Best year in tennis history?

[Gizo]

Yeah I know that Agassi was widely seen as the big favourite, to some extent maybe rightfully (you mentioned his titles, semi-runs Becker's statements etc.) to some other extent however, he was the one who was more marketable and there was always a tendency from media to overestimate him, especially in comparison to the dull Sampras (Agassi was the betting favourite in all their four USO encounters).
I agree, that even going solely by tennis results at that time, Agassi should have been favoured but I do find the extent of it ridiculous, and the confidence of Nick and Andre himself cartoonishly over the top, especially if Andre mentions their first Rom 89 match which, at that point was as irrelevant as it could get. Sampras came into that final on the back of beating two of the greatest USO players ever, he was not some fluke finalist who took advantage of an opening draw. Andre's first slam final against Gomes alone would have left me with rest-doubt regarding his mental strength in slam finals and he was generally known as a head case during that time.
I can understand media, fans and the Agassi camp having him as favorite, but seeing it as a foregone conclusion? It was not a Krajicek-Washington 96 W or Nadal-Ferrer FO 13 like situation.

With hindsight we know what a superb big match play Sampras was, and his wins over Lendl and Mac were hugely impressive and gave him more confidence (he said he was more nervous in those matches than he was in the final). But with him being a kid playing in his first big final (only the 3rd tournament final of his career), outside observers weren't to know that in advance of the match. Now it was also clearly the biggest match of Agassi's career (he made it clear how much more important the USO was to him than the other majors), but the experience of reaching in and reaching a major final in Paris was considered to be asset more than a liability, as was his win over Edberg to win the big Lipton title.

I remember Arthur Ashe saying that he was convinced Agassi would win, because of his power from the baseline, passing shots, angled topspin groundstrokes taking his opponents so far off the court etc. He wasn't alone. The way that he took Becker apart in the last 3 sets really seemed to really resonate with them.

Clearly Agassi's star appeal, with him already treated as a multiple major winner in terms of media attention and endorsements despite not having the hardware yet, was a big contributing factor, and helped increase the magnitude of his status as favourite. And yes while it was right that he was the pre-match favourite, it should have been by a narrower margin. Though ultimately he was the big favourite and it was seen as a big upset. Bollettieri's cockiness ahead of that final, alongside his apparent silence during the rain delay during the 1991 RG final (while Higueras was giving Courier useful tactical advice), didn't reflect well on him.

Regarding the 1990 RG final, Agassi did officially go into it as the favourite, though IMO in that case he shouldn't have done and that match shouldn't have been seen as an upset (even though it was by many people) considering Gómez's excellent form on clay in general going into it, convincing win vs. a stronger clay court opponent than Agassi at the time the Italian Open champion Muster in the semis, the fact that Gómez was only seeded 1 place below Agassi, was playing on his best surface, was buoyed by Lendl's absence etc. Agassi's strategy was to tire out the 'old' Gómez out with long rallies, but Gómez came out firing and produced wonderful, aggressive tennis. Agassi's pre-match favourite status was far more justified going into the USO final that year than the RG final.

 

[MissileBackHand99]

When Agassi disappeared in 96 going 0-3 against Sampras without winning a set or even reaching a tie-break, Becker stepped in and he and Pete had a great rivalry on carpet that summer. Stuttgart, YEC and Becker winning GSC.

Man those Becker/Sampras matches from '94-'96 were just fantastic stuff. LOVED seeing them on the fast indoor carpets in Bercy and Stuttgart, and their battles in the YEC are legendary. I still think it's the best YEC's rivalry

On the women's side while there was no excitement in terms of who was the best player, Graf was an even better player that year than she was during her 1988 golden grand slam year, Navratilova was also clearly better that year than in 1988, ASV made her big breakthrough with that huge upset win vs. Graf at RG, there was the rapid rise of Seles, there was Evert's big farewell with her winning 9 of her last 10 matches (highlights that year included her comeback vs. Laura Golarsa at Wimbledon and destruction of Seles at the US Open, plus her winning a set vs. Graf at Boca Raton felt like a big deal), Sabatini showed how formidable she was in Florida (including beating Graf at Amelia Island) and Rome and reached semi-finals at the 2 hard court majors etc. It was over-flowing with big names and star power, which was (even) more important in women's tennis at the time compared to men's. Sukova beating Navratilova at the Australian Open, with Navratilova whining afterwards, and Mandlikova beating Evert from match point down (Evert losing matches that she had match points in wasn't exactly a common occurence) also stood out. Also Graf’s matches vs. Sabatini and Navratilova at Madison Square Gardens felt huge, with Seles giving Navratilova a big scare.

