John McEnroe versus Bjorn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Finals

[don_budge]

Bjorn Borg. New sentence Rafael Nadal.

Like Nadal, Borg is so hard to put away...even when playing really badly. You can't teach that. It's an individual thing. How to win a set out of nothing - watch Borg.

Please do not ever mention Bjorn Borg in the same sentence as that pretender ever again. Look at 2.21:30...Borg's reaction to winning the fourth set. Borg doesn't have a single twitch in his game. He never goes to the towel once in five sets in between points. He plays at the 7 or 8 second tempo on every single point.

I get your point...but just out of reverence. Or respect. Please...

[don_budge]

Exquisite...the greatest of all time. McEnroe and Borg

It's annoying having to watch this match one set at a time, but I'm running a sanctioned junior tournament involving 200 kids and it's soaking up all my time...grrr.

However...

Just finished the third set. I have never seen Borg misfire so many returns or serve so badly. His first serve percentage must have been below 30%. Yet he won the set...remarkable. And McEnroe played well. Work that one out!

Like Nadal, Borg is so hard to put away...even when playing really badly. You can't teach that. It's an individual thing. How to win a set out of nothing - watch Borg.

This is an exquisite tennis match. A five set test of all that both players are made of. Bjorn Borg is obviously not at his best this afternoon but in the final analysis nobody is going to ask or care 34 years from when this was played. Except us. All that they will see is the winner's name on the trophy. That is the long and the short of it. It's a cruel game in a sense. It's a cruel world.

Borg never complains. He never even winces. McEnroe emotes. He is always in the moment. This is a truly great tennis match. Right smack dab in the middle of it the boys start to play a little impromptu game of soccer.

The two guys in the booth are superlative as a team. Tony Trabert is so astute and Pat Summerall is so smooth in provoking the keen tennis knowledge of his partner. Trabert is a know all...a wise old guy. He never misses a thing...every nuance. Ever twist and turn in this tennis match.

Borg is not at his best...but he finds a way. He hangs in there...gutting it out. Letting the game come to him. McEnroe for his part is less than 100% physically too...but he too never backs down an inch. Alway pressing the action. Never passing on a chance to seize the initiative. Borg wisely is patient in this situation and waits for his opportunities...it would be to no avail for him to launch an all out attack. In his condition he would not have been able to sustain it. To his credit...he bides his time in the desperate hope that John might punch himself out or even cool off a bit. He does in fact...just a bit in the third set and Borg even manages to be more aggressive in the fourth. So they have set the stage for the fifth.

Both players are beyond their reserves. Now they are in another zone...one that you or I will never know for certain. Their reality has become something of the ethereal. Trabert at one point talks about great matches and the greatest matches of all time. What he says is so poignant. All tennis students should follow along...an study. This is a different game that these two are playing. It's a tough uphill battle and they are carving a niche not only for themselves but for the game of tennis. This was not about money. This was not about show. For these players the crowd has vanished into the twilight mist. They are alone with each other. Playing the game that they learned to love with all of their little boy hearts. It's romantic in a way...this love affair they have with the game. It's touching.

These two are fighting the last duels of the classic game of tennis. Soon it will be put to rest. Most will turn their backs and never ask why. I wonder what they think. I would love to talk to both of them...separately to ask them a few questions. I wonder what they could teach me...as a student of the game.

[stotty]

How to win a set out of nothing

It's annoying having to watch this match one set at a time, but I'm running a sanctioned junior tournament involving 200 kids and it's soaking up all my time...grrr.

However...

Just finished the third set. I have never seen Borg misfire so many returns or serve so badly. His first serve percentage must have been below 30%. Yet he won the set...remarkable. And McEnroe played well. Work that one out!

Like Gonzales before him, Borg is so hard to put away...even when playing really badly. You can't teach that. It's an individual thing. How to win a set out of nothing - watch Borg.

[don_budge]

The fourth set...part 2

McEnroe must have thought he was going to be handed the match on a plate.

I've seen Borg play badly - the first set of Wimbledon 1980 for example - but to play badly and be disinterested as well...odd. Must have been the beginning of the end for him.

If McEnroe ever thought that Borg was going to hand him anything on a plate...and I doubt that he ever did...he got a wake up call in the fourth set. It's dead even now at two sets all. Borg had it all going on...newly married, he wasn't so fond of playing in New York at night and McEnroe was applying relentless pressure. Speaking of pressure...Borg had to come from behind in both his quarterfinal and semifinal to win in the fifth set. His nerves had to have been frayed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Championships

The fourth set...part 2.03:00

But it is on this next point we see something that is sorely lacking in the game today. The element of surprise. Of improvisation. Lighter moments in the middle of titanic struggles. Much as Nastase demonstrated in his 1972 epic with Ashe. Here...at 15-0 (2.03.10 on the video) Borg loses his grip on his racquet as he gets his first serve in to John McEnroe’s forehand in the deuce court. His racquet is destroyed on impact but Borg “is still in the point”...McEnroe lofts his forehand into the middle of the court realizing that all that he has to do is get the ball in play to Borg who is without a racquet but Borg never says die...he leaps into play into the middle of the court...and returns McEnroe’s ball by backing up behind the baseline and kicking the ball over the net. McEnroe with the same sense of comic genius timing that he displays in the Jiminy Glick interview...for his part he drops his own racquet and attempts a kick of his own...he’s wide! What a great moment between these two polar opposites...they know their lines without having a script. Pat Summerall should be able to appreciate this bit of comedy as he is a former place kicker in the NFL.

“With all of the pressure and the tension and all of the hype...there is still time for a little fun”, quips Summerall. “And they talk about the Iceberg and the bad kid from Douglaston...you don’t think they have a sense of humor”...Trabert asks rhetorically. He continues (slow motion at 2.03.37), “Let’s take another look...the racquet comes out and bingo that’s broken...McEnroe says just get it in play...Borg says hold it, ”you gotta make a better return than that”...McEnroe drops his racquet...McEnroe played soccer...and that is what happens with 80 lbs. of pressure on the strings...the racquet speed of Borg trying to serve meeting Deco Turf. Do you think that they will fine him for throwing his racquet?”

