Connors v Borg 1978 and the no.1 ranking

I wanted to go back to 1978 with a new thread then I found this ...

Month after month I try to rebuild one of the years where two top players were much better than others.

I did not find the exact steps of the ATP rankings, will try to tested a score based on the prize money (ie 225,000 = 225 points).

He had just finished the Masters Grand Prix with Connors all'ultmo game had beaten Borg.
The Masters is finished in January 1978 but is a matter for 1977.

The first great tournament was Birmingham WCT, and the Borg wins on Stockton.

Borg and Connors met on har tru in Boca Raton, a exhibiton 4draws that computes as ATP title and to which, however, did not give points for the ranking (not giving any points even at the Masters Grand Prix, the Masters WCT, the WCT Challenge Cup, the Tournament of Champions WCT).
Borg beat Connors 6-1 to 3th set.

The month ends with the US Pro Indoor in Philadelphia.
Tanner beats Borg in the quarterfinals.
Connors won the final 3-0 on Tanner.

To Richmond Borg retires in the quarterfinals against Newcombe ( 0-6 0-1 )

January
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 225 points (Philadelphia 225,000)
Borg 175 points (Birmingham 175,000)

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton (250 points - 250,000)
Connors 225 + 170 (Boca Raton Final) = 395
Borg 175 + 250 = 425
 
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In February, Connors wins at Denver ( WCT ) but especially in the US National Indoor Memphis .

Borg does not play in February .

February
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 575 points (225 + 125 Denver + 225 Memphis)
Borg 175 points

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton
Connors 745 (395 + 125 + 225)
Borg 425
 
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n March , Borg won the rich ( 200,000 ) WCT Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas ( where Connors is disintegrated by Borowiak ) and to Milan ( 175,000 )

Connors does not play other tournaments .


March
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 575 points ( 225 + 125 + 225 Denver Memphis )
Borg points 175 + 175 = 350 points

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 745
Borg 425 + 200 + 175 = 800
 
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In April , Borg and Connors find themselves to ABN Rotterdam ( 175,000 ) but the Swede retires against Nastase .
Connors wins the tournament .

Connors then lost by Pfister to Alan King Classic ( Las Vegas )

April
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 750 ( 575 + 175 points Rotterdam )
Borg 350 points

ASSUMPTION ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 745 + 175 = 920
Borg 800
 
In May , Connors rests.
The American did not participate in the Masters WCT and skip the season on European clay .

Borg retires in the semifinals in Dallas ( Masters WCT ) against Gerulaitis .
But he wins on clay in the final Rome on 5th over Panatta and dominates at Rolland Garros .

May
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 750
Borg points 350 + 150 + 300 = 800

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 920
Borg 800 + 150 + 300 = 1250

Clarification .
The calculations made with the Prize Money is not perfect because while the ranking including Boca Raton and TofChampions is correct ( with Borg 1th),the ranking that excludes the two tournaments always sees 1th Bjorn when instead remember well that Connors was still 1th despite victory svede of Paris .
Borg passed the American after the triumph at Wimbledon .
 
Before analyzing July ( tomorrow , maybe .. )I stop for a moment on special events .
Connors was famous for exhibitions but in the 70s Borg made many more .
In 1978 Borg also won eight tournaments no-ATP with 4draws and 1 with 8draws .
Connors won instead 1 tournament with 4 draws , 2 with 8 draws, and a famous tournament 32draws ( the Kentish Open in Beckenham ) but with a bad seed , apart the finalist ( Stan Smith ) .

In these special events the two players faced each other two times .
In final to Tokyo (Suntory Cup) Borg outclasses Connors .
In September , in Buenos Aires the American takes his revenge in the third set.
Both events are indoors .
 
In June - July , Connors played very strong on grass , winning a good appointment in Birmingham ( 125.000 ) and reached the final at Wimbledon but Borg beat him easily .
Borg has reached its peak for the first time .
Perhaps only Laver in 1969 , and later McEnroe , Federer and Djokovic in the Open Era have reached such a state of form / strength .

June - July
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 750 + 125 ( Birmingham ) + 210 ( Wimbledon final ) = 1085
Borg points 800 + 300 ( Wimbledon ) = 1100


ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 920 + 125 + 210 = 1255
Borg 1250 + 300 = 1550

If you consider only the events to which ATP assigns points Borg 1th with a few points .
If you enter Boca Raton + TofCH , Borg takes off .
 
Summer
Borg digress a bit and returned to Flushing Meadows .
Connors trying to catch up and "hammering like a blacksmith" throughout the summer : he won the two most important events of har tru ( Washington & Indianapolis , both 175.0000 ) , then at the US Open in a step back from the brink against Panatta , "rings a strip" beating Gottfried , McEnroe and Borg in the finals .