Definitely agree on Steffi being even better in '89 than she was in '88....ironic that she suffered the huge upset to ASV at Roland Garros, the kind she avoided all '88. I really think we were robbed of how good Mandlikova could've been in the late 80s, as injuries started catching up to her after her on-fire start to the '87 season

Also 1990 was a lot of fun, and a very fitting year to be covered by John Feinstein's book.

Until 1998, I believe it was the only season in the open era in which there were 4 different major winners on the both men's and women's sides (even if we include 1968 though that year's Australian Championships were actually pre-open era). If we exclude the Australian Championships / Open, I think 1968 and 1985 were the only previous open era seasons with 3 different winners at the other 3 majors for both the men and women. On top of that, for both the men and women, in 1990 there were intriguing combinations of experienced players, the established arisotracy, written off veterans and young talented players winning the majors / big titles and filling the top places in the rankings.

On the men's side, you had the best player overall during the mid to late 80s Lendl defending his title in Melbourne, Gómez striking gold in Paris at the age of 30 after previously thinking that ship had sailed outplaying Muster and Agassi back to back, Edberg producing some incredibly high quality tennis and gold-standard serve-volleying (including across 5 consecutive sets against Lendl and Becker) to win Wimbledon with an enjoyable final, and Sampras's stunning US Open triumph with him producing the best display of power and athleticism that I'd ever seen up to that point (plus textbook all-court tennis with such an even balance of winners at the net and baseline) to beat Lendl, Mac and Agassi in succession.

Lendl's performances all week at Queen's and notably against Mac and Becker were stunning and he beat Edberg and Becker back to back to win the title at Tokyo. Agassi won very big titles at the Lipton and YEC. Becker produced one of the best performances I've ever seen by any player to destroy Edberg in the Stockholm final as he looked to close in on the no. 1 ranking. Edberg surged to the world no. 1 ranking himself with stunning tennis of his own during the summer before being upset by Volkov at the USO. Mac's default at the AO after looking confident and settled in previous rounds was of course huge news (and Agassi was incredibly lucky not to be defaulted at the USO after spitting on the chair umpire and lying about it to the umpire) and he enjoyed big crowd support at the USO during his SF run there (and I thought he played pretty well against Sampras in their SF). It was a big breakthrough year for Ivanisevic with him beating Becker at RG and then taking him to 4 sets in their Wimbledon SF (there was nearly a trilogy and a USO encounter as well), and with him playing an intruiging 5 set Basel final against the veteran Mac. There also was very good quality tennis from the likes of Muster, Chesnokov and Sánchez. At the start of the year, Sampras was already making encouraging progress by beating Mayotte in the longest AO match in history at the time, and winning his first career title in Philly.

On the women's side, Graf continued her 1988-1989 dominance by winning in Melbourne (albeit with a noticeably lower standard of tennis), Seles at the age of 16 won her first major in Paris as part of a stunning 36 match winning streak having also won the Lipton, Italian Open and German Open titles (ending Graf's 66 match winning streak in Berlin), Navratilova at the age of 33 finally won her much coveted and record breaking 9th Wimbledon title (she desperately craved that record - the individual Wimbledon title count was a big deal than the overall majors count) and Sabatini 'finally' (she was only 20 but had been around and a big name for a while) broke through to become a major winner at the US Open after question marks emerged over whether she was capable of doing that.

Garrison beating Seles and Graf back to back to reach the final at Wimbledon was great, it was a breakthrough year for Anke Huber, Mary Joe Fernandez enjoyed probably her most successful year as she made big strides, Jana Novotna looked to be improving as she became more consistent at the majors, Katerina Maleeva enjoyed the best year of her career while her sister Manuelva beat Navratilova twice. And of course far more notably, Jennifer Capriati made her professional debut at Boca Raton, which was an absolutely huge deal attraching enormous interest (the tournament was dubbed the Virginia Slims of Capriati) reaching the final there, before reaching the semis at RG, helping the USA win the Federation Cup and winning her first ever title near the end of the year all the age of just 14. The season ended with Seles beating Sabatini in a thrilling 5 set, 3 hour 47 minute final at the Virginia Slims Championships.

