Best all-time match-ups.

Paul Murphy

Hall of Fame
List your favourite all-time match-ups and if you feel energetic say why they are.

1) Lendl v McEnroe - plenty of feeling between these two - and the classic duel between a superb serve-volleyer and a killer from the baseline.

2) Connors v McEnroe - disliked each other a lot of the time -there was always a decent chance of an explosion. Connor's return versus Mc's serve.

3) Borg v McEnroe - Wimbledon epic - changing of the guard.

4) Federer v Djokovic - a work in progress but Fed troubles Djok - I just wish the great man was a couple of years younger.
 

kiki

Banned
Any match between

Hoad/Laver/Gorgo/Muscless

any match between

Borg/Lendl/Mac/Connors

Becker vs Edberg

Gerulaitis vs Lendl

Connors vs Tanner

Nasty vs Laver

Newcombe vs Roche

Ashe vs Laver

Sampras vs Agassi

cash vs Wilander/Lendl
 

robow7

Professional
Connors vs. Lendl, showed unusual animosity toward one another and at the time, probably the biggest groundstrokes on both sides of the net.
 

kiki

Banned
Panatta vs Connors, while often overlooked, provided very exciting matches.Stockholm,RG,USO.Their 1978 encounter at Flushing is a classic of the event.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
No brainer: The Rocket vs. Muscles! Nothing else comes close!

The greatest matchup and the greatest tennis, without a doubt:
Gonzales vs. Hoad, 1958 and 1959
The two greatest players ever, going at it for 136 matches over 24 months.
The only qualification for this awesome display is that Hoad's back hindered his play for about 25 of the matches, which more than accounts for the difference in the final tally (74 to 62 for Gonzales, although Hoad held an edge in tournament meetings against Gonzales, especially at Forest Hills (2 to 1 for Hoad), Roland Garros (1 to 0 for Hoad), Kooyong (1 and 1). Years later, they met at Wimbledon in a three-set marathon, reviving the old glory.
These two players usually were inspired to their best tennis against each other.
 

kiki

Banned
The greatest matchup and the greatest tennis, without a doubt:
Gonzales vs. Hoad, 1958 and 1959
The two greatest players ever, going at it for 136 matches over 24 months.
The only qualification for this awesome display is that Hoad's back hindered his play for about 25 of the matches, which more than accounts for the difference in the final tally (74 to 62 for Gonzales, although Hoad held an edge in tournament meetings against Gonzales, especially at Forest Hills (2 to 1 for Hoad), Roland Garros (1 to 0 for Hoad), Kooyong (1 and 1). Years later, they met at Wimbledon in a three-set marathon, reviving the old glory.
These two players usually were inspired to their best tennis against each other.

This is definitely the match up I am missing the most not to have seen it...did you see them around 1959 or 1960?

Other great matches I missed seeing from the far past:

Tilden vs Cochet
Kramer vs Gonzales
Vines vs Crawford
Budge vs Perry
Sedgman vs Kramer/Gonzales

each would be worthy a lot of bucks...did you see any of´em?
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
This is definitely the match up I am missing the most not to have seen it...did you see them around 1959 or 1960?

Other great matches I missed seeing from the far past:

Tilden vs Cochet
Kramer vs Gonzales
Vines vs Crawford
Budge vs Perry
Sedgman vs Kramer/Gonzales

each would be worthy a lot of bucks...did you see any of´em?

I was eight or nine years old at the time of the Hoad/Gonzales tours. However, there are clips available on historical DVD's of Hoad and Gonzales. There is a posting of Vines and Crawford from the 1933 Wimbledon final on the internet, from close-up at courtside.
Kramer did not allow television of the major pro tournaments in the late 1950's for fear that it would hurt ticket sales, so the great Forest Hills tournaments were not captured.
However, ABC (Australian Brodcasting Corporation) televised a 1962 Hoad-Rosewall final (won by Hoad), and the 1963 Kooyong matches between Laver and Hoad (a great five-setter won by Hoad) and Laver and Rosewall (Laver won in four sets). These still exist in the ABC archives, and should be released.
The 1967 Wimbledon Pro, including the Hoad-Gonzales match, was televised by BBC, and should still exist in their archives. BBC has recently been releasing many telecasts from the 1960's, including the great 1964 Hamlet, so they do respond to public pressure.
 
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kiki

Banned
tNAKS
I was eight or none years old at the time. owever, there are clips available on historical DVD's of Hoad and Gonzales. There is a posting of Vines and Crawford from the 1933 Wimbledon final on the internet, from close-up at courtside.
Kramer did not allow television of the major pro tournaments in the late 1950's for fear that it would hurt ticket sales, so the great Forest Hills tournaments were not captured.
However, ABC (Australian Brodcasting Corporation) televised a 1962 Hoad-Rosewall final (won by Hoad), and the 1963 Kooyong matches between Laver and Hoad (a great five-setter won by Hoad) and Laver and Rosewall (Laver won in four sets). These still exist in the ABC archives, and should be released.
The 1967 Wimbledon Pro, including the Hoad-Gonzales match, was televised by BBC, and should still exist in their archives. BBC has recently been releasing many telecasts from the 1960's, including the geat 1964 Hamlet, so they do respond to public pressure.


