1994: Rafter vs Lendl

[gzhpcu]

Rafter interview on Federer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iupF1Voom4k

This is the 2001 match he was talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la0ON7Xh4og

[bottle]

"If I need money."

[gzhpcu]

Rafter vs Kraijek, Canada 1998 (his best year):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR1v4X0HVt0

[John Yandell]

Phil,

Love the racket pic.

Stotty,

Yes it took the players a while to find the real potential of the rackets. Then you put the strings on top of that and truly you have modern tennis.
Swinging volleys Stotty! Put in some poly and try that against the same guy!

[stotty]

Look at McEnroe: horrible strokes to look at, yet successful.

I wouldn't say his strokes were horrible to look at... fascinating more like. I find him the most fascinating player that ever played the game.

[don_budge]

The Great John McEnroe...

I wouldn't say his strokes were horrible to look at... fascinating more like. I find him the most fascinating player that ever played the game.

Most fascinating…the most fascinating. It's beyond me how ANYONE could find horror in his tennis game. His behavior aside. He was a phenomena as much as he was an incredible tennis player. He was the last to make his mark and rule the tennis world with a traditional wooden racquet yet he managed to rule the "modern" racquet era for a time as well. This was no flash in the pan.


There's a great book called "Being John McEnroe" by Tim Adams…a recommended read for any student of the game. It was given to me by a rather interesting tennis student of mine from Stockholm, Sweden. The Swedes have a certain contemptible admiration for McEnroe…an appreciation that sort of fits ironically between the creases of their culture.

[gzhpcu]

Maybe horrible was the wrong word. Definitely very effective, but certainly not stylish. Just not aesthetically pleasing, at least not to me. Compare his game to Federer's stylish game.

[don_budge]

The Great John McEnroe and The Great Roger Federer...

Maybe horrible was the wrong word. Definitely very effective, but certainly not stylish. Just not aesthetically pleasing, at least not to me. Compare his game to Federer's stylish game.

Unfortunately because of the "evolution" of tennis equipment comparisons between eras are not possible. Not stylish? But of course his was all style…McEnroe style. Continental gripped amidst the budding two-handed, strong gripped game. Aesthetically pleasing? It was a thing of beauty. In every sense of the word. Not only that…he was a tactical genius. When all others were floundering in the face of the Borg onslaught…McEnroe was taking it head on. The modern game is virtually void of anything that could be called style…it's all cookie cutter stuff. Save for Federer of course.

Comparing McEnroe to Federer? From the book of Bill Tilden to the model of Richard Gonzales with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman was actually his coach at some point…Roger Federer being the Living Proof. McEnroe fits neatly into the don_budge paradigm of teaching. Of course the "style" may have somehow been engineered out of the present game making it look somewhat "different"…historically speaking in the big picture it will always be relevant. I just love how "modern day tennis aficionados" like to down play the greatness of past players. It gives them that all so important superior feeling to go along with their superior attitude.

Roger's game is the gold standard…but the question remains…what would it have looked like with the wood racquets? It's an interesting thought and one that I am certain that he has entertained at different points in his career. Or maybe not. But even he recently had to capitulate to the fact that bigger tennis racquets play a significant role in the fair competitive nature of the game. Players at least through the Pete Sampras would frequently ponder what it would have been like to play with the traditional equipment.

The equipment issue has become somewhat of a dead issue since 1984 when for the first time all four semifinalists at a Grand Slam event were using oversized racquets. Speaking of Federer/McEnroe comparisons…I remember McEnroe charging the net on Ivan Lendl's FIRST serve in the finals of the 1984 U. S. Open final much as Federer has been half volleying return of second serves since the summer. This has been treated as a first in a lifetime phenomena when it fact it is not. Propaganda machine working quite nicely. The past is being slowly and surely erased…much as it is in life.

But for those that were lucky enough to know what the "real" game was like before the engineering tinkering took place…not to be mistaken for the word evolution which by definition is void of human intervention…McEnroe will always have a place at the very top of the game.

This is of course only my most humble opinion.