What a great moment...Borg automatically gets himself back to reality as he goes to his chair to select another Donnay strung at 80 lbs. tension. He is truly always in the moment...just as McEnroe is. It is one of the hallmarks of great champions. At 15 all he delivers a first serve and moves in after a backcourt exchange with a thumping drive on the backhand...he close nicely to knock off the forehand volley. Once again it is Trabert acknowledging the volley technique of Borg...”Again no wrist movement on that forehand volley by Borg...it was crisp. It was a good solid one. Keep it short...keep the wrist locked up.” There’s that word again to describe the ancient art of volleying...”CRISP!” 30-15 to Borg’s serve. Borg wins a backcourt exchange and McEnroe misses with a backhand approach off of a second serve and now it is McEnroe serving to stay in the set at 4-5. The pressure is mounting...as is the fatigue factors on both players. Remember that they both played five set thrillers in the semifinals the day before...no day off. And why is it that everyone thinks that the modern game is more physically demanding than the classic. More disinformation. People seem to thrive on disinformation. Somehow it gives them a sense of superiority. Ferdinand Celine was right...about everything.


At 2.06:08 the match is three hours and twenty minutes old and McEnroe is up 30-0 on his serve deep in the fourth set. McEnroe serves out his game at love. Borg pounds a forehand into the corner on his first serving point and then he delivers a good backhand that McEnroe cannot handle at the net. A couple of bad misses by Borg and it is 30 all. There is a lot of pressure on both players now and serving get to be a bit dicey. This next point at 2.09:50 is a great if not subtle point as both players duel to the respective backhands...Borg employing topspin and McEnroe relying on the safe and conservative underspin. Borg senses an opening when he gains control of the rally after two forehands into the McEnroe backhand and he gambles to go to the net. He guesses right and knocks off the one hand backhand volley. Real gutsy play by the Swede. Real elegant under pressure. Subtle stuff...this is what the classic game was all about. John responds on the next point by moving in behind his return of serve...more gutsy play. Borg is applying pressure to the McEnroe backhand, who has been slicing more and more, perhaps feeling the pressure and McEnroe lets a ball go by him that lands inside the baseline. It’s a sign that he is feeling the pressure...hoping that the ball is going out instead of finishing the point with a statement. Trabert call it a “tactical” error but more correctly it is a lapse in judgement. Advantage to Borg. Borg holds his serve as McEnroe hits a forehand approach long. There is immense pressure on both players now. McEnroe to serve once more to stay in the set at 5-6.

On the first point Borg manages to force McEnroe to play a half volley that he misses in the net. Did McEnroe hesitate just a bit? Borg just misses a backhand pass...the pressure showing on both players faces. Borg forces McEnroe to play a real tough volley once again then he lofts a well disguised lob that McEnroe hits long. But McEnroe counters with a great volley that Trabert labels as “fatalistic”. You have to be fatalistic if you are serving deep in the fourth set against one Bjorn Borg. This is no situation for the feint of heart. This is no time to be cute. An ace...he is summoning deep reserves. But the great adversary passes cleanly off of the advantage serve. It’s back and forth...greatness at this point. Another unreturnable serve to the Borg forehand. Yet another tremendous cross court return from the Borg backhand...almost identical to the previous ad point. Trabert calls it a “dog fight” and this is what you want and expect between to great adversaries. No room for error...we are dancing on the razor’s edge. McEnroe plays just a bit tentatively...he stays back on a second serve and misses a continental gripped forehand long. Set point to Borg and he barely misses a valiant attempt off of a great McEnroe volley. He ends up in the seats. An unreturnable serve off an off speed serve...advantage McEnroe. A double fault...his sixth...and it’s back to deuce. Borg steps away from the serve swinging into his forehand to pound a return winner down the line. McEnroe misses a first serve wide, then Borg unleashes yet another supersonic backhand crosscourt winner. Set to Borg...it’s a fifth set. Both players are playing on reserves...both exhausted but refusing to buckle.

[don_budge]

Borg the Great wins the fourth...it's 2 sets all.

I found Borg disinterested. Bored stiff.

He doesn't look bored any longer. Maybe tired. But both players are playing deep into their reserve tanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Championships

The fourth set... part 1 1.43.00

Bjorn Borg tries to capitalize on his little swell of momentum...his little swell of confidence. He wins the first game of the set with a routine service game. A rarity in this match.

In McEnroe’s first service game of the fourth set at 30-0, he does something that he hasn’t done the whole match...he returns a ball to the ball boy. These two have not learned the art of microscopically differentiating the tennis balls that every single player on the circuit today specializes in the modern game of tennis. You see how they all mimic that same thing. Same strokes...same game styles. It is the herd mentality. Coaches participate in this charade as well. McEnroe and Borg are having none of it. These two have clear and definite ideas about their identities...they are men of their times.

At 1.46.27 a classic McEnroe serve and volley. Serve up the middle to the Borg forehand, a backhand volley from inside the service line to move Borg to his left...closing to within a meter and a half of the net he knocks off the forehand volley down the other line. Pure and simple...vintage McEnroe. Nobody does it better.

Pat Summerall says, “so many times he has picked off that volley when Borg has tried to go crosscourt like that. Should Borg change it up a little bit...what do you think?” Trabert makes the usual astute reply, “he may, but it can also be a situation where McEnroe reads the way he’s set up...it may just be a good guess.” McEnroe proceeds to miss his first serve and hits his second not quite so wide but up high on Borg’s backhand...Borg’s return gets up just a bit so McEnroe consequently moves in just a bit closer and hits the most exquisite high backhand volley for a clean winner cross court. It was a similar point to the set point that Borg won the third set with only McEnroe’s serve was not as wide and as a consequence Borg’s return was not so wide, therefore leaving McEnroe with the routine high backhand instead of the unplayable volley. Interesting point to note...the serve and volleyer is always making constant adjustments and decisions based on the activity of his opponent. Another routine service game for John.