So 1989-1992 was basically 4 consecutive hugely enjoyable seasons overall.

This is such a great breakdown. 1990 gets somewhat overlooked by many tennis fans, in terms of how exciting the year was. I think Lendl's loss to Edberg (who's returning was just sensational) in the SFs of Wimbledon...really made him resign himself to the fact that he'd never win it. He had skipped Paris and much of the clay season, to prep for Wimbledon. He truly was almost otherworldly in taking the Queen's title, and it looked like 1990 would finally be his year at SW19. Muster's big comeback from getting hit by the car in '89 in Miami, is still one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport IMO. Agassi looked for sure that he would win his first Slam at the French, and was stunned by Gomes. And of course Pete making his huge breakthrough at the USO (which Bud Collins correctly said that not even Sampras expected to do so soon), and ending Lendl's Finals run at Flushing Meadows. I LOVE the variety in how the Slams were spread out, both men's and women's. Sabatini getting over the hump to beat Steffi at the USO, and Monica coming of age at 16 and winning Roland Garros. Martina getting her record-breaking 9th Wimbledon was also amazing. And Capriati taking the tennis world by storm, and ushering in a new era of sports prodigy's and athlete endorsement deals. That 5-set epic at MSG between Seles and Sabatini is one of the best YEC matches ever in my opinion

 

[dryeagle]

Pre big 3 of course, no match to the 2005-2019 era. But I liked these years prior to the best:

1995 - peak Sampras, peak Agassi, rejuvenated Becker and Muster clay GOAT season prior to Rafa.

1991 - beginning of the American return to the top of the rankings. Courier-Agassi played great RG final. Connors open run. Becker-Edberg pickup GS and ping pong #1 ranking.

 

[Gizo]

Definitely agree on Steffi being even better in '89 than she was in '88....ironic that she suffered the huge upset to ASV at Roland Garros, the kind she avoided all '88. I really think we were robbed of how good Mandlikova could've been in the late 80s, as injuries started catching up to her after her on-fire start to the '87 season

Agreed.

Graf not securing the grand slam for a second straight year in 1989, was much more of a shock (to me at least) than her achieving it in 1988 was - in 1988 many people thought it was a certainty as early as after she won her AO title, and going into the USO there was basically no suspense as it was considered to be a foregone conclusion.

Ultimately in 1988 and 1989 she faced very different 17 year old opponents in her respective RG finals. In 1988 Zvereva was overawed by the whole occasion and crumbled, while in 1989 ASV was ferocious and clutch. It was notable that in both years, all 4 semi-finalists were teenagers, before the 16 year old Seles beat the 14 year old Capriati in the semis en-route to winning the title in 1990, and then there was another all-teenage final in 1991.

Graf in 1989 was given a tough time by the 15 year old Seles in the semis, and then vs. ASV had 2 set points (and a lot of break points) in the 1st set before losing it, and was leading 5-3 in the 3rd set before only winning 3 more points during the remaining 4 games. ASV was so tenacious and kept coming back.

I completely agree about Mandlikova. I felt that she had far more left in her. In 1987, she suffered back, abdominal, foot and hamstring injuries all during that one season, plus had an an abortion during the time of Wimbledon (which she missed due to the foot injury).

This is such a great breakdown. 1990 gets somewhat overlooked by many tennis fans, in terms of how exciting the year was. I think Lendl's loss to Edberg (who's returning was just sensational) in the SFs of Wimbledon...really made him resign himself to the fact that he'd never win it. He had skipped Paris and much of the clay season, to prep for Wimbledon. He truly was almost otherworldly in taking the Queen's title, and it looked like 1990 would finally be his year at SW19. Muster's big comeback from getting hit by the car in '89 in Miami, is still one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport IMO. Agassi looked for sure that he would win his first Slam at the French, and was stunned by Gomes. And of course Pete making his huge breakthrough at the USO (which Bud Collins correctly said that not even Sampras expected to do so soon), and ending Lendl's Finals run at Flushing Meadows. I LOVE the variety in how the Slams were spread out, both men's and women's. Sabatini getting over the hump to beat Steffi at the USO, and Monica coming of age at 16 and winning Roland Garros. Martina getting her record-breaking 9th Wimbledon was also amazing. And Capriati taking the tennis world by storm, and ushering in a new era of sports prodigy's and athlete endorsement deals. That 5-set epic at MSG between Seles and Sabatini is one of the best YEC matches ever in my opinion

Yes the the fact that there was such fascinating spread of different major winners, was wonderful and so refreshing.