Thanks.Some of us are glad to find an even older ( but young at hart) tennis seasoned fan.

From the point of view of spectacle, I have few doubts that Hoad is up there with Laver,Mac,Connors,Nastase and Gonzales.
 

Xavier G

Hall of Fame
Some of the best have been Borg-Connors, Borg-Mac, Mac-Connors, Mac or Connors-Lendl, Mac-Wilander, Lendl-Wilander, Lendl-Becker, Becker-Edberg, Lendl-Edberg, Lendl-Cash (spelling them out helps you remember how good they were), and more recently the matches involving the Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray quartet.
Top three (in any order on a given day!) would be Borg-Connors, Borg-Mac and Mac-Lendl, with Mac-Connors fourth.
 

pc1

G.O.A.T.
Rosewall-Laver
Borg-Connors
Connors-McEnroe
Tilden-Cochet
Tilden-Lacoste
Budge-von Cramm
Gonzalez-Hoad
Federer-Nadal
Djokovic-Nadal
Nastase-Stan Smith
Rosewall-Hoad
Evert-Navratilova
Wills-Lenglen
BJ King-Goolagong
Evert-Goolagong
 

BTURNER

Legend
Rosewall-Laver
Borg-Connors
Connors-McEnroe
Tilden-Cochet
Tilden-Lacoste
Budge-von Cramm
Gonzalez-Hoad
Federer-Nadal
Djokovic-Nadal
Nastase-Stan Smith
Rosewall-Hoad
Evert-Navratilova
Wills-Lenglen
BJ King-Goolagong
Evert-Goolagong

Great list ,pc. I thought King - Goolagong H to H was pretty lopsided. I'd have picked Court - Bueno instead. Not enough love for Bueno at TF though. Quite the gifted but star crossed champion.
 
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pc1

G.O.A.T.
Great list ,pc. I thought King - Goolagong H to H was pretty lopsided. I'd have picked Court - Bueno instead. Not enough love for Bueno at TF though. Quite the gifted but star crossed champion.

You're right, King-Goolagong was lopsided but the rallies were fun to watch.

I agree with you. Court and Bueno should be there too.
 

kiki

Banned
Court-King, Court-Bueno just great.Don´t know about King vs Bueno.They probably played less major finals between them.
 

Limpinhitter

G.O.A.T.
Beatles vs Stones
Punks vs Skins
Rockers vs Mods
Chamberlin vs Russell

Cripts vs. Bloods
PC vs. Mac
Wilson vs. Dunlop
Carter vs. Holley
Fort GT40 vs. Ferrari
Don "The Snake" Prudhomme vs. Tom "The Mongoose" Mcewen
Android vs. iPhone
Beatles vs. Stones
 

kiki

Banned
Cripts vs. Bloods
PC vs. Mac
Wilson vs. Dunlop
Carter vs. Holley
Fort GT40 vs. Ferrari
Don "The Snake" Prudhomme vs. Tom "The Mongoose" Mcewen
Android vs. iPhone
Beatles vs. Stones

This could go non stop.What if we goo field by field...

Mc Cann Erickson vs JW Thompson

Procter&Gamble vs Unilever

Mozart vs Beethoven

Thor vs Hulk

Spaghetti vs Kich Lorraine

Apolo vs Sputnik
 

BobbyOne

G.O.A.T.
The greatest matchup and the greatest tennis, without a doubt:
Gonzales vs. Hoad, 1958 and 1959
The two greatest players ever, going at it for 136 matches over 24 months.
The only qualification for this awesome display is that Hoad's back hindered his play for about 25 of the matches, which more than accounts for the difference in the final tally (74 to 62 for Gonzales, although Hoad held an edge in tournament meetings against Gonzales, especially at Forest Hills (2 to 1 for Hoad), Roland Garros (1 to 0 for Hoad), Kooyong (1 and 1). Years later, they met at Wimbledon in a three-set marathon, reviving the old glory.
These two players usually were inspired to their best tennis against each other.

Dan Lobb,

I think that Laver vs. Rosewall could match the Hoad/Gonzalez matchup. The two little giants played 182 matches if we can trust Old Man and many finals
(Laver leading clearly) and 17 matches in big events (GS, Pro GS, Masters and WCT finals; Rosewall leading 10:7) on highest level.
 

Cuculain

New User
Connors v Borg
Borg v McEnroe
McEnroe v Connors
Lendl v McEnroe
Connors v Lendl
Starsky v Hutch
Crockett v Tubbs
Vader v Skywalker
Skywalker v Kenobi
Kirk v Picard.. :)
 
L

Laurie

Guest
Internet Explorer v Firefox
Sony v Panasonic
Linn v Naim
Liverpool v Manchester Utd
Jaco Pastorius v Stanley Clarke
VHS v Betamax
 
L

Laurie

Guest
And the tennis?