On the first point of Borg’s service game at 1.47.48 Borg approaches hard up the line and McEnroe hits an extremely high lob that Borg camps under. I have noticed that when Borg gets this kind of overhead smash attempt his left hand and his racquet are sort of dangling instead of poising his hands and arms in a ready like position. It’s just his style and perhaps it doesn’t conform to fundamental correctness (FC) but he gets a way with it...it is his style.

At this point the network displays the television programming that will be on the air that particular evening and the lineup looks like this: 60 Minutes...Archie Bunker’s Place...One Day At A Time...Alice...The Jeffersons...and Trapper John, M. D. Talking about the times a changing. Borg complete another easy, routine service game for a 2-1 lead.

McEnroe crowds the Borg forehand with his first serve of the game...Trabert remarks that somehow Borg looks to be somewhat uncomfortable. Another forehand miss for 30-0 to McEnroe. Pat Summeral chimes in again with the obvious...confirming what Trabert said. He says that Borg doesn’t look like everything is quite like he would like it to be...McEnroe contributes just a bit more to Borg’s discomfort at 1.49.30 as he serves up the middle this time...fooling Borg yet again with his service placement and Borg if forced a one hand attempt off of the backhand and floats it just a bit...quick as a cat McEnroe pounces on it and hits a feathery touched forehand volley with his tongue hanging over the net with such an acute angle crosscourt Borg only thinks about moving in that direction. Another serve up the middle to the Borg forehand...another netted return. McEnroe has really exposed the forehand return the entire match...but he has done just as Trabert has been outlining. He does it by mixing it up.

Borg to serve at 2-2 and at 15-0 Borg makes a textbook forehand volley...getting down to the ball and blocking it off crosscourt for a clean winner. He wins his serve at love...3-2 to Borg. Borg looks to be more assertive at this point in the match...he got off to a slow start losing the first two sets. Twice previously he has done this very thing...falling behind early. He fell behind two sets to one to Roscoe Tanner in the quarters and to Johan Kriek in the semis he was down two sets to love. He has been fighting his way out of a jam for all of the later stages of this tournament and this sort of thing takes its toll. The question at this point in the match is one of pressure...can he keep the pressure on McEnroe which he shows some signs of doing now. In a five set match there may exist numerous culmination points and this is certainly one of them here in the fourth set...particularly for Borg. McEnroe lead two sets to one and he has a set in the bank but Borg must assert himself now and he knows it.

McEnroe starts off his service game and 2-3 with a double fault. A missed return by Borg followed by an unplayable return and a netted volley...it is 15-30. At 1.54.09 McEnroe misses his first serve wide and he goes wide with the second. He stays back...maybe stinging from the last Borg return and he plays a nice incredibly deep sliding continental gripped forehand up the line and safely inside the sideline. Borg moves swiftly to his right and just hammers a down the line pass by McEnroe that he can only lunge at...15-40 and double break point for Borg. An unreturnable serve to the forehand in the deuce court and then a wide serve to the backhand that Borg manages to get McEnroe to play a rare half volley on his charge to the net...but Borg cannot manage the pass. McEnroe just has this rare feel for everything about going forwards. Even this half volley that he more or less awkwardly handles...he puts it in a position that doesn’t give Borg a lot of room to shoot for. McEnroe just sort of hits it low, soft and not so deep so that Borg must move in and play it low. Borg nets it...and it’s back to deuce. Two more service points to the Borg forehand and it’s game to McEnroe...he has served himself out of a jam. He did it by serving to the Borg forehand as well...perhaps defying conventional wisdom. 3-3.

Meanwhile...in the booth Pat Sumerall is testing the recollective powers of Tony Trabert...he asks a couple of questions. One...when was the last time that Borg had lost a five setter...and two...when was the last time that a right hander has won the U. S. Open. Answer to question number two...their man in the field John Newcombe who defeated Jan Kodes in the final in 1973. Right after our very own Ilie Nastase and Arthur Ashe classic in 1972. You see...it pays to know your tennis history...sports fans. Tennis aficionados. Or not...in modern day tennis it makes you a disease if you just happen to know something about the reality of the game. The real game. The wooden racquet era. Blah...blah...blah.

The booth goes to John Newcombe and he gives a nice note of praise to John McEnroe...he notes that it wasn’t all that long ago that McEnroe was all tangled up with Jimmy Connors in the semis...a five set tussle. McEnroe is doing a great job of handling the pressure. Both player are feeling the pressure now. Seventh game of the fourth set...a pivotal point perhaps.

On the first point of the seventh game of the fourth set McEnroe knifes a backhand return low and skimming the net and Borg hits his backhand wide. At 1.58.50 after a backcourt exchange McEnroe misses the right sideline of Borg by a Hawkeye for 15-15. John nets a backhand for 30-15 Borg...no sooner is the ball in the net John is yelling over the net to the linesman about the previous point. Nothing serious...but humorous. Look who’s laughing in the background...”you can see Don Budge scratching his chin in the background...sort of laughing, smiling at McEnroe letting off a little steam”. Fred Perry is in the background to as he leans over to Budge to say something across Laurie Budge to Don. Borg pounds another ball into the McEnroe backhand...then he double faults by four feet on the 40-15 point. Advantage Borg...he hits a tremendous forehand pass down the line as McEnroe charges once more. 4-3 to Borg and McEnroe to serve.

First point at 2.01...a swinging serve way into the body of the Borg forehand again. Unreturnable...15-0. Identical service tactic into the ad court...wickedly swinging serve into the body and unreturnable...30-0. Now he jams him on the backhand side in the deuce court and once more into the forehand in the ad court...routine service hold. Borg to serve at 4-4.

