Guillermo Vilas vs. Ivan Lendl, Kitzbuhel 1980 final. Great videos!
- Thread starter Vegito
- Start date
muddlehead
Professional
Fantastico. Grazi.
borg number one
Legend
Thanks Vegito! Two great clay courters. I got a chance to see Vilas in the 80's here in Houston. He was incredible even then. He gave my friend an Ellesse shirt from his bag at a practice! Then, you have Ivan Lendl with the Kneissl frame. Did Vilas ever use a Slazenger graphite frame before going to the Slazenger Vilas in 1981?
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borg number one
Legend
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jean pierre
Professional
Great match. Vilas had a great year in 1980 : he won AO in january, he beated McEnroe in Monte-Carlo and Davis Cup, he won Rome (beating Noah), Kitzbuhel (beating Lendl), Nations Cup (beating Borg).
Unfortunately he was very sick in Roland-Garros, and lost against Solomon.
Unfortunately he was very sick in Roland-Garros, and lost against Solomon.
An excellent and dominant display from Vilas in this match. Very nice to watch.
Lendl varied his game on clay a hell of a lot during his career, as in many of his earlier matches he was more aggressive and attacking, and later when his fitness improved he could rally and moonball all day long, to the extent where even Wilander was terrified to stay back too much against him.
With this win Vilas opened up a 3-0 lead in their h2h. However Lendl learned his lessons very well from this defeat, as he went on to own Vilas after this, beating him 7 times in a row and winning 10 out of their final 12 matches. Later on in 1980, he scored two big wins over Vilas on clay, a hugely impressive straight sets victory in Buenos Aires in the Davis Cup semi-final, and a 5 set victory in the Barcelona final. He had a positive 7-5 record over Vilas on clay overall, including 2 big wins in Buenos Aires, which was nice going.
Lendl varied his game on clay a hell of a lot during his career, as in many of his earlier matches he was more aggressive and attacking, and later when his fitness improved he could rally and moonball all day long, to the extent where even Wilander was terrified to stay back too much against him.
With this win Vilas opened up a 3-0 lead in their h2h. However Lendl learned his lessons very well from this defeat, as he went on to own Vilas after this, beating him 7 times in a row and winning 10 out of their final 12 matches. Later on in 1980, he scored two big wins over Vilas on clay, a hugely impressive straight sets victory in Buenos Aires in the Davis Cup semi-final, and a 5 set victory in the Barcelona final. He had a positive 7-5 record over Vilas on clay overall, including 2 big wins in Buenos Aires, which was nice going.
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kiki
Banned
Big scandal at RG since Chartrier favoured him over Orantes ( even if Vilas would´ve been the favourite anyhow)
Lost the finals of MC against Borg, Hamburg versus Solomon, Madrid against Clerc and Barcelona against Lendl, all of them bar the first one, in 5 extremely close sets.I don´t remember know what did he do in the summer cc events at the US, where he usually had good results.
Beat Mc Enroe in a great DC match but lost to Lendl, another close match.Lendl singehandedly defeated the favoured Argentina team, which also hosted the tie.
A good year, but not as good as 1977, 1978 and 1982.I remember, for a certain part of 1982, Vilas looked to me like the guy to beat ( along Lendl ).He was playing great tennis, serving and volleying better than never before and very confident ( he was possibly the fittest player on the tour during that part of the year)
kiki
Banned
You´re right on the spot with early years (1980-81) Lendl on clay.He was very used to the turf and nevertheless very agressive, launching his shots with ease and confidence.He had a mediocre footwork, though.Some times, did some S&v but he had not that consistent first serve he later developed.I think, from 1982 Lendl became more of a hard and indoor player ( his record there is impressive, don´t forget he won ALL WCT tournaments he entered) and that improved a lot his serve, which certainly became a huge weapon.
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jean pierre
Professional
Yes, 1978 was very good too for Vilas, with 1 Grand Slam victory and 1 Grand Slam final. But I think he was stronger in 1982 than any other year, maybe even 1977, it's a pity he could'nt win a Grand Slam this year.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
interesting interview with Vilas, talking about the difference between 1977 & 1980("in '77 I could just play on clay, now there are many more events on hardcourt, which I don't like as much...")
Don't Let It Bounce
Hall of Fame
For a second there I was trying to remember when Vilas ever played with a Lacoste racket!
Great video clarity. It's also nice to see video of Lendl when he was still a young up & comer.
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borg number one
Legend
I didn't notice that, that's true. It does look like a Lacoste logo on that Head AMF Vilas Open. That's how I remember him most, with the Fila, Head Vilas, and Diadora shoes. That was some quality gear!
jean pierre
Professional
Vilas deserved to win a Grand Slam in 1982 and was very unlucky against Wilander, because he had a second set point.
Tennisknowledge99
Banned
Vilas eventually led 2:0 in the fourth set. Then Wilander became more aggressive, taking the ball on the rise and pounding shots to the corners. especially with his two-handed backhand. He got back to 2:2, then, with Vilas serving, they engaged in a rally that might have been the record for the match. There were about 80 exchanges before Wilander unloaded another backhand winner.
In the second set tiebreak, when Vilas scored on a smash, he was at set point on Wilander’s serve. But Vilas drove a forehand barely long. Wilander said that if that shot had stayed in, he wouldn’t have had a chance. With a second chance, Wilander drew even and then went ahead, 7:6, with a perfect lob. He hit another towering lob, for which Vilas got into position for a smash. But he clubbed the ball straight into the net. Wilander won 8:6 in the 2nd set tiebreaker.