June - July
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 1085 + 175 (Washington) + 175 (Indy) + 75 (Stowe) + 300 (US Open)= 1800
Borg points 1100 + 75 (Baastad) + 210 (final US Open) = 1385

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 1255 + 175 + 175 + 75 + 300 = 1980
Borg 1550 + 75 + 210 = 1835
 
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The last months of 1978

Connors plays :
- Sidney ( 175,000 ) and wins the title
- Tokyo and lost by Teacher
- Masters Grand Prix and retired with McEnroe and Ashe to blisters in the foot .

Borg plays :
- San Francisco losing to Pattison
- Tokyo ( 200,000 ) and wins the title
- Stockholm , McEnroe lost to the semifinals .

31.12.1978
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 1800 + 175 (Sidney)= 1985
Borg points 1385 + 200 (Tokyo)= 1585

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Connors 1980 + 175 = 2155
Borg 1835 + 200 = 2035
 
My final comments:

1) IMO number one 1978 is Borg, although the numbers are from the American.
2) for the ATP ranking is not battle, the gap is unobtrusive because it does not take count of Boca Raton and Tournament of Ch., Also the data points in tournaments like Memphis and Philadelphia are close to slam tournaments.
3) also adding the hypothetical points of Boca Raton and T. of CH. won by Borg, Connors is ahead even if only slightly.
The difference is perhaps Birmingham & Denver, two tournaments type master 500.
4)
Borg loses with:
Connors, Tanner, Pattison, McEnroe.
Then he suffers 3 retreats: Newcombe, Nastase and Gerulaitis

Connors loses twice with Borg, once with Borowiak, Teacher and Pfister.
Then he retreats against McEnroe and Ashe.

5) The difference IMO at the end is only the Pepsi Boca Raton.
If we counts this, if we considers it or not it depends on the allocation of the number one.

6) I decide to consider, and although the numbers are, albeit slightly, in favor of the American, at the end I choose Borg number one.
 
Assign the number one at the end of year is a big deal .
Not being a tournament where one raises a cup after winning the final , the year-end number one only lately is clear .
Now it is clear why all the tournaments , I mean everyone , are taken into account .
In times past the ranking she did not consider important exhibitions , great tournaments 4draws , big not ATP tournaments and above basic events like Masters and Grand Prix Masters WCT and WCT Challenge Cup Tournament of Champions !!
 
There are many ways to make a year-end rankings :
1 ) there is supposed there is stronger in that year regardless of the results
2 ) apply only slam (2000 points to slam / zero to other events )
3 ) apply only almost slam , and other major events are dwarfed, downpalyed (2000 points to slam / 500 other events )
4 ) scoring system current ATP : 2000 points to slam / 1000 to other major tournaments
5 ) scoring system ATP 70s : 2000 points to slam / 1500 to other important events
6 ) systems 3 ) , 4 ) , 5 ) are added tournaments ATP recognizes ( Masters Grand Prix , Masters WCT Challenge Cup WCT Tournament of Champions , Pepsi Boca Raton )
7 ) system 7 ) add up no- ATP events of particular rievanza .

IMO systems 1 ) and 2 ) are just imbeciles, 3 ) is unintelligent.
Among others I choose the number 7 ) .
With the system 7 ) Borg 1th slightly on Connors in 1978 .
 
I understand why my does not add up with Borg 1th slightly .

The problem is to give a score to the finals .

I took the ATP ( then in the finalist USE & W takes 210 and 170 in Boca Raton in proportion ) .
Instead for me :
- The finalists of the slam should take a score low ... 60
- The finalist of Boca Raton ( 4draws ) ... zero points .

In this way....

31.12.1978
ASSUMPTIONS ATP
Connors 1835
Borg points 1435

ASSUMPTIONS ATP + Boca Raton + Tournament of Champions
Borg 1885
Connors 1835
 
1978 really was one of the great seasons of the Open Era. Connors's last peak year across surfaces, arguably Borg's first (I'm pretty sure that Tournament of Champions win in Las Vegas was his first career title on outdoor hard), with both men over 90 percent win-loss record, which I don't think has ever happened since.

Plus you had 19 y/o Mac crashing the party, winning his quarter at the Open and then going on a hell of a run during the fall indoor season.
 
Couple surface corrections. Buenos Aires was outdoors on what looked like hard court. Some points are, or were, up on youtube. Las Vegas, I mean the tournament of champions, was indoors. It was one of those syndicated WCT events. I mean taped to be shown weekly over several months and syndicated by WCT. Jeff Borowiak upset Connors there. Killed him. The Alan King was the Vegas tourney that was hard court.
 
