

[@TheMightySandow]

VG must be one of the quickest tennis players ever. Not just court coverage but blistering hand eye speed

[@simonerastelli5874]

Stan Smith won almost everything in the early 70's, Wimbledon, US Open, Master, WCT Finals, Davis Cups... Later he had some elbow problems, I guess starting in 1974, and then he wasn't that top contender anymore...

[@teddymikefunk]

They are much better at the net than this next gen. I am seeing more technique, touch and finesse, no doubt about that.

[@Summon256]

It’s easier to have more control over the net coverage using wooden racquet, rather than modern one or even graphite ones, they have been using since mid 80’s till early 00’s! Wooden racquet didn’t generate enough speed after groundstroke, so there were plenty of time for an effective volley of any kind! Not to take away anything from all these technical giants from 70’s and early 80’s off course, but that needed to be said…

[@Summon256]

With that said i’m actually curious how big-3 would do if they had to use wooden racquets like back in the day, would they adapt their game accordingly to become much more proficient and consistent volleyers, like Edberg, McEnroe and the rest of that era or would they fail to adapt like Mac or Jimbo in the 2nd half of 80’s when switching gears drastically like that?!…

[@ivobaes]

2 de los mejores 10 tenistas masculinos de la historia de los USA 🇺🇲. Aunque Gerulaitis es de origen Lituano 🇱🇹. 2 of the best 10 male tennis players in US history 🇺🇲. Although Gerulaitis is of Lithuanian origin.🇱🇹

[@mauroc4741]

Tennis used to be beautiful...

[@6792pk5]

I know he lost this match ,but Stan Smith was one of the most natural,gifted and smartest players in tennis.Obviously not a power hitter or server but definitely poetry in motion.

[@MrPernell27]

He had a huge serve and forehand for his day. Given today’s racquets he would have been serving in the 130’s easily

[@tomschmitz261]

stan smith was WAY past his prime in 1979... at his best, he was simply better than Vitas...

[@Provemewrongwithfacts]

Not a power hitter or server?? Are you kidding me? Smith wasn't no dinker from the backcourt. At 6'4, his game was all power! One of the biggest servers of the era!

[@th8257]

He was the absolute definition of the power "serve bot" in his day. Way past his prime here.

[@frankcarbo6622]

Superb - thank you - two greats with varied shotmaking...

[@seveglider8406]

Tennis use to be a much more enjoyable sport to watch!

[@BasementTracks]

Not really

[@seveglider8406]

@@BasementTracks Today's tennis is BORING! Every player plays the same way on every surface. You can't distinguish 1 player from another. All of them stay 12 feet behind the base line and trade groundstrokes. Very few know how to volley properly. Modern racquet technology is a reason why players don't have complete games. They're only good at hitting groundstrokes. BORING!!!!!!!

[@khedsmann]

​@@seveglider8406same can be said here, coming to the net every point? that's boring

[@seveglider8406]

@@khedsmann There aren't any players who come to the net on every point. However, today's players are afraid to come to the net because they can't volley to save their lives! Serve and volley tennis is more fun and exciting to watch than baseline tennis. Doubles is more fun than singles because there is more variety of shots and strategy. Virtually every modern tennis player plays the same style on every surface. You can't distinguish 1 player from another. BORING!!!

[@cyrilbrocard]

I liked tennis then; I like it now. To each their own. I sure would like to see a few more one handed backhands and more serve and volley than we do now. For a bit of variety. But the current combo of racket frames, strings, surfaces and balls make it impossible.

[@JD-jc8gp]

Brilliant upload, thank you!

[@ThePapawhisky]

I started playing tennis in 1971. Stan Smith was my hero. So cool to see this video!

[@VegasPlayah]

I find these older tennis matches more entertaining. There's so much more shot variety, as opposed to today's game of nothing but baseline topspin bashing.

[@romcallis]

Vitas and Andy Murray unbelievable movement skills

[@AG-js1bl]

Murray is too much different to vitas.

[@williewasahippie]

My buddy played Smith when he was #1. Lost something like 6-4, 7-5. Pretty close sets. Just a couple of breaks of serve difference. Another friend worked with Vitas in Socal. Said he was a great guy & she was very sad when he passed.

[@seand67]

Great video quality

[@erikshen1107]

Stan did ok in the SNEAKER BUSINESS DIDN'T HE??