Muster starting the year with a title win at Adelaide, not longe after he started his comeback at the back end of 1989, must have been brilliant feeling for him, before he recorded strong results during the clay court season. Beating an in-form Gómez (saving 3 match points - though Gómez thought that Muster made a big mistake showing his hand there ahead of RG) and then an in-form Chesnokov back to back to win the Italian Open title was hugely impressive. Then at RG when he was a major title contender, there was plenty of talk about how amazing his comeback had been (from the starting point of doctors telling him that he'd struggle to walk un-aided). I was hoping Chesnokov would reach the final in Paris from the top half of the draw, but sadly he was beaten by his arch-nemesis Leconte in the 4th round.

Muster also won all his Davis Cup singles matches that year including schooling Agassi in Vienna in the semis - i really wish Austria had beaten the USA in that tie, but sadly Skoff couldn't close out Chang in the crucial 5th rubber after leading by 2 sets to love.

Also Muster publicly announcing in advance that he would retire after 1 game during his upcoming 1st round match against Pistolesi at Prague that year (he was struggling with a hip injury, wanted to withdraw, but the ATP and tournament director Kodes wouldn't accept it), and then sticking to his word, was brilliant.

 

[BTURNER]

I am picking 1957 (I like to be contrarian).. While she had already won RG, and been a finalist at Forest Hills, that was the year that Althea Gibson truly tore down the walls of the country club set, and dragged the entire sport out of the vestages of segregation and into a modern inclusive sport. We forget what it must have been like for society to look for the morning newspaper, reach for the sports page and see a dark skinned 'negro' woman's face holding a tennis trophy at Forest Hills, and standing before British royalty, as the bone fide most dominant tennis player on the planet. She reached the finals in 3 of four majors that year. Whether it inspired a globe full of people or terrified the rest of them, it was incredibly impactful on every continent, among all classes, genders and races, let alone among those in the tennis world. Considering Althea's long term influence across all divides, it was without a doubt, one of the most influential moments in sports history. Everyone knew that change was coming, and no white, upper class wealth dominated sports institution was going to remain free from that change. in retrospect, that was our sports best year.

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

I am picking 1957 (I like to be contrarian).. While she had already won RG, and been a finalist at Forest Hills, that was the year that Althea Gibson truly tore down the walls of the country club set, and dragged the entire sport out of the vestages of segregation and into a modern inclusive sport. We forget what it must have been like for society to look for the morning newspaper, reach for the sports page and see a dark skinned 'negro' woman's face holding a tennis trophy at Forest Hills, and standing before British royalty, as the bone fide most dominant tennis player on the planet. She reached the finals in 3 of four majors that year. Whether it inspired a globe full of people or terrified the rest of them, it was incredibly impactful on every continent, among all classes, genders and races, let alone among those in the tennis world. Considering Althea's long term influence across all divides, it was without a doubt, one of the most influential moments in sports history. Everyone knew that change was coming, and no white, upper class wealth dominated sports institution was going to remain free from that change. in retrospect, that was our sports best year.

That's a very good answer. I used to have her famous quote as my signature on here; "Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina." The idea that someone could live a life encompassing both those experiences never fails to astonish me.

 

[BTURNER]

That's a very good answer. I used to have her famous quote as my signature on here; "Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina." The idea that someone could live a life encompassing both those experiences never fails to astonish me.

Pschologically, seeing a black athlete win as part of shared team effort, is very different from seeing a black athlete as completely responsible for his or her success over white competitors.
there's an entirely different dynamic going on between Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, or Earl Lloyd joining the NBA, and what happens it boxing or tennis, or as a horse jockey. This was monumental, wherever anyone in .society knew or cared anything about tennis. and that's across 6 continents and lots of countries.