Connors won 10 titles recognised by ATP, including one Slam the US Open. Borg won 9 ATP titles but 2 Slams: Wimbledon and Roland Garros. The majority of tennis experts said Borg was number 1 and Connors 2. The computer and Tennis Magazine (US) said Connors was number 1. In my view it comes down to how important the French Open was at the time. I realise it wasn't so important for some of the 1970s. The question is how important was Roland Garros in 1978? If it had the status of a true major than Borg has to be number 1 with Connors one of the strongest number 2s ever. If Roland Garros wasn't considered a major then I think Connors slightly pips Borg to number 1, just.
 
sandy mayer said:
Connors won 10 titles recognised by ATP, including one Slam the US Open. Borg won 9 ATP titles but 2 Slams: Wimbledon and Roland Garros. The majority of tennis experts said Borg was number 1 and Connors 2. The computer and Tennis Magazine (US) said Connors was number 1. In my view it comes down to how important the French Open was at the time. I realise it wasn't so important for some of the 1970s. The question is how important was Roland Garros in 1978? If it had the status of a true major than Borg has to be number 1 with Connors one of the strongest number 2s ever. If Roland Garros wasn't considered a major then I think Connors slightly pips Borg to number 1, just.
Click to expand...
In my opinion there is also in this case a differentiation between the number one ATP and the player who has obtained the best achievements.

In the second case, how to consider French is basic. I think that Wimbly and USO were considered more important than French, but the RG was still a very relevant slam and therefore above all for this reason Borg is to be considered the player with the best achievements.

Different speech on the ATP 1978 ranking where I think I wrote some post some time ago. Basically the computer is not wrong and number one is correct to Jimmy.
 
French might not have counted for as much as it counted now, but it was still pretty damn big. Borg also won the Italian. Neither played Dallas. Are we counting the Jan 79 Masters in this year? Borg didn't play there. Hard to see how he was not no 1. Connors did win US Pro indoor Philadelphia, though. Usually had the best field of any of the indoor tournaments. Also won the US National indoor. Connors lost very few matches that year.
I do clearly remember TENNIS magazine choosing Connors and WORLD TENNIS Borg.
 
WCT said:
French might not have counted for as much as it counted now, but it was still pretty damn big. Borg also won the Italian. Neither played Dallas. Are we counting the Jan 79 Masters in this year? Borg didn't play there. Hard to see how he was not no 1. Connors did win US Pro indoor Philadelphia, though. Usually had the best field of any of the indoor tournaments. Also won the US National indoor. Connors lost very few matches that year.
I do clearly remember TENNIS magazine choosing Connors and WORLD TENNIS Borg.
Click to expand...
Maybe I've written it somewhere in the past and maybe I repeat myself.

The calculation in this year is very simple compared to others (1975, 1977 or 1982 or 1983 or others) because Borg and Connors participate in an equal number of tournaments.

For now, let's discard the French Open.
The two win W and USO right where they are also finalists. So they make the same points. They both win a modest M250 comparable to Baastad and Stowe.

Borg wins 3 175,000 tournaments (Birmingham Alabama, Rome and Milan) which can be equated with Jimbo's 3 175,000 (Rotterdam, Washington and Sydney).
Borg wins a 200,000 in Tokyo but also Connors in Memphis (225.000)

Now we come to the French, Borg wins at RG.

But Connors wins in Phila (225.000) +Indianapolis (175.000), then he also wins two Masters 500 in Birmingham England and Denver.

The difference is just that, and the question is: the French open is > Phila + Indianapolis + Denver + Birmingham, England.

The computer's answer is clear and unambiguous. No.
 
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In my personal opinion, the question of whether RG was or wasn't a "full major" misses the point. Consider asking a different question instead. "Which player was the best on the red clay circuit based on the available results?"

The answer to that question is Borg due to victories at RG and Rome. Not to mention his unparalleled dominance that year at RG (most dominant performance ever at a grand slam tournament?).

RG was a little up and down in the 1970s, as were some other majors (e.g., Wimbledon in 1973). So one can't automatically give a player full credit for winning them.

I'm of the same opinion when it comes to Vilas winning RG in 1977 and women players winning RG in Chris Evert's absence. You have to look at the full picture of what took place on the respective surface. Who won the biggest, best attended events?

Connors didn't want to play on red clay, but that's his problem. He was an exception, not the rule. And he was never particularly good on it.
 
WCT said:
French might not have counted for as much as it counted now, but it was still pretty damn big. Borg also won the Italian. Neither played Dallas. Are we counting the Jan 79 Masters in this year? Borg didn't play there. Hard to see how he was not no 1. Connors did win US Pro indoor Philadelphia, though. Usually had the best field of any of the indoor tournaments. Also won the US National indoor. Connors lost very few matches that year.
I do clearly remember TENNIS magazine choosing Connors and WORLD TENNIS Borg.
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I wanted to end my arguments with a second post.