Stotty...you may have seen this match or at least this part of it. It is really rather well know. On the first point Borg serves out wide to the McEnroe backhand and moves in and hits a “crisp” backhand volley as Tony Trabert calls it. You have heard me refer to “crisp” volleying in previous posts. Sorry modern day aficianados...good old don_budge knows what he is talking about. There is a vast difference between being unashamedly knowledgable and “living in the past”. It might behooves you to ascertain the difference. But crisp volleying is what the norm in volleying used to be when volleying was still a part of the classic game. Even Borg who was a backcourt specialist by the uninformed masses was a competent volleyer and as Trabert observes...he certainly was capable of crisp volleying.

[stotty]

I haven't seen this match before so it's interesting for me.

I just finished watching the second set. I like to watch with the sound down so I can form my own judgement. I often do this.

I found Borg disinterested...bored stiff. Other than a brief spell here and there where he looked like he might ignite, he was completely disinterested. I found that odd considering the match he was in. He barely ran for the first three games of that set. McEnroe must have thought he was going to be handed the match on a plate.

I've seen Borg play badly - the first set of Wimbledon 1980 for example - but to play badly and be disinterested as well...odd. Must have been the beginning of the end for him.

I will look forward to sets 3, 4 and 5.

[don_budge]

Borg the Great...he wins the third with his foot in the door

Their match up was perfect, the best I've witnessed in my lifetime - two opposites in every sense.

When I think of McEnroe I think of geometry. I've said many times on the forum that he could play perfect tennis...right tactics, yes...but also the right the shot at the right time. No one else has ever achieved that or anything close to it.

More thoughts on this later...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Championships

Third set...102.32

The third set begins a bit auspiciously as McEnroe volleys a routine forehand volley wide. He hasn’t really missed anything routine up to this point. But he manages to hold his serve...on the ad point he serves wide to the Borg backhand, Borg returns lamely with only one hand on the racquet and John calmly knifes a backhand volley into the vacant court. During this game Tony Trabert points out that Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe have played eight times to this point in their careers with Borg holding the 5-3 edge head to head.

Borg to serve at 105.30. The first point of the game Borg show’s his true uncertainty on this Deco Turf surface. He really isn’t certain about the timing of the net approach. Compared to his grass court play he looks rather amateurish at the U. S. Open. He hits the third forehand volley weakly in the net. None of the forehand volleys that he missed were particularly hard but he made the same mistake on all three...he didn’t close nearly fast enough as all of McEnroe’s balls were softly played and he doesn’t keep the racquet head high enough. He lets it drop below the level of his hand. He not only drops the racquet head...he lets the ball drop too low. He is not a true volley or all court player...not in the strictest sense of the word. He has simply learned to make do...being the great, great champion that he was. On the second point of the game McEnroe gives us a subtle look again once again at his genius. He plays the point from the backcourt and out duels and displays more patience when Borg hits a forehand long. During this point McEnroe oscillated between topspin and underspin off of his backhand six strokes in a row...an incredible display of control for 0-30. Borg manages to hold his serve.

McEnroe starts his service game with a huge hooking serve to Borg’s backhand for his third ace. It’s hard to imagine getting that much spin on the ball with a standard sized wooden racquet. The next serve he swings Borg way wide again and it appears that now McEnroe has shifted his serving tactics once more...focusing on the wide serve. For the moment...he’s entirely unpredictable. Tony Trabert says as much at this point. Another serve to the Borg backhand...a wild return long. A fourth serve to the backhand...another error on the return. Game to McEnroe.

On the first four points on the Borg serve at 1-2, McEnroe is attacking the net. He wins three of the four. McEnroe attempts yet again on the fifth point but Borg bails himself out with a fine backhand pass. On the sixth point McEnroe all but commits himself to follow his return in but second guess’s himself and applies the brakes and scramble back into position. After a backcourt exchange Borg finishes at the net with a better executed forehand volley...he closes, he keeps the racquet head up and he doesn’t let the ball get too low on him. During the game the camera has panned to Fred Perry and now Arthur Ashe...great players from the past. Ashe to captain the U. S. Davis Cup team with Trabert giving way. Borg evens up the set...2-2.

With McEnroe serving Tony Trabert makes the following observation. He says that with Borg facing a John McEnroe who is two sets up and playing so well that he would be very surprised if Borg could pull it off. He recognizes what a deep hole the Swede is in...not that it couldn’t be done. The odds are against it. On the third point McEnroe anticipates a Borg thunderball off of the backhand much as we saw Nastase in his Open final against Ashe....McEnroe anticipate the precise point and perfectly nips off the volley with a crushing backhand. He crushes a volley for 30-15...what a cool shot with no swing. All balance and weight control. Trabert once again uses a phrase that I have picked up somewhere through the years...”happy feet”...McEnroe has them. He is everywhere...balance and poised on his toes. The announcers talk about dancing...as I have referred to dancing with the tennis ball. John holds for 3-2.

Borg hits a backhand winner then an ace to hold his serve. He seems to have picked up the level somewhat...he is being more aggressive. Both players are playing well at this point...this is a culmination point for Borg. He has to make something happen...and soon. Little by little that is just what Borg does. How do you eat an elephant? Answer...one bite at a time. Borg begins by chipping away at the McEnroe service...which has just a bit of a bumpy patch at this juncture of the match. Borg gets the ball back in play on the return and it works for him. Both players are playing well and the action is heating up. Now it is Borg’s turn to serve once again...but this time he is up a break and 4-3.

Borg holds his serve for a 5-3 lead. He is moving his feet again and he is being more aggressive. The Swedish flag is being flown in the crowd...the yellow cross against the sky blue background. Legend has it that a Swedish king was going to battle and the sun was so bright against the blue Swedish sky that he took it as a sign from heaven that he was destined to win. The Swedes are invoking the will of Oden for their young hero...Borg as Thor. An gruff American voice in the crowd yells out...”do it now John”. Just do it...Nike. He holds for 4-5 Borg to serve.

