Borg not winning the French open in 76 & 77?

[JAY1]

Does anyone know if there were any reasons Borg did'nt win Roland Garros in 1976 & 1977?
The reason I ask is, that he was a million miles ahead of any other player on clay in this era.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by JAY1

Does anyone know if there were any reasons Borg did'nt win Roland Garros in 1976 & 1977?
The reason I ask is, that he was a million miles ahead of any other player on clay in this era.

At the 1976 French Open, Bjorn Borg lost in the quarter finals to eventual champion, Adriano Panatta. In 1977, Borg decided to play World Team Tennis, making himself ineligible to play at the 1977 French Open. Guillermo Vilas went on to win that 1977 French Open.

[hoodjem]

Panatta is the only person to defeat Borg at the French Open. And he did it twice.

1973: fourth round--7-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6.

1976: quarterfinals--6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.

[JAY1]

Originally Posted by Mustard

At the 1976 French Open, Bjorn Borg lost in the quarter finals to eventual champion, Adriano Panatta. In 1977, Borg decided to play World Team Tennis, making himself ineligible to play at the 1977 French Open. Guillermo Vilas went on to win that 1977 French Open.

Why would Borg sacrifice The French Open for World team tennis?

[jean pierre]

Originally Posted by JAY1

Why would Borg sacrifice The French Open for World team tennis?

For money !!

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by JAY1

Why would Borg sacrifice The French Open for World team tennis?

"For that lean, mean . . . mean green!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3uipTO-4A

[Gizo]

Originally Posted by JAY1

Why would Borg sacrifice The French Open for World team tennis?

The prize money at the French Open in the 70s was a complete joke, compared to that at World Team Tennis, Wimbledon, the US Open and many other tournaments and exhibition events.

Both Borg in 1977 and Evert in 1976-1978 chose the more lucrative WTT over the French Open, and no-one could blame them.

The French Open, was not as big a tournament as Wimbledon or the US Open, until the facilities were upgraded and the prize money was increased, thanks to Chatrier.

Also until the 90s when Sampras was approaching Emerson's record, players and the tennis media didn't care about the grand slam count, so Borg wouldn't have cared about losing the opportunity to win one French Open title and improve his own grand slam count.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by Gizo

Also until the 90s when Sampras was approaching Emerson's record, players and the tennis media didn't care about the grand slam count, so Borg wouldn't have cared about losing the opportunity to win one French Open title and improve his own grand slam count.

Mostly true. Otherwise Borg (and others like Mac) might have elected to also play more Australian Opens to increase their slam count.

But back then, the total slam count was not particularly important as a measure of greatness.

My! How times have changed.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by Gizo

Also until the 90s when Sampras was approaching Emerson's record, players and the tennis media didn't care about the grand slam count, so Borg wouldn't have cared about losing the opportunity to win one French Open title and improve his own grand slam count.

Here's an article after Borg's 1981 French Open win where they do mention that Borg has 11 majors, 1 behind Emerson's all-time record:

http://www.bjornborg.20m.com/flash_back.htm

Borg's sixth French title makes it 11 Grand Slam singles championships, one more than Bill Tilden won, and ties him with Rod Laver for second on the alltime list. The leader is Roy Emerson with 12. That's right. Borg has one major championship to go. And Wimbledon is coming up fast.

[max]

I remember people at the time actually being concerned about the Grand Slam winners, keeping track of them, etc.

But they weren't the massive, pumped up venues they are today.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Gizo

The prize money at the French Open in the 70s was a complete joke, compared to that at World Team Tennis, Wimbledon, the US Open and many other tournaments and exhibition events.

First prize at the French was actually about the same as Wimbledon and the USO, and in some years a little bit higher than those two. But World Team Tennis, and a few other events like the Pepsi Grand Slam, offered more money than any of the slams.

1977 first prize at the Slams (for the men, per news reports from the time):

AO in January - $25,000
French Open - $38,000
Wimbledon - $25,500
USO - $33,000
AO in December - $28,000

All the slams had 128-man draws except the AO which divided up the total purse among 64 men.

If you go back to '74 the AO was hurting financially:

AO - $6,500 first prize
FO - $24,000
Wimbledon - $24,000
USO - $22,500

And again that was with just 64 men sharing the total purse at the AO.

Originally Posted by Gizo

Both Borg in 1977 and Evert in 1976-1978 chose the more lucrative WTT over the French Open, and no-one could blame them.

That's true, because there was a war between WTT and the French Tennis Federation. WTT did not provide a break in its schedule for players to attend the French, but they did provide a break for Wimbledon.

Originally Posted by Gizo

The French Open, was not as big a tournament as Wimbledon or the US Open,

Wimbledon has always held the top spot as far as prestige, that's for sure. The French was often referred to as one of the Big Three tournaments.

Yet WCT rated the top tournaments in the world, either in '78 or '79, based on prize money and strength of the draw, and the French came out ahead of Wimbledon (just barely ahead), see http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...27#post4781827

[Tshooter]

I saw Borg play WTT that year. WTT was popular. (Tennis was popular).

I can't remember if he was playing for the home team (NY Sets) or against them. The NY Sets included Fred Stolle and Sandy Mayer. Billie Jean too I think.

You could meet the players afterwards too so it was nice for kids. I met Borg. He didn't have a lot to say.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by Tshooter

I saw Borg play WTT that year. WTT was popular. (Tennis was popular).

I can't remember if he was playing for the home team (NY Sets) or against them. The NY Sets included Fred Stolle and Sandy Mayer. Billie Jean too I think.

You could meet the players afterwards too so it was nice for kids. I met Borg. He didn't have a lot to say.

Borg played for the Cleveland Nets in 1977 World Team Tennis.

[Tilden1893]

Panatta always gave Borg tough matches on clay!

Anyone here know where I can get the 1978 Italian Open Final? Classic stuff!

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by Tilden1893

Panatta always gave Borg tough matches on clay!

Anyone here know where I can get the 1978 Italian Open Final? Classic stuff!

Panatta was an excellent but unusual clay-court player: mostly S&V (if I recall correctly).

[big ted]

that is interesting how tennis has changed so much in that from what i remember players in the 70s and 80s werent that interested in breaking records. back then there were even 2 sets of rankings - grand prix and wct rankings so there were 2 different tours. it wasnt until the atp unified everything in 1990? that we see how the game is today. back then the most important things were wimbledon, the us open, and the no1 ranking. other big ones would be wct dallas and forrest hills and the year end masters played in jan. the following year. since the money was low, exhibitions were more prevalent but so was tanking from what i recall. and it didnt help that the aus open was played around xmas time. players complain about the schedule now, but it was worse before..

[gavna]

Originally Posted by Tilden1893

Panatta always gave Borg tough matches on clay!

Anyone here know where I can get the 1978 Italian Open Final? Classic stuff!

I have access to it. It is from Italian broadcast so the commentary is in Italian.

[CyBorg]

Post a clip on YT.

[Tilden1893]

Originally Posted by CyBorg

Post a clip on YT.

There's a little from it on youtube already, not much!

Oh, there is two clips!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkgN5asaf9w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyfpaLczM4U

And, staying on topic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le4_V1qu4Kw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9BhExPOlPo

And from there to Bagel Boy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyKo...eature=related

[Vegito]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Borg played for the Cleveland Nets in 1977 World Team Tennis.

So Borg won his matches?