Quote:
Originally Posted by Tshooter
"In 1974 Vijay was considered to be part of the ABC of the future of tennis. Amitraj Borg Connors"
Perhaps in some fantasy of the past. He wasn't ever in the class of those two. Prospects-wise, talent-wise or results-wise. True, I never liked his game. Typical sucky 70s backhand (problems coming over it and unreliable under pressure) and a boring "classic" eastern forehand. Borg was inspiring an entire generation with topspin and Connors had a deadly backhand. Vijay had -- not much game. Eliott Telscher was far more talented. Dick Stockton. Raul Rameriz. Eddie Dibbs. The list goes on and on and on.
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The term ABC of was coined by Bud Collins. As he thought the trio was the most
talented of the younger generation in the early seventies. Vijay did not have the single minded determination of the other two to dominate the opposition on a regular basis. On his day he could match up to the best on fast surfaces. Vijay would beat the best one day and in the next round loose to some one obscure. A typical example was in 1984 When Mcenroe lost only 3 matches the entire season, two of those losses was to Lendl and the third to Vijay at the Cincinati grand prix. Funnily Vijay lost the next round to his team mate Ramesh Krishnan. To say he was short on Talent was an understatement. In 1985 He beat Noah at wimbeldon after finishing shooting for Octopusy in the morning.
Another reason for Vijays inability to out last the opposition consistently was his poor fitness. As he grew out of his teens his record in Five set matches was very poor. This could be attributed that as a child he was very asthmatic and took a long time to outgrew the illness.
He still took India to two Davis cup finals and unluckily in 1973 India had to forfeit the finals against South Africa in protest against south Africas apartheid policy.
11-25-2012, 06:01 AM
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