[@MrPernell27]

I’m a coach and I still have kids wearing his shoes. I have to take them to KZbin to understand who he was;but he did extremely well in the shoe department

[@ajwasp3642]

Yup, I wore out many a pair. They were comfortable too.

[@davidchang4559]

So marvelous!!

[@lenwelch2195]

Stan has the perfect tennis body, tall lean, strong. So graceful and I’m happy he won all the major titles but suffered elbow issues in late73. His reign at the top was brief , even briefer than McEnroe. Connors had a lot to do with that.

[@drobson8004]

He never won all the majors

[@miskwaad]

They weren't that important until the late 80's. Until 68 the best players won a major or two, then turned pro and were banned. An example is Laver; after his first Grand Slam as an amateur he turned pro and had his ass kicked for a year and a half. He didn't get to play what we call the majors again until 1968. He Grand Slams in 1969. In the 70's there were boycotts of Wimbledon and Connors was forbidden from the French for playing World Team Tennis. Borg had 5 Wimbledons and 6 French while losing 4 US Open titles. He went to the Australian Open once when he was 17 and never again. The Australian was skipped all the time through the late 80's because of the timing and facility. Players skipped majors all the time and Emerson sat with the record of 12 for years and no one thought he was the greatest as he won them all without facing the best players. He never won after the open tournaments in 68. It was really with Sampras people started paying attention when he passed Emerson. Since then of course we have the big three, but honestly we've no idea what Laver or Gonzales might've done.

[@drobson8004]

Well said@@miskwaad

[@Provemewrongwithfacts]

It's funny, Vitas is using a "Stan Smith autograph" tennis racket, and Smith is using some other racket! So you can look at it like this: Gerulaitis beat Smith with Smith's racket.

[@uncletony6210]

Vitas was using the "Jack Kramer Autograph"...

[@Provemewrongwithfacts]

@@uncletony6210 Nope, you're wrong.

[@migelowsky]

Stan's racquet is a Fischer 🎾

[@jeffg490]

Vitas used the Stan Smith Autograph earlier in his career then switched to the Kramer Autograph here!

[@Provemewrongwithfacts]

@@jeffg490 At this point in his career, Vitas was using a SS autograph. Later he switched to a composite. Why would he switch from a SS to a Kramer? They're virtually the same racket.

[@jmiller05]

Vitas was a trip. So talented and athletic as well as streaky and mystifying.

[@leliondescavernes1747]

Match exceptionnel !!!!!

[@emin7540]

When Smith took a little longer to serve 2:56 due to the plane noise you can hear Trabert at 3:31 say it was not done as a strategy but many Djokovic's 15 ball bounce is a joke and an embarrassment to the game.

[@rafapazos06]

How the game changed. Unbelievable.

[@watchalay74]

Vitas=Golden Lion God of Tennis

[@rootdoc1997]

Vitas is awesome. This is high quality tennis. It is ridiculous that he is not in the Hall of Fame. All these guys back in the days were talented. You take these modern day players make them play with this equipment, take away their personal trainers, nutritionists, massage therapists, life coaches, and their entourages telling them how great they are would not survive. Oh forgot the performance enhacing drugs that are not detected hardly ever on the top male players

[@johngriffin6990]

Stan had a beautiful game, as did Vitas. It was a different game back then in a lot of ways. The racquets and strings were so different than today. Great players in any era are worth watching and learning from.

[@dap777754]

Stan had a rather poor, or sketchy, backhand. I didn't realize this deficit until watching this tape. No topspin and not a great looking technique, I would say. That said, he was one of my favorites as a kid.

[@peterbedford2610]

Such precision

[@Yorgos2007]

Fun fact: Stan Smith was 33 years old at that time. On this video looks 60 🙂

[@user-uz8nz3uz7v]

may be 45)

[@jwfmsu1990]

Stan Smith looks like he could be Hulk Hogan's uncle.

[@angelorosati7232]

Penso che sia un estratto del tennis, un concentrato di purezza stilistica

[@vitaliecires1239]

The Big Match between Vitas Gerulaitis vs Stan Smith in 1979 U S Open Round 3 !!!

[@dogbombballet]

Vitas used to use the Stan Smith Autograph tennis racquet that used to be the Tony Trabert used by Arthur Ashe...

