Great Tennis Matches

[McEnroeisanartist]

Often in tennis history, there are matches that resemble others in terms of their quality, drama, and importance. So I would like to compare similar tennis matches and find out which one the board thinks is better. Some matches that come to mind:

1976 U.S. Open Final Connors vs. Borg or 1977 Wimbledon Final Borg vs. Connors

1980 U.S. Open Semifinal McEnroe vs. Connors or 1984 U.S. Open Semifinal McEnroe vs. Connors.

1980 Wimbledon Final Borg vs. McEnroe or 1980 U.S. Open Final McEnroe Vs. Borg

1982 Davis Cup McEnroe vs. Wilander or 1987 Davis Cup Becker vs. McEnroe

1984 French Open Final Lendl-McEnroe or 1989 French Open 4th Round Chang-Lendl

1990 U.S. Open 4th Round McEnroe Vs. Sanchez or 1991 U.S. Open 4th Round Connors-Krickstein

1995 Australian Open Quarterfinal Sampras-Courier or 1996 U.S. Open Quarterfinal Sampras-Corretja

2000 Wimbledon Semifinal Rafter-Agassi or 2001 Wimbledon Semifinal Rafter-Agassi.

2000 Australian Open Semifinal Agassi-Sampras or 2001 Australian Open Semifinal Agassi-Rafter

 

[Moose Malloy]

2000 Australian Open Semifinal Agassi-Sampras or 2001 Australian Open Semifinal Agassi-Rafter

The '01 SF was one of the more disappointing matches I've seen. It was great tennis, atmosphere 1st 3 sets, then rafter started cramping. The last 2 sets were like a walkover, not sure why he even bothered playing.

2000 Wimbledon Semifinal Rafter-Agassi or 2001 Wimbledon Semifinal Rafter-Agassi.

2000 was higher quality, 2001 was more drama(Agassi hitting balls at linesman, rafter coming back from 5-3 in the fifth.
I think both were among the best matches played during the "fast grass era" at Wimbledon.

1995 Australian Open Quarterfinal Sampras-Courier or 1996 U.S. Open Quarterfinal Sampras-Corretja

Tough call. '95 was higher quality, with 2 HOF players. '96 had more drama with Sampras vomiting, saving MP in 5th set tiebreak.

1990 U.S. Open 4th Round McEnroe Vs. Sanchez or 1991 U.S. Open 4th Round Connors-Krickstein

Both great, but only one gets replayed on espn classic, "This is what they came for, this is what they want" is the coolest thing any player has ever said.

 

[FedererUberAlles]

2001 Federer Sampras Wimbledon

I have it on my computer and I could watch it over and over again.

 

[ACE of Hearts]

Not a big event but the Rome final was one of the best matches i have seen.5 hours on clay with alot of drama behind each point.

 

[ACE of Hearts]

Yeah, i have the Roger vs Pete match, i look at that match over and over and think that Fed should have won in straight sets or maybe 4 sets.

 

[HyperHorse]

Edberg Vs Courier, 91 US Open Final...

Muster Vs Becker, 95 Monte Carlo Final..

Sampras Vs Agassi, 95 US Open Final...

About the '01 Aussie Open SEMI final... Rafter was kicking Andre's ass for most of the match, if he hadnt cramped he would have won the tournament..
imho Agassi got lucky.

EDIT: the '01 oz open match between Agassi & Rafter was a semi final.. wasnt thinking while typing..
i know this since it was a night match..

 

[Andres]

2001 Wimbledon Final: Ivanisevic def. Rafter
The most electrical match of all time

 

[travlerajm]

Rafter vs Chang, 97 US Open Semifinal...
Federer Vs Safin, 2005 AO Semifinal...
Krajicek Vs Kafelnikov, 1999 USO Quarterfinal
Rafter Vs Sampras, 1998 USO Semifinal

 

[tpduke112]

05 US Open, Blake/Agassi.

 

[OrangeOne]

About the '01 Aussie Open final... Rafter was kicking Andre's ass for most of the match, if he hadnt cramped he would have won the tournament.. imho Agassi got lucky.

imho Agassi, especially then, was one of the most meticulously trained and prepared players on the tour. He was built to play & play & play, he was possibly the fittest player. Rafter (who I admire greatly) cramped. Cramping = loss of conditioning, which can happen to any player at the end of a long fortnight of GS tennis. Sure, there's a luck component, but there's a fitness component too!

 

[SonnyT]

More recently,

2010 - Djokovic defeated Federer in 5 sets, overcoming 2 MP's against
2011 - Djokovic defeated, with Federer serving having 2 MP's
2011 - Djokovic defeated Nadal, Djokovic being injured in final set
2018 - Nadal defeated Thiem in 5 sets in QF

Can we get rid of Naome1311?