 

[Dan Lobb]

I am picking 1957 (I like to be contrarian).. While she had already won RG, and been a finalist at Forest Hills, that was the year that Althea Gibson truly tore down the walls of the country club set, and dragged the entire sport out of the vestages of segregation and into a modern inclusive sport. We forget what it must have been like for society to look for the morning newspaper, reach for the sports page and see a dark skinned 'negro' woman's face holding a tennis trophy at Forest Hills, and standing before British royalty, as the bone fide most dominant tennis player on the planet. She reached the finals in 3 of four majors that year. Whether it inspired a globe full of people or terrified the rest of them, it was incredibly impactful on every continent, among all classes, genders and races, let alone among those in the tennis world. Considering Althea's long term influence across all divides, it was without a doubt, one of the most influential moments in sports history. Everyone knew that change was coming, and no white, upper class wealth dominated sports institution was going to remain free from that change. in retrospect, that was our sports best year.

Unfortunately, Althea Gibson did not get a huge professional contract offer, unlike Maureen Connolly in 1954. I think that Arthur Ashe made the biggest breakthrough in tennis in 1968, because it led to a more lucrative professional reward.

 

[Dan Lobb]

Looking back at the great years before the Big Three era, some stand out, and were acknowledged in the press of the day.
Pre-1968 professionals are often ignored but should be acknowledged.

1927 - great year of showdowns for Tilden Lacoste, Cochet, Borotra, Johnston
Davis Cup was the climactic event for that year.

1937 - Budge was dominant in the amateurs, winning a classic Davis Cup match against von Cramm, but also great play in the pros between Vines and Perry.

1939 - Davis Cup final classic, Riggs won Wimbledon and Forest Hills, great pro tour with Budge and Vines playing some of the best tennis ever

1942 - great pro tour with Budge, Riggs, Kovacs, Perry all having some good results, Budge winning the Forest Hills U.S. Pro over Riggs

1948 - Kramer big year with world tour win over Riggs and win at Forest Hills U.S. Pro

1959 - big year for Gonzales and Hoad in the pros, each winning a major pro series, the strongest pro year ever.

1964 - pros Laver and Rosewall both had great victories, Rosewall in the pro tournament series, Laver won the two top tournaments
Emerson dominant in the amateurs, turned down a big pro offer

1971 - emergence of new generation pros Newcombe, Smith as winners of biggest events, Nastase in Masters

 

[jrepac]

1985 was special.

Wilander played very intelligently, with controlled and well-timed aggression and netplay to upset Lendl in the entertaining RG final (Lendl was the pretty heavy favourite).

Becker’s Wimbledon title run at the age of 17, overcoming brutal scheduling, ankle injury problems, a series of major scares, and a succession of tough and varied opponents in Nystrom, Mayotte, Leconte, Jarryd and Curren, was of course huge. His general rise was impressive, also winning the titles at Queen’s (meaning that he went into Wimbledon as big news already with his R1 match on Centre Court) and Cincinnati, battling Lendl in an entertaining 5 set final in Wembley, and more notably winning all 6 of his live singles Davis Cup matches including against both Edberg and Wilander in the final.

Lendl finally won the title that he craved the most at the US Open, showing a positive mindset after trailing in the opening set against Mac, and established himself as the best in the world. He also won 3 consecutive weeks on 3 different surfaces, at Fort Myers on outdoor hard courts, Monte-Carlo on clay and the WCT Finals on indoor carpet. Indoors, he won the titles in Dallas, Sydney, Tokyo, Antwerp (thus earning the biggest monetary prize in tennis history at the time), Wembley and the Masters.

At the AO, Edberg beat the best player in the world Lendl (coming back a break down in the 5th set to win that titanic battle – that became a speciality for him in big matches) and 2 time defending champion Wilander back to back to strike gold. He also won several indoor titles, and the decisive 5th rubber in the Davis Cup final to clinch the title for Sweden (previously he broke down in tears after his defeat to Gildemeister in Santiago), it was a big year for him.