So in summary, the ATP computer doesn't get the numerical counts wrong.
What can go wrong is evaluating Phila + Indianapolis + Denver + Birmingham, England > French Open.

What needs to be added to Borg's achievements, however, are two important titles among the special events, namely Boca Raton and WCT Tournament of Champions, with which in my opinion he overtakes Connors... but this is an extra ATP Ranking reasoning.
 
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Xavier G said:
If you look at the calender year 1978 (including the Grand Prix Masters which was held in January 78 ), the year-end number number 1 ranking looks very close based on results. Jimbo finished the year no.1 by the official rankings, we know of course, Borg won 2 Grand Slam tournaments to 1 for Jimmy. Jimmy finished winner of the Grand Prix points standings for the year. Bjorn was voted ITF World Champion.

According to the records I looked at, I have Connors also winning Philadelphia, Denver, Memphis, Rotterdam, Birmingham (Eng.), Washington, Stowe, US Open and Sydney.

Borg won Birmingham (US), Pepsi Grand Slam, Las Vegas WCT, Milan, Italian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Bastad and Tokyo.

It seems they had a pretty similar number of losses.

In Grand Slam wins, Borg is ahead, but Connors also has the Masters.
In official meetings again counting the Masters as happening in 1978, it's 2-2 in official matches between the pair. There are at least a couple of other matches in exo type events, of which they won one each.

I'm asking because I think some good tennis judges at the time had Connors ahead of Borg, most had Borg as number one. I give the edge to Bjorn, narrowly, myself, but it's close. Any thoughts? Any additional tournament info anyone has would be useful too.
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Rome,RG,W vs USO,Phily...both exchanged major eins at Finals and also big time exos..Borg by little
 
Regardless of what the ATP computer might have said just about every single yennis expert regarded Borg as being the best player and true No1 for 1978.

In face I those days the ITF official year end No 1was actually appointed by a panel of 3 experts think it was Budge, Hoad and Perry.

I think 78 was first year ITF panel voted.

They also awarded the title to Borg in 1979 and 1980 as well.
 
paolo2143 said:
Regardless of what the ATP computer might have said just about every single yennis expert regarded Borg as being the best player and true No1 for 1978.

In face I those days the ITF official year end No 1was actually appointed by a panel of 3 experts think it was Budge, Hoad and Perry.

I think 78 was first year ITF panel voted.

They also awarded the title to Borg in 1979 and 1980 as well.
Click to expand...
there was the ATP rankings (as well WCT), the points race for the Masters and then the ITF player of the year
Each was different, all were valid metrics, like them or not...sometimes the results DID seem strange.
I felt that ATP leaned towards consistency, which surely helped Connors, in all but '82.
But, he did in fact get ITF player of the year in '82, which was a no brainer.
I don't think Borg being deemed "best" in '78 is all that clear cut, honestly.
Maybe by a nose.
 
I’ve always thought that it was pretty clear cut that Borg was the player of the year over Connors in 1978.

The ITF, World Tennis, the French Tennis Magazine, Bud Collins, Lance Tingay went for Borg as the player of the year, while Rino Tomassi (though he ranked both Lendl and Mac over Connors in 1982 for perspective) and the US Tennis Magazine went for Connors, so it was a clear advantage for Borg there. It goes without saying that in that era, well before the ATP standardisation from the 1990, the rankings of the main tennis writers / outlets carried a lot of weight.

Also per the activity listed in the ATP website, Borg had a 21-2 vs. top 10 opponents, compared to Connors' 13-3 record. That also carries a lot of weight, as it shows that Borg was facing and beating top opponents more often during the year and Connors - the fact that he had 1 one fewer defeat there from 7 more matches also stands out.

His achievement to win the Italian Open (overcoming Panatta and an incredibly hostile crowd in the final), Roland Garros (in what turned out to be record breaking fashion), a Davis Cup tie in Belgrade with Sweden and then Wimbledon within 6 weeks, also received a huge amount of acclaim at the time. In general, we know that Davis Cup tennis was a very a big deal at the time, and Borg’s 9-0 record in the competition that year also received a lot of credit (even though I personally prefer to discount dead runners and class it as a 7-0 record in live rubbers).

I haven’t see any details of the overall prize money earned by either Borg or Connors that year, but I’d assume that Borg earned more money overall from tennis activity than Connors did, helped by the fact that he won the big money Pepsi Grand Slam, and won a lot more unsanctioned invitational events, 9 vs. 3. If that is the case, it would be another notable advantage in his favour.
 
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