[@maks8891]

Smith really an old turkey💯💯

[@drobson8004]

Smith; great hands.

[@alanchong7513]

I actually think Vitas has a better serve than Smith. Vitas' motion is more fluid. His take back is fully, more circular. He has a fuller swing at the ball.

[@toddcrickmore7196]

Smith had a “pulverizing” serve during his prime years when he was #1 in the world as a result of the leverage generated from his height. Here he is older and less flexible, whereas Gerulaitus was 25 and in his prime. Gerulaitus did have an excellent serve though.

[@Andy_XT]

What a pleasure to watch! Tennis was so pure, back then. Strategy: get to the net as soon as possible and try to win the point.

[@user-uz8nz3uz7v]

tell it to Lendl)

[@henryfong3471]

great match. Today's players should learn from.

[@KingCast65]

2:18 No way was Vitas' ball landing.

[@marianpalko2531]

2:29 VG bh

[@nuffzed2001]

Ooh!

[@michelez715]

Why no on score shown on screen? Not very helpful for viewers.

[@cyrilbrocard]

I know I was 10 yo in 79, but my recollection (or imagination?) was that Stan had a big, power serve while Vitas had a soft one. Well, watching this footage, it seems that neither holds particularly true...

[@RAYMO581]

Concept of lobs was lost to these people those days. The guy as at the next and they just try and hit through them rather than lob them

[@jeromelevillain9301]

Great. Why it's not a complete match ?

[@vanlendl1]

Because your uploads are 240p.

[@tennislegendsonlineretrotennis]

Always complaining!!!

[@bradleysmall2230]

because it was a cbs weekend telecast where rgey moved ro diff matches

[@jeromelevillain9301]

@@bradleysmall2230 Thank you for the information. I'm looking for old matches at the US open, especially the borg-tanner (79,80 and 81)

[@bradleysmall2230]

@@jeromelevillain9301 did they play all 3 years

[@erikshen1107]

VG PAINTING THE LINES.....

[@alanchong7513]

Cryptic comment?

[@SuperHammaren]

I like Smith's textbook technique, but ha has not the fire to put the ball away here.

[@th8257]

He was way past his prime here.

[@SuperHammaren]

@@th8257 Yes, but some of his old skill could still be seen. Just not as sharp.

[@mitchlc425]

@@th8257 Smith was only 33 in 1979, which is the same age as when Raffa, Djoko and Roger are or were still winning majors and ranked number one.

[@drobson8004]

​@@mitchlc425Very different training methods

[@markplumb3968]

As everyone has stated, different racquets, different strings, ( probably faster surface ) so a very different game, ( young people in general would probably be bored watching this, young tennis players too, but give them a wooden racquet like VG is using and they would probably miss hit the ball on every shot…. The two sports that technology has changed and helped the most would be Tennis and Golf ( some say not for the better ) ( Golf is starting to limit technology) I guess you could add cycling to the list but it hasn’t really changed the sport

[@robertgeyer5535]

Vitas beat Stan 7-6 7-6 6-3

[@bobdobalina838]

Back when real men played tennis, men who didn't need two hands to hit A backhand like little girls.

[@pietropaolofabbri9595]

stan smith he was born with that face, at 20 the same face, at 40 as well, and today it is always the same. Fantastic.

[@Nicksonian]

Enjoyable tennis to watch. But I don’t think these guys have the skills of players like Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic.

[@gingerbladebl]

Who’s watching this during pandemic? Can I assume almost half of the live spectators already died? 😅

[@vanlendl1]

Not a nice thing to say.

[@perjordeus9265]

Not even close to being funny

[@mitchlc425]

I was there and I'm still very much alive.

[@aemiliadelroba4022]

Tennis today is boring ! all players grunting and all that noise …. No fun 😮

[@pallavchoudhary8636]

Tennis coaches back then...just run forward after hitting the serve..boring

[@charlesvorones3612]

Tennis TODAY is boring (except for a few all-court players like Federer)... These players had complete games-- they could hit every shot in the book! Just because they didn't crush the ball with run-around forehands and over-sized racquets doesn't mean they didn't know how to play. Oh, and you don't need coaches... ever. "Most over-coached sport in the world." -- Bud Collins

[@alanchong7513]

@@charlesvorones3612 Well said!

[@pierluigilembo8039]

Che bell Tennis❤