Wow the forgotten classic!

[BTURNER]

I was always curious about this match, the longest and one of the very best matches in their rivalry. If this clip is any indication, it was! Enjoy!

" Chris Evert Lloyd d. Martina Navratilova, 7-5, 5-7, 13-11, final of the 1979 Eastbourne tournament.

This is something of a forgotten classic. It is not mentioned in Johnette Howard's great book, The Rivals.

But it left a great impression on those who saw it. Two weeks after it was played, Mike Williamson mentioned on Australian TV that "A lot of people thought it was the greatest womens match of all time." Wendy Turnbull added, "That was everyone's opinion."

This broadcast was by the BBC, and the commentator speaking is John Barrett. "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfkm6dk1AMQ

[bluetrain4]

Just watching the first two minutes -- great stuff.

[JoelDali]

Those Chrissy droppers are one of my all time fave shots. Other than SoCo Limes.

[Warriorroger]

Looking at the accuracy of their strokes, it makes you wonder how good they would be with today's rackets. The tennistalent in her strokes of Martina and the mental strenght of Chris Evert.

[muddlehead]

awesome vid thanks

[krosero]

Just some fun stats I put together about this match:

- at 48 games, it’s longer than the five-set finals that Graf won at the WTA Tour Championships over Huber in 1995 and Hingis in 1996 (each of those was 41 games)

- it was two games longer than the 1970 Wimbledon marathon between Margaret Court and Billie Jean King

- it had as many service games as Agassi and Sampras played to force their four tiebreaks at the 2001 USO

- longest match Chris and Martina ever played

As far as I know, it may be the longest match that Chris or Martina ever played against anyone.

[galain]

Beautiful tennis.

[DMan]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

I was always curious about this match, the longest and one of the very best matches in their rivalry. If this clip is any indication, it was! Enjoy!

" Chris Evert Lloyd d. Martina Navratilova, 7-5, 5-7, 13-11, final of the 1979 Eastbourne tournament.

This is something of a forgotten classic. It is not mentioned in Johnette Howard's great book, The Rivals.

But it left a great impression on those who saw it. Two weeks after it was played, Mike Williamson mentioned on Australian TV that "A lot of people thought it was the greatest womens match of all time." Wendy Turnbull added, "That was everyone's opinion."

This broadcast was by the BBC, and the commentator speaking is John Barrett. "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfkm6dk1AMQ

It's true that it was the longest singles match in their career or both Evert and Navratilova.

One of the longest of the Open era.

Amazing symmetry in the scores, in light of the fact that the previous year at Eastbourne, Navratilova beat Evert 6-4,4-6,9-7 - which is the second longest match in their rivalry.

Two consecutive finals, two consecutive extended three set matches after two sets played with each winning sets by the same score. I don't believe Evert saved match points in the 1979 final (I could be wrong) but she came very close to losing. Martina saved match points to win in 1978. And both years the two met in the Wimbledon finals, with Martina winning both times.

Although many consider the 1985 French final their most dramatic match (because it was a major final, and Evert winning in a big final after a long drought), the 1979 Eastbourne match was probably more classic.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

" Chris Evert Lloyd d. Martina Navratilova, 7-5, 5-7, 13-11, final of the 1979 Eastbourne tournament.
It is not mentioned in Johnette Howard's great book, The Rivals.

Seriously (irrevocably for me) dents the credibility of that book.

[BTURNER]

this clip shows some great examples of Evert's footspeed. While she was never the fastest player on the courts, she was in the top four- five throughout her career. Inevitably the number one player overtaking her was faster whether it was Martina, Steffi, or Austin.

There were several whose legendary bursts of foot-speed bested her as well, Goolagong, Turnbull, Mandlikova, Garrison or at the end Sanchez each of whom was quicker in the narrow sense but who either lacked the anticipation to consistently get that extra step start, or who did not have the racket preparation. reliable stroke production or court sense to take routine advantage of the innate athletic gift. That being said, in any specific year from 1975 through 1988, she was one of the four - five fastest women both horizontally or laterally in the sport. she is not given enough credit for her quickness about the court.