Mac of course declined and there were a serious of notable defeats marking that, but still produced some incredibly high level tennis at times, in big indoor events in Philly and Stockholm, the hard court summer when he outclassed Lendl in back to back weeks in Stratton Mountain and Montreal etc. That 1985 Canadian Open final with both Lendl and Mac taking it in terms to berate the umpire Jeremy Shales was just hilarious.

There also was one of my favourite ever Davis Cup matches between Westphal and Smid, Mecir’s sheer brilliance at Hamburg in-particular and also Rome (destroying Wilander in both events), high level tennis from Nystrom schooling Mac in Dallas and nearly beating him at RG, and nearly beating Becker at Wimbledon and then actually beating him at the USO, some wonderful tennis from the likes of Noah, Leconte, Jarryd, Curren’s Wimbledon final run itself was a big deal etc.

On the women’s side all 4 major finals going to a 3rd set was positive. Crucially Evert ended her 13 match losing streak against Navratilova and beat her twice to reignite their rivalry. I really enjoyed their RG final, including Evert’s iconic backhand pass down the line on championship point. And Mandlikova beating Evert and Navratilova back to back to win the US Open, with the final against Navratilova one of the best ever women’s major finals that I’ve ever seen (capped off with her backhand volley winner on championship point), was also brilliant. Also Graf and Sabatini both made big strides that year, reaching their first ever major semi-finals, Sabatini winning her first ever title etc.

many exciting things happened that year....Jeremy Shales....LOL....everyone despised that guy....Connors, Mac, Lendl. That final was hysterical. They eventually took him out of umpiring altogether (which was the right choice, IMHO)

 

[CHillTennis]

My favorites are 1990, '92, '94, '95, 2003, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, and '15.

 

[CHillTennis]

Yeah I know that Agassi was widely seen as the big favourite, to some extent maybe rightfully (you mentioned his titles, semi-runs Becker's statements etc.) to some other extent however, he was the one who was more marketable and there was always a tendency from media to overestimate him, especially in comparison to the dull Sampras (Agassi was the betting favourite in all their four USO encounters).
I agree, that even going solely by tennis results at that time, Agassi should have been favoured but I do find the extent of it ridiculous, and the confidence of Nick and Andre himself cartoonishly over the top, especially if Andre mentions their first Rom 89 match which, at that point was as irrelevant as it could get. Sampras came into that final on the back of beating two of the greatest USO players ever, he was not some fluke finalist who took advantage of an opening draw. Andre's first slam final against Gomes alone would have left me with rest-doubt regarding his mental strength in slam finals and he was generally known as a head case during that time.
I can understand media, fans and the Agassi camp having him as favorite, but seeing it as a foregone conclusion? It was not a Krajicek-Washington 96 W or Nadal-Ferrer FO 13 like situation.

Very true. Agassi was in good form at the 1990 US Open, but he didn't have that tough of a draw in reaching the final.

The only really high quality opponent that he faced was Boris Becker and Becker played a terrible match against Andre.

Pete had to duel it out with Thomas Muster in the fourth round, Ivan Lendl in the quarter-finals, and John McEnroe in the semi-finals.

Pete's coach, Joe Brandi, knew about the vulnerabilities in Andre's game. But Pete didn't even have to resort to that.

He served so well in the first two sets, that he would have beaten anybody, on that particular day.

 

[Dan Lobb]

My favorites are 1990, '92, '94, '95, 2003, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, and '15.

I take it that you prefer the recent eras?

 

[Thetouch]

I like to prefere spans over years even though some years stand out a lot on their own. There are many great periods in men's tennis that I won't mention again in detail as they have already been described here. Personally I prefere almost everything from 1978 to say 1996. You got a big pool of talent, various styles, intense rivalries and unforgetable matches. 2008, 2011-14 was also good imo but the likes of Stanimal and Murray weren't consistent enough to challenge the big 3 permanently and the injuries of Nadal inbetween always took a lot from the game until now. Then 2017-2019 got interesting again mainly because of the big 3 though. But Covid happened, injuries still occured and then it ended.

As for the women, I always prefered 1989-93 the most as it displayed the most competition among the players. Partly 1994 and 1995 were good as well but you could tell the absence of Seles hurt the WTA tour a lot. After 1996 I started growing bored of the WTA and even the Williams sisters couldn't gain my interest back.