Check out 130.00 for a nice little touch point of McEnroe’s. The video here has some problems and we more or less miss McEnroe breaking Borg’s serve once again. Three times now he has broken the Swede as he served for a set in this match. McEnroe goes up quickly 40-0...and proceeds to serve it out. 5-6 Borg to serve.

Since the American feed of video seems to have hit a troubled spot...surprise! We have the Swedish telecast substituted at 133.00 and it poses no problem for yours truly. I understand Swedish. The irony of life...it never ceases to amaze me. To the excitement of the Swedish announcer Borg serves his way into the tie-breaker.

Borg takes the first point with a backhand pass but McEnroe gets it back with an attack of the net. An incredible net rush culminating with an extremely acute angled volley makes it 2-1 for McEnroe and a service winner makes it 3-1. It is getting extremely critical for Borg here. He come up with the goods on a quick exchange with McEnroe at the net for 2-3...his serve. An incredible backhand pass that McEnroe disputes for 3-3...the players switch sides. A great exchange in the backcourt as McEnroe is teasing the Swede with an assortment of tantalizing underspin backhands and continental gripped forehands. The Swede relentlessly pounds away and swiftly charges forward and he crushes a forehand volley with no backswing. He is really on his toes now. Feeling the moment. He has let the game come to him once more and he has his teeth into the set. McEnroe feels the first hint of pressure now. Up to this point he has been floating along...everything he has touched has turned to gold. He has had the Midas touch but now the Swede is challenging him.

Two serve for McEnroe. All day long he has had Bjorn off balance as he has mixed up his location very cleverly. Where will he place this most important serve at 139.40? It’s an ace up the middle. One more serve at 4-4...and Borg lashes a backhand by the encroaching McEnroe to make it 5-4. The set is on Borg’s racquet. He misses the first serve then pattycakes the second in and McEnroe is charging behind his return. Another lash of the Swede’s backhand...set point.

At 141.00 and set point against him McEnroe takes the air out of the ball and more or less says to Borg...hit it by me. He plays a wonderful assortment of defensive strategically placed slice backhands...a majority of them at the two handed side while moving him over to the forehand to draw him ever so slightly off balance until finally he wins the duel of patience and Borg misses. 6-5 to Borg...McEnroe to serve. Where will he serve? He goes for the wide one...Borg’s return is exquisite. High over the shoulder and down the line...McEnroe cannot handle this ball and the set goes to the Swede. He is still behind one set to two...but now he has his foot in the door.

John McEnroe leads two set to one.

[stotty]

McEnroe...geometry...Borg had it on all surfaces.

Their match up was perfect, the best I've witnessed in my lifetime - two opposites in every sense.

I never read much into the story that Borg was once a bad tempered player as a kid, who suddenly changed overnight following an incident leading to him being banned from playing.

I think the incident was merely the catalyst to Borg finding himself. He suddenly found who he was supposed to be. He was lucky. Some people never find themselves.

I love the take on McEnroe. When I think of McEnroe I think of geometry. I've said many times on the forum that he could play perfect tennis...right tactics, yes...but also the right the shot at the right time. No one else has ever achieved that or anything close to it.

Nastase relied more on brilliance, shotmaking...or as tennic_chiro wonderfully expressed it: "he ran around and did things".

Yet despite being only moderately talented compared to McEnroe, Borg was actually more of an all surface player than McEnroe. I find that amazing. The US Open was Borg's worst surface yet he made the final four times and lost only narrowly. His records grass and clay are impeccable.

McEnroe did little on clay save for one stellar year in the FO in 1984 with the help of a good draw. That long, slow didn't suit his game at all. So despite his genius, he could never meet Borg on Borg's favourite surface, which was kind of a shame for Borg.

I think that said a lot about the way the game might go. That groundstrokes count more than volleys in the final analysis, that machinery could match or overwhelm artistry.

Lendl was soon to come along to further prove the point...train...be a machine...attrition.

More thoughts on this later...

I better watch that second set tonight.

[don_budge]

Second set analysis...McEnroe wins the second set 6-1

I just finished watching the first set. McEnroe somehow sneaked that one. Neither player played that well. Borg was misfiring and McEnroe wasn't hitting too sweetly either.

I think Borg got it wrong standing so far back behind the baseline to return serve from the ad court. You really cannot leave that much gap for McEnroe to volley into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

This is one of the great dilemma's for Borg when he is playing McEnroe...Trabert discusses this as he asserts that Borg must anticipate the lefty spinning wide and sort of concede just a bit the forehand side of things when receiving serve in the ad court. Borg was handcuffed many times in this set on the forehand...looking for the backhand.


In my opinion John McEnroe is quite possibly the best tactical player that I have ever witnessed play the game. Technically he is right up there with the best of them. Couple with the fact that he was left handed it must have been maddening to play against him...particularly when he was on. Let's face it...he was on most of the time he took the court. Especially when it came to challenging Borg...his ultimate rival. Borg brought out the best in McEnroe. It was a real struggle for Borg however...as Mats Wilander once said after playing McEnroe on the Senior Tour Championship Final...John has a way of making you feel terrible.

In the second set we see that Johnny is going to pick right up where he left off in the first set. He was fortunate to escape with the first as Bjorn Borg served twice for the set but lost his serve both times before succumbing in a tie-breaker. I don’t think that Bjorn let opportunities like this slip away very often...certainly not in the finals of Grand Slam events. It’s hard to fathom why it happened...he doesn’t appear to be very sharp and even in the second set he continues to exhibit some rather shaky form. But of course his opponent has a lot to do with it. The tactics of McEnroe on this day are specifically tailored to disrupt the rhythm of the Swede as McEnroe repeatedly takes the initiative on anything that resembles an opportunity to advance on the net. Once at the net...as tennis_chiro puts it...there hasn’t been anybody in the last fifty years that could close and finish like McEnroe. That is real pressure...particularly if you have the reputation of being a backcourt player that would just as soon win with patience.