Mauresmo v Clijsters
Mauresmo v Henin
Agassi v Sampras
Sampras v Rafter
Agassi v Rafter
Capriati v Serena Williams
Seles v Graf
Djokovic v Federer
Sampras v Becker
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
Dan Lobb,

I think that Laver vs. Rosewall could match the Hoad/Gonzalez matchup. The two little giants played 182 matches if we can trust Old Man and many finals
(Laver leading clearly) and 17 matches in big events (GS, Pro GS, Masters and WCT finals; Rosewall leading 10:7) on highest level.

The Hoad/Gonzales matchup was 136 matches over 24 MONTHS, a marathon affair, condensed into the peak years of both players. Hoad claimed that Gonzales hit his absolute peak in these two years, and the same was true of Hoad himself.
Laver/Rosewall was spread out over ten years.
 

kiki

Banned
Great list ,pc. I thought King - Goolagong H to H was pretty lopsided. I'd have picked Court - Bueno instead. Not enough love for Bueno at TF though. Quite the gifted but star crossed champion.

Mandlikova vs Navratilova, Evert vs Austin were great, though short term rivarlies, too.I also enjoyed many of Martina Hingis matches against Davenport,Seles,Graf,Capriati and Kournikova.

Of course, Graf vs Seles ( and some matches vs Sanchez and Sabatini) were also paramount.

The best rivalry, maybe the only real ones, over the last years have been Sharapova vs Williams, Venus vs Serena and, a notch down, the two belgians.But not as good as those of the 70´s, 80´s and 90´s that put women´s tennis in the international map.
 

BTURNER

Legend
Mandlikova vs Navratilova, Evert vs Austin were great, though short term rivarlies, too.I also enjoyed many of Martina Hingis matches against Davenport,Seles,Graf,Capriati and Kournikova.

Of course, Graf vs Seles ( and some matches vs Sanchez and Sabatini) were also paramount.

The best rivalry, maybe the only real ones, over the last years have been Sharapova vs Williams, Venus vs Serena and, a notch down, the two belgians.But not as good as those of the 70´s, 80´s and 90´s that put women´s tennis in the international map.

Why do you put the belgians 'a notch down'? too few major finals?
 

JAY1

Semi-Pro
Connors vs. Lendl, showed unusual animosity toward one another and at the time, probably the biggest groundstrokes on both sides of the net.
Totally agree! I think this match-up is the closest i've ever seen to real hatred.
 

Paul Murphy

Hall of Fame
Connors vs. Lendl, showed unusual animosity toward one another and at the time, probably the biggest groundstrokes on both sides of the net.

I got the impression that Connors may have hated losing to Lendl more than anyone else.
They really didn't care for each other in the least.
I remember Connors being disgusted (rightly) at Lendl's tank in a Masters to ensure he avoided playing Borg.
Connors wasn't backward in saying what he thought.
 

kiki

Banned
I got the impression that Connors may have hated losing to Lendl more than anyone else.
They really didn't care for each other in the least.
I remember Connors being disgusted (rightly) at Lendl's tank in a Masters to ensure he avoided playing Borg.
Connors wasn't backward in saying what he thought.

" Chicken"....

BTW, a classic moment was when Connors and Lendl exchanged words during their 1984 Wimbledon semi...great show from Connors, and acid humour from Ivan, too.Unpossible to find it nowadays.
 

JAY1

Semi-Pro
" Chicken"....

BTW, a classic moment was when Connors and Lendl exchanged words during their 1984 Wimbledon semi...great show from Connors, and acid humour from Ivan, too.Unpossible to find it nowadays.
Do you also remember Connors v Lendl at the 1984 Benson & Hedges Wembley semi-final, which Lendl won in straight sets?
Connors offered Lendl a fight at one changover, saying "come on big boy let's do it now"?! Lendl replied by saying to the umpire "are you going to let him talk to me like that"?!
 

suwanee4712

Professional
Some unheralded rivalries:

Lendl vs. Leconte
Becker vs. Gilbert
Wheaton vs. Gilbert
Solomon vs. Dibbs
Evert vs. Richey
Sabatini vs. MJ Fernandez
Austin vs. Jaeger
Navratilova vs. Zvereva
 

kiki

Banned
Do you also remember Connors v Lendl at the 1984 Benson & Hedges Wembley semi-final, which Lendl won in straight sets?
Connors offered Lendl a fight at one changover, saying "come on big boy let's do it now"?! Lendl replied by saying to the umpire "are you going to let him talk to me like that"?!

Hahaha.Didn´t know that one.

It is typical Connors far west style and Lendl extremely acid sense of humour.
 

JAY1

Semi-Pro
Hahaha.Didn´t know that one.

It is typical Connors far west style and Lendl extremely acid sense of humour.
Did anyone know there is guy online that has a library of pretty much every important match since the beginning of the 'Open era'?
 
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