Only player to defeat mcenroe and conners in same major?

[ttwarrior1]

i know the answer . I figure most here do. Its only happened once. I'll let someone guess first.

Just read his bio and i was impressed

[Mick]

must have been ivan lendl at the 1985 US Open

[ttwarrior1]

not lendl,

[ttwarrior1]

hmm confused with this then

In 1985, Curren reached the final at Wimbledon with the help of coaching from Tony Roche. After defeating future champion Stefan Edberg in the fourth round in straight sets, 7–6, 6–3, 7-6, he comprehensively eliminated the then-World No. 1 John McEnroe in the quarter-finals 6–2, 6–2, 6-4 and World No. 3 Jimmy Connors in the semi-finals 6–2, 6–2, 6–1. In fact, Curren is the only player to have beaten both legends in the same Grand Slam event.


I just checked and lendl did beat both at 85 us open

[Mick]

Originally Posted by ttwarrior1

hmm confused with this then

In 1985, Curren reached the final at Wimbledon with the help of coaching from Tony Roche. After defeating future champion Stefan Edberg in the fourth round in straight sets, 7–6, 6–3, 7-6, he comprehensively eliminated the then-World No. 1 John McEnroe in the quarter-finals 6–2, 6–2, 6-4 and World No. 3 Jimmy Connors in the semi-finals 6–2, 6–2, 6–1. In fact, Curren is the only player to have beaten both legends in the same Grand Slam event.


I just checked and lendl did beat both at 85 us open

that article probably was written before lendl managed to repeat the same feat (to beat both connors and mcenroe) at another grand slam tournament

[Mustard]

Lendl beat both McEnroe and Connors at the 1985 and 1987 US Opens.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Mick

that article probably was written before lendl managed to repeat the same feat (to beat both connors and mcenroe) at another grand slam tournament

It's Curren's wikipedia page. I've gone in and corrected it now.

[ttwarrior1]

still impressed by curren, underrated and could probaly hang with some guys today

[roundiesee]

I remember that year well; Curren was phenomenal that year; if only he had not run into a certain 17 year-old "wunderkind" by the name of Boris Becker

[Manus Domini]

Originally Posted by Mick

that article probably was written before lendl managed to repeat the same feat (to beat both connors and mcenroe) at another grand slam tournament

Wiki was made in 1985? lol

[CStennis11]

Originally Posted by Manus Domini

Wiki was made in 1985? lol

He means the article used as a reference for the wiki page

[jrepac]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Lendl beat both McEnroe and Connors at the 1985 and 1987 US Opens.

correct....it was just shocking the way Curren did it in 1985...he was no Ivan Lendl and few thought he could dismantle both Mac & Connors the way he did. It was pretty incredible. Lendl '87 was quite impressive, I thought....John and Jimmy were playing pretty well, even though Connors was 35yrs old. Lendl was just dominant that year.

[WCT]

I really thought Connors was going to win Wimbledon in 1985 after Lendl and Mcenroe were knocked out. Curren had beaten him in 83, but it was on court 2, then known as the upset court.
Plus, that was 4 close sets. But Curren just destroyed him.

Beating Mcenroe and Connors in straight sets, I said Curren has to win the title. Wrong again.

[Mustard]

I believe Curren is the only player to have beaten both McEnroe and Connors in the same slam event and not gone on to win the title.

[billsgwn]

Originally Posted by ttwarrior1

still impressed by curren, underrated and could probaly hang with some guys today

Can you imagine how many aces he would get if he could play with todays racquets? His serve was awesome for several years

[egn]

Originally Posted by WCT

I really thought Connors was going to win Wimbledon in 1985 after Lendl and Mcenroe were knocked out. Curren had beaten him in 83, but it was on court 2, then known as the upset court.
Plus, that was 4 close sets. But Curren just destroyed him.

Beating Mcenroe and Connors in straight sets, I said Curren has to win the title. Wrong again.

Curren was playing ridiculously well that tournament. I still don't know how he lost that final.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by egn

Curren was playing ridiculously well that tournament. I still don't know how he lost that final.

He was just tight. He didn't play that poorly, but he was nervous from the first game on....Boris has even said he could see that immediately. Boris has said that he was essentialy thinking: "why is he nervous? He's a veteran and been in many big matches?".....it was a tribute to Boris' own precocious ignorance that he wasn't nervous....of course, he had little to lose....Curren knew well that this was his big chance.

Anyways, Curren's serve was quantifiably worse according to Vic Braden in the final, and Curren himself has said that his serve dependent on the finest timing.

One thing that always stands out about the Becker's, Sampras' etc....is that in their first big slam final, they came out firing with their A game. Very unusual, and very special.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by egn

Curren was playing ridiculously well that tournament. I still don't know how he lost that final.

The main reason is that Becker got off to a strong start, whereas Curren looked nervous and edgy at the start. I think people expected it to be the other way round when you consider that the final had an inexperienced 17 year old, who had to fight hard in a lot of his matches to get to the final, taking on an older, more experienced, in-form player who had just beaten both McEnroe and Connors in straight sets. Becker's strong start and Curren's poor start, set the tone for the match.

Although Curren came back strong in the middle of the match, and was even looking the more likely winner for a brief time in the third set, Becker was bold when it mattered and played like an experienced guy. Those delaying tactics of Becker's when Curren was about to serve was the sort of bold gamesmanship that one wouldn't expect of an inexperienced 17 year old in a slam final.

[kiki]

Originally Posted by ttwarrior1

i know the answer . I figure most here do. Its only happened once. I'll let someone guess first.

Just read his bio and i was impressed

1979 Masters 2 players beat Mac and Jimmy during the same week: Borg and Gerulaitis.Borg repeated in 1980.

[Ludwig von Mises]

Originally Posted by roundiesee

I remember that year well; Curren was phenomenal that year; if only he had not run into a certain 17 year-old "wunderkind" by the name of Boris Becker

You know the funny thing is that no body mentioned that not only did Curren defeat McEnroe and Conners in the 1985 Wimby, he also defeated a young Edberg in previous round before he faced Mcenroe!

Think of that, Curren faced, in succession:
Edberg, Mcenroe, Connors,Becker in 85. That's a cumulative 10 Wimbledon titles between the 4 of them (although at the time, in '85, it was only 5 as Stefan and Boris had not won one yet). What a tough draw!