At 46.25 in the first game of the set on Borg’s serve he plays a rather amazing point where he has Borg on the defensive from the backcourt. Then on the very next point he wins by following his return of serve to the net and executing a deft touch drop volley off of a smoking Borg forehand. His range of tactics is really deep and he has every shot in the book to pull off such a wide repertoire of strategies. On the other hand he could just as well execute the exact duplicate tactic on back to back points as if to emphasize his control over the tempo and execution of the match itself. I ask my students what is power...it’s a rhetorical question as it turns out...the answer is control. McEnroe not only overpowers his opponents by force he wins by controlling the match tactically as well. On one occasion with Borg serving at 1-3 he lifts a lob over the backhand side which Borg executes an almost fortunate high backhand volley past a somewhat surprised McEnroe. So what does John do on the very next point...he does the very same thing only this time he makes the fine adjustment with the lob and it is unplayable for Borg to do anything but plop the ball in the net. This is practically humiliating. On another occasion this time at 1-5 on Borg’s serve once again we see John duplicate the same tactic virtually twice in a row...this time both times successfully. Twice in a row he draws the Swede to the net and merely plays a soft cross court sliced backhand at the Swede’s knees where twice Borg makes the same mistake and volleys into the net. This is sheer genius.

It isn’t the duplicate examples of tactics thought that give McEnroe such a decisive second set at 6-1...it is the fact that he has hammered everything in between at the Swede who is monotonous in comparison. It’s a magic of sorts...almost along the same lines as with Nastase who seemed to be able to change his tactics from sudden power to instant touch at will. Both McEnroe and Nastase just may have been certifiably mad...just as many other true artists thoughout history have been diagnosed. At times they had great difficulties managing their dysfunctions but it is hard to ignore the vastness of their genius. McEnroe overwhelmed Borg in this second set cerebrally as well as any other version of the story might be told.

[stotty]

I just finished watching the first set. McEnroe somehow sneaked that one. Neither player played that well. Borg was misfiring and McEnroe wasn't hitting too sweetly either.

I think Borg got it wrong standing so far back behind the baseline to return serve from the ad court. You really cannot leave that much gap for McEnroe to volley into. Arthur Ashe showed how standing in to return could be so effective against McEnroe. If Borg had done the same, it might have made all the difference.

It's great to see Borg moving like that. So powerful. Great acceleration...flat out in half a yard.

[don_budge]

McEnroe the Great...takes the second set too

JG: Hi...I am sitting here with an absolute living legend...and I know this because he told me to say that. So if he said it, it must be true. The wonderful John McEnroe.

JM: Don’t lie to your fans here and your viewers that I had told you to say that...you are...can I say bad words here?

JG: Say it...go ahead.

JM: You’re bullshit.

JG: Ha ha, wonderful. But you know what...we’ve set the level so just try and keep it down. I know that’s your gimmick and it works...it’s like an old stripper who has beads or something.

JM: You’re not going to get me going.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Championships

Second set...45.05

After losing the first set in a tight tie-breaker after failing to serve it out twice...Bjorn Borg comes out as laconic as ever. Does this guy even have a pulse? But trust me...Bjorn is not only being calm...he is being Swedish. That’s how it is. So to start up the second set he comes out and wins the first couple of points as if nothing has happened. Then he misses two straight backhands for 30-30.

At 46.25 and deuce he hits a second serve to the McEnroe backhand which John drives hard and wide to the Borg forehand...Borg manages a ball up the line towards the middle and McEnroe drives a continental gripped forehand with underspin to the middle of the court which Borg takes on his backhand after recovering from outside of the doubles alley from McEnroe’s return of serve. Borg’s backhand is sliced somewhat defensively to the McEnroe forehand. Johnny now begins to take the real initiative and hits hard with his forehand down the middle of the court. Borg hits a bit timidly to the McEnroe backhand and John really lays his shoulder into a wickedly sliced backhand deep into Borg’s backhand...Borg’s crosscourt backhand is just a bit defensive into the middle of the forehand side of McEnroe’s forehand and McEnroe is all over it with another crosscourt drive of the forehand...Borg manages a fairly well struck backhand down towards the middle of the lefty’s backhand side. But this is where McEnroe is being John McEnroe...he anticipates and remarkably he takes this ball midway between the service line and the baseline on the half volley bounce and strokes it away for a clean crosscourt winner. Vintage McEnroe. Touche. Trabert calls this point a symphony in motion by both players. On the ensuing point...a break point, McEnroe takes the second serve running around his backhand to hit the forehand straight and hard up the middle...Borg parries with a forehand to the McEnroe forehand and John takes all of the steam out his shot and deftly guides it over the net and short. A drop shot volley off of a bullet. Service break with some magnificent tennis in the first game of the second set to McEnroe.

During McEnroe’s first service game of the second set the announcers Trabert and Summarall give tribute to the business end of things. Total paid attendance for the match was 18,551 and for the tournament it was 331,140. Business was good. Record gates. It was booming as a matter of fact. Interest in tennis was at perhaps an all time high. Perhaps the McEnroe and Borg rivalry had a lot to do with it. Their final at Wimbledon was as dramatic a match that had ever been played in recent years. It’s a tribute to tennis, Slew Hester and the New York fans...Trabert maintains. McEnroe goes up 2-0 in the second on a love service game. He’s pretty much rolling over the Swede...Borg not only looks laconic, he looks almost listless. Strangely dead in the water. I would love to ask Slew Hester a few questions.

Borg plays his worst game of the match on his serve as he double faults twice and misses an easy smash after he played it on the bounce. He loses his serve at love. McEnroe to serve...Trabert gives another tribute to Slew Hester. Marv Richmond in the picture as well. These are the movers and shakers of the U. S. tennis world. I wonder what they know about the future of tennis and what their motivations are. I find the camera angle rather curious...the match is virtually being shot from one direction. It’s a great view of the receiver on the one side of the court. Borg is almost rear end to the camera lens...McEnroe tends to toe the baseline or he is actually taking the Borg serve and hitting approach shots. McEnroe loses his serve for 1-3 on Borg’s serve.