[CEvertFan]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

this clip shows some great examples of Evert's footspeed. While she was never the fastest player on the courts, she was in the top four- five throughout her career. Inevitably the number one player overtaking her was faster whether it was Martina, Steffi, or Austin.

There were several whose legendary bursts of foot-speed bested her as well, Goolagong, Turnbull, Mandlikova, Garrison or at the end Sanchez each of whom was quicker in the narrow sense but who either lacked the anticipation to consistently get that extra step start, or who did not have the racket preparation. reliable stroke production or court sense to take routine advantage of the innate athletic gift. That being said, in any specific year from 1975 through 1988, she was one of the four - five fastest women both horizontally or laterally in the sport. she is not given enough credit for her quickness about the court.

Agreed, Evert's footspeed and grass court prowess are both underrated.

This was one of those matches where they were both playing their best tennis at the same time and when that happened the matches were always going to be close, long and hard fought. Brilliant tennis from both ladies, and a classic for sure.

[BTURNER]

Have you actually seen the match Evertfan? I wish had had more of it than this ten minutes. There is a bag of potato chips I am smelling and the crumbs aren't cutting it!

[Steffi-forever]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

Have you actually seen the match Evertfan? I wish had had more of it than this ten minutes. There is a bag of potato chips I am smelling and the crumbs aren't cutting it!

You can buy the match at tennis dvd . co . uk

[TennisandMusic]

Martina has a Nadal like arm there around the 1 minute mark. Crazy.

[JoshDragon]

The rallies are very slow when compared to today. It's still enjoyable to watch but it does lack some of the thrill that I'm used to seeing. It's a lot different than what I'm used to.

[CyBorg]

Originally Posted by JoshDragon

The rallies are very slow when compared to today. It's still enjoyable to watch but it does lack some of the thrill that I'm used to seeing. It's a lot different than what I'm used to.

Low attention span?

[joe sch]

Originally Posted by JoshDragon

The rallies are very slow when compared to today. It's still enjoyable to watch but it does lack some of the thrill that I'm used to seeing. It's a lot different than what I'm used to.

Woody's on 79 Eastbourne grass !
You would be very surprised to see any of todays lady players attempting to play against either of those two all time greats in the same settings. Todays players would probably look slow in comparison.

[JoshDragon]

Originally Posted by joe sch

Woody's on 79 Eastbourne grass !
You would be very surprised to see any of todays lady players attempting to play against either of those two all time greats in the same settings. Todays players would probably look slow in comparison.

I don't see how that's possible. The players today hit the balls much harder than most of the previous generations in the wood era. Even if they were forced to use wood racquets they would probably still hit with more power.

Players in the past would often serve and volley as a way to keep the pressure on their opponent. They compensated for the Wood racquets lack of power by taking the time away from their opponents, forcing them to come up with a great passing shot which wasn't easy to do.Today, players can pretty much do the same thing from the baseline, by hitting huge ground strokes. They have the power needed to keep their opponents on guard and they can do it from the baseline. Conditioning, if anything is more emphasized today because the average court speed has slowed down considerably.

[CyBorg]

Originally Posted by JoshDragon

I don't see how that's possible. The players today hit the balls much harder than most of the previous generations in the wood era. Even if they were forced to use wood racquets they would probably still hit with more power.

Players in the past would often serve and volley as a way to keep the pressure on their opponent. They compensated for the Wood racquets lack of power by taking the time away from their opponents, forcing them to come up with a great passing shot which wasn't easy to do.Today, players can pretty much do the same thing from the baseline, by hitting huge ground strokes. They have the power needed to keep their opponents on guard and they can do it from the baseline. Conditioning, if anything is more emphasized today because the average court speed has slowed down considerably.

You pretend to know a lot. For someone who's 12.

[BTURNER]

Josh, the problem with your theory is the sweet spot is much smaller with those woodies. Sure Serena and Sharapova would hit it hard alright. and Martina and Evert would just eat up those unforced errors until they learned their lesson.