The first point Borg approaches the net and McEnroe lifts a lob over the backhand side which Borg hits a high backhand overhead or volley...some call it a backhand smash. Borg puts it away. On the second point it is the same scenario except McEnroe makes the slightest adjustment in his swing and get the lob just a bit deeper...Borg nets his attempt.

At 58.20 it’s McEnroe serving at 4-1. He’s rolling now says Pat Summerall...Tony Trabert points out that McEnroe is getting an awful lot of first serves in and a lot of those are on the Borg forehand. Trabert says that there is no way you can keep on looking for that serve coming from a lefty. This is a very interesting point regarding left handed tactics...it’s a completely different book in a sense. In the sense that you are looking at the mirror image. It’s part of what made John McEnroe so tough...his left handedness. What Trabert means is that you instinctively must be looking for the wide serve to the backhand but the spinning serve that spins into the right handed forehand has the effect of handcuffing the receiver as Borg is finding out. Then at 40-0 Borg gets what he is instinctively looking for...the wide out to the backhand. Borg plays it outside of the doubles alley and plays it long. It’s 5-1 to McEnroe...Borg to serve.

On the first point of the game things are getting a bit dicey for Bjorn Borg. After trading a few groundstrokes McEnroe draws Borg to the net and hits a rather soft and dipping backhand slice angle to the approaching Borg forehand volley...he nets the knee high volley. Trabert discusses the Borg situation...he says that in different circumstances Borg might just throw this set away but he says that Borg has to play this game like a fight for his life. One set down he has to show McEnroe that he is going to fight him every inch of the way. It is looking rather bleak for the Swede. At love-15 McEnroe employs the very same tactic on an advancing Borg...he hits the low soft slice forcing Borg to volley from below his knees and once again he nets the volley. McEnroe did the same thing just a couple of games earlier when he made Borg play almost identical backhand overheads. The genius of McEnroe to see the combinations...and to make them work in his favor. Borg capitulates anyways and loses his serve and the set.

Two sets to love for John McEnroe.

[don_budge]

First set analysis...McEnroe wins the first 7-6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

Both players are coming off of five set semi-finals at the 1980 U. S. Open Championships the day before. McEnroe has also been playing in the doubles so he has had in all probability another recent match under his belt. Ironically it is Borg who appears to be not quite 100% engaged in the match in the first set.

McEnroe has pretty much managed to carry the attack to Borg. He is the aggressor more often than not...dictating the terms of play. His technique provides for greater variety of attack therefore his tactical book is more plentiful. Notice how he uses the slicing, driving backhand, wide to the Borg forehand varying the depth. Notice how he knocks the Swede off balance a bit and then he pounces on the opportunity and comes down the line in a variety of spins, speeds and trajectories even. Never the same ball two times in a row.

Interesting enough both players are probably equally competent and stable off of either wing. McEnroe's vastly underrated groundstrokes (see post #3) are used surgically to dissect his opponent with spin and placement and relatively disguised pace. A mixture of pace...he floats one deep and then he is moving quickly forwards to get on top of the next one to drive it into either corner. Borg likes to crack it as if slugging a baseball...both wings. He is not nearly so subtle as the cerebral McEnroe.

McEnroe has the uncanny ability to close on the net and anticipate the opponents passing attempts. He is not dismayed to get passed once or twice in a row...he keeps on coming. What makes his volleying so effective are the shots that he comes in behind on. His approaches are so well played and so well crafted that he can virtually rule out certain parts of his court as reachable by Borg's passing attempts. Of course the serve is much the same...he knows by his placement, speed and spin which parts of his court are reachable and which are low percentage. He is playing the odds. He is banking on astute calculations that he has built up in the memory banks over the years. Playing this type of game takes a longer time to develop than the Borgian strong gripped forehand and two handed backhand...the precursor of the modern game? The modern game being the Borgian paradigm on steroids...figuratively speaking.

The difference being that even though Borg wasn't shy about venturing forwards, his approach game wasn't nearly as sophisticated as Johnny's. But it was a bit tougher to get to the net here at the U. S. Open on Deco Turf, an acrylic hard court, than on the lawns of Wimbledon...which Borg had won five times in a row. At this point in their rivalry Borg owns a 5-3 edge head to head. The most recent match being the 1980 epic tie-break five setter at Wimbledon. Johnny is playing this match with vengeance in his heart...he doesn't intend to take no for an answer. Even though Borg served for this first set twice and McEnroe possibly on some rather shaky legs he perseveres for the first set. Well done...in my estimation. All things considered.

[don_budge]

McEnroe the Great...takes the first set

Great players never say they are great. Good players always say they are great. Bad players know they are not great.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKxKWfzUic

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg...1980 U. S. Open Championships

First set...

John McEnroe has defeated Jimmy Connors in a five set thriller in the semifinals and Björn Borg has come from two sets down to defeat Johan Kriek in the other semifinals. McEnroe has also made the finals of the doubles where he and partner Peter Fleming have lost to Stan Smith and Bob Lutz. On the very first point McEnroe serves wide to the Borg forehand...Borg starting four meters behind the baseline moves up a couple of steps and lunges to his right just getting his racquet on the ball but he hits a pretty nice down the line return that McEnroe comes in a plays perhaps just a bit to nonchalantly. Borg sends a lob over his head that McEnroe has to bounce for a half hearted smash...Borg wins the ensuing rally.

McEnroe is the defending champion...of both the singles and the doubles and Borg is pursuing the only Slam that he hasn’t won yet. On the second point of the match McEnroe serves wide again...this time the lefty slice takes Borg way to his left where again he manages to get his racquet on the ball and return it down the line...but McEnroe is swooping in and just knifes a backhand volley cross court that the fleet Borg can only chase in vain. Two more McEnroe first serves and two returns in the net...it’s 40-15.

At 40-15 McEnroe hits a second serve into the body of Borg who returns down the middle. John fails to get enough angle on his volley and Borg takes several very small, very quick steps and bends down to the ball and unleashes a crosscourt clean winner. At 40-30 McEnroe hits a first serve to the Borg backhand but Borg feels the pace now and laces the ball back across and McEnroe cannot handle the stream and his backhand volley is lost wildly long. Deuce. Another missed return...advantage McEnroe. Serve and volley once more...game McEnroe.

Borg holds 1-1. McEnroe didn’t sleep well. McEnroe serve up a variety of spins and slices to hold easily for a 2-1 lead. With Borg serving at 30-love, Tony Trabert begins to make a comment that if he could talk to John he would tell him to try and get into some rallies with Borg in the first couple of games on his serve...try to get some feel. As if on cue...a scintillating exchange...a Borg first serve to the McEnroe forehand blocked short. Borg hits deep middle cross court with topspin and McEnroe sidesteps and hits a solid half volley pass to the backhand. Borg moving swiftly to his left volleys back to the McEnroe backhand and textbook McEnroe...a simple turn of the shoulders and the racquet is cocked back into position and then he unwinds. A clean crosscourt pass that skims the top of the net. Pat Summarall quips...”he might listen to your advice”.

Another rally...McEnroe power slides his forehand down into the Borg backhand corner and Borg hits long for 30 all. Borg manages to hold serve however as Tony Trabert makes the comment that spectators have turned out in record numbers...a sign that the game is prospering. It’s two all. McEnroe to serve. He goes down 0-30 on two passes by the Borg forehand...the legendary forehand. But McEnroe doesn’t flinch and he wins two straight points encroaching on the net. Serve and volley courage...passed twice yet he perseveres with a kamikaze bravado. At 16.17 and two points later...advantage Borg we get the first point where both players are totally engaged together in a dance of dueling shots. Borg finally misses by an inch with a decisive backhand pass attempt. Back to deuce.

McEnroe eventually wins his serve after saving four or five break points and Tony Trabert makes a comment after a half volley attempt. Average golfers are scared to death of the fan (shot?) shot and average tennis players are scared to death of the half volley but the more accomplished players just take them in stride. 3-2 for McEnroe then Borg serves out at love for 3-3. John holds easily for a 4-3 lead...on serve.

At 23.00 Tony Trabert dispels one of the myths about Björn Borg...”It really wasn’t long ago that Borg would come to the net when he was forced to the net but really hadn’t much of an idea about what to do with the volley. He now comes in there with a purpose and he can make an awfully good volley.“ It looks like McEnroe likes to play something that slides a bit into the Borg two hander. Something with a bit of underspin...particularly off of his backhand. The quick decoturf of Flushing Meadows stadium is rather receptive to this tactic. Borg holds for 4-4.

McEnroe double faults on his first service point. On the second point he serves wide only to watch Borg’s cross court return go screaming by him...he doesn’t even make a move at it. As it turns out McEnroe mildly protests that the serve was out...0-30. Second serve to Borg’s forehand and he takes a big cut and it’s a mishit...it goes over McEnroe’s head and lands a foot inside the baseline. Trabert...”It was an absolute mishit. He got as much wood on it as he did gut! But it counts.” At 0-40 McEnroe serves it way wide to the Borg backhand only to watch the return sail past him down the line and Borg is serving for the first set. Are McEnroe’s legs under him or are late match yesterday and poor sleep taking it’s toll.

Borg misses a sitter in the forecourt off of a short McEnroe return of serve...0-15. Borg wins the next two point before McEnroe makes a sweet pass down the line. Deuce. A backhand exchange is culminated with a Borg missed passing shot...this is followed by a McEnroe approach concluded with a smash. McEnroe breaks back...5-5. McEnroe misses the first volley on his serve and makes some rather goofy gestures and Trabert mentions that McEnroe can get sort of winded up like a Mickey Mouse watch that goes twang. At 32.00 McEnroe misses another volley and he yells at himself...”You lazy bum!” Borg passes on the next point on a rather tentative volley. Break point. John composes himself and evens the score but he goes on to lose his serve on a disputed line call.

Borg once again serving for the first set at 36.39. First point is a telling point...a point that illustrates the McEnroe/Borg rivalry to a tee. It’s a thirty stroke point that is culminated with McEnroe picking off a volley on a ball that Borg had volleyed from no man’s land. Great stuff from both players. During this point...McEnroe chased Borg wide to his forehand three times with a knifing, driving underspin volley that Borg played back crosscourt only to find himself being moved way over to the backhand side again. Short and wide to the Borg forehand with underspin then deep and close to the sideline on the backhand side...again with underspin. Classic McEnroe slice and dice...0-15. Double fault by Borg...0-30. A missed short forehand by Borg for 0-40. Borg to the net but McEnroe chases him off with a lob...a little cat and mouse...break to McEnroe. Tie-breaker.

Borg captures the first two points...then misses another short forehand trying to put too much topspin on from close range. McEnroe evens with a strong volley off of a good first serve. At 41.43 watch as Borg comes as close to disputing a call as you will ever see on a second serve ace by McEnroe. He comes back with a really good first serve...he didn’t let it bother him in the end. 3-3...the players change ends. Borg misses another midcourt forehand...4-3 to McEnroe. A lefty corkscrew serve chases Borg about three meters outside the court and McEnroe closes to finish off the easy volley...then he misses a volley off of a tough Borg return for 4-5 on Borg’s serve. At 44.40 McEnroe makes a daring approach and wins with a volley...he concludes the set with a net approach off of the Borg serve and a winning volley.

First set to John McEnroe.

[klacr]

Great players never say they are great. Good players always say they are great. Bad players know they are not great.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

Heard lots of guy say they were great, and were only good. Never heard a great player say he was great, as they don't need to brag and lie and cheat.