Impressive physical displays

[Arafel]

Everyone talks about how impressively resilient Nadal was to play the long 5 hour plus match against Verdasco two nights earlier and then a 4 hour plus match in the final, both of which were five setters. Some are calling it the most impressive physical display ever in tennis.

While it was no doubt pretty amazing, there have been others. To my mind, McEnroe's run to the 1980 US Open title was more impressive. McEnroe went five brutal sets in the night match against Jimmy Connors on Saturday, ultimately winning a tiebreak in the fifth set to take the match. At one point, Connors had reeled off something like 10 games in taking the second set, the third set at love, and breaking to go up 2-0 in the fourth before McEnroe rallied. That match went over four hours and ended after midnight. The VERY NEXT day, McEnroe started at 4 in the afternoon against Borg, whom he had valiantly played and lost to in the legendary Wimbledon match earlier that year. Yet McEnroe showed little mental fatigue from that hard loss or physical fatigue from the brutal match against Connors in the semis, taking the first set in a tiebreak and winning the second 6-1. Yet Borg rallied, won the third in a tiebreak and the fourth 7-5. Understand, at that point, Borg, the king of five set matches, looked set to take his first US Open and the third leg of a calendar year Grand Slam. Yet McEnroe summoned incredible reserves, got a break, and served out the fifth at 6-4.

Can anyone else name another impressive physical display in capturing a Slam?

I'm not knocking Nadal. I too thought that Fed would win because Nadal would ultimately tire in their match, and am amazed by what he did. I just don't think it was the top physical display.

 

[edberg505]

Everyone talks about how impressively resilient Nadal was to play the long 5 hour plus match against Verdasco two nights earlier and then a 4 hour plus match in the final, both of which were five setters. Some are calling it the most impressive physical display ever in tennis.

While it was no doubt pretty amazing, there have been others. To my mind, McEnroe's run to the 1980 US Open title was more impressive. McEnroe went five brutal sets in the night match against Jimmy Connors on Saturday, ultimately winning a tiebreak in the fifth set to take the match. At one point, Connors had reeled off something like 10 games in taking the second set, the third set at love, and breaking to go up 2-0 in the fourth before McEnroe rallied. That match went over four hours and ended after midnight. The VERY NEXT day, McEnroe started at 4 in the afternoon against Borg, whom he had valiantly played and lost to in the legendary Wimbledon match earlier that year. Yet McEnroe showed little mental fatigue from that hard loss or physical fatigue from the brutal match against Connors in the semis, taking the first set in a tiebreak and winning the second 6-1. Yet Borg rallied, won the third in a tiebreak and the fourth 7-5. Understand, at that point, Borg, the king of five set matches, looked set to take his first US Open and the third leg of a calendar year Grand Slam. Yet McEnroe summoned incredible reserves, got a break, and served out the fifth at 6-4.

Can anyone else name another impressive physical display in capturing a Slam?

I'm not knocking Nadal. I too thought that Fed would win because Nadal would ultimately tire in their match, and am amazed by what he did. I just don't think it was the top physical display.

Stefan Edberg 1992 US Open

 

[hjminard]

I don't disagree with your premise, Arafel, but I will add a small point ...

I think that Nadal's style of play (speed, defense, aggressive physicality) makes his achievement all the more amazing.

McEnroe, I think, played a smoother style that was more conducive to conserving energy.

What it really comes down to (besides fitness) is mental toughness (heart) and ignoring the body's signals of pain and fatigue. Both Nadal and McEnroe, and others, have/had that ability.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Stefan Edberg 1992 US Open

yes i was thinking on this one also... what an amazing run by stefan, against great players !

 

[Moose Malloy]

Some others:

1975 USO: Manuel Orantes beats Vilas in 5 in the semis in a match that ends after 10 pm. Beats Connors in straights the next day(4 pm start time)

1981 USO: McEnroe beats Gerulaitis in 5 on a hot day. Beats Borg in the final the next day.

1984 USO: Mac beats Connors in 5, match ends after 11. Beats Lendl in straights in the final the next day(Mac's 'lack of fitness' is a myth imo)

1981 Davis Cup Final: Mac beats Vilas in 3 on Day 1, wins the doubles in 5 on Day 2, beats Clerc in 5 on Day 3.

1986 Davis Cup Final: Cash beats Edberg on Day 1- 13-11, 13-11, 6-4. Wins the doubles the next day. Comes back from 2 sets to love on Day 3 vs Pernfors.

1995 Davis Cup Final: Sampras beats Chesnokov in 5 on Day 1(on clay), collapses from cramps. Wins the doubles the next day & the clinching singles match on Day 3.

2003 USO: Henin beats Capriati in a 3 hour 3 setter(think it ended after 11 pm) Comes back to beat Clijsters the following night.

To my mind, McEnroe's run to the 1980 US Open title was more impressive. McEnroe went five brutal sets in the night match against Jimmy Connors on Saturday

There's more to that story: Mac beat Lendl in the QF on Thursday(4 sets) & played 5 sets of doubles on Friday, before his semi on Saturday. Wouldn't be surprised if he spent more time on court that event than any other player in major history.


Also, there were a lot of best of 5 set non slam events in the 70s/80s.

I wouldn't be surprised if some former Italian Open champs played a 5 set semifinal & then won the final the next day(looks like Gerulaitis played a 4 set semifinal at Rome in '79 & then won a 5 set, 5 hour match vs Vilas the next day)

I recall some of the WCT Dallas winners in the 80s playing 5 setters that ended late the night before the final(CBS also dictated the schedule of this event)

Ditto with Key Biscayne(Muster played a 5 setter vs Noah in '89, had he not been in a car accident that night, he would have had to play Lendl the following afternoon)

 

[danb]

Everyone talks about how impressively resilient Nadal was to play the long 5 hour plus match against Verdasco two nights earlier and then a 4 hour plus match in the final, both of which were five setters. Some are calling it the most impressive physical display ever in tennis.

While it was no doubt pretty amazing, there have been others. To my mind, McEnroe's run to the 1980 US Open title was more impressive. McEnroe went five brutal sets in the night match against Jimmy Connors on Saturday, ultimately winning a tiebreak in the fifth set to take the match. At one point, Connors had reeled off something like 10 games in taking the second set, the third set at love, and breaking to go up 2-0 in the fourth before McEnroe rallied. That match went over four hours and ended after midnight. The VERY NEXT day, McEnroe started at 4 in the afternoon against Borg, whom he had valiantly played and lost to in the legendary Wimbledon match earlier that year. Yet McEnroe showed little mental fatigue from that hard loss or physical fatigue from the brutal match against Connors in the semis, taking the first set in a tiebreak and winning the second 6-1. Yet Borg rallied, won the third in a tiebreak and the fourth 7-5. Understand, at that point, Borg, the king of five set matches, looked set to take his first US Open and the third leg of a calendar year Grand Slam. Yet McEnroe summoned incredible reserves, got a break, and served out the fifth at 6-4.

Can anyone else name another impressive physical display in capturing a Slam?

I'm not knocking Nadal. I too thought that Fed would win because Nadal would ultimately tire in their match, and am amazed by what he did. I just don't think it was the top physical display.

Good post mate. I like Nadal but we all know there have been quite a few beasts around the tennis courts. It's cool somebody comes with clear stats - thanks.

 

[danb]

Some others:

1975 USO: Manuel Orantes beats Vilas in 5 in the semis in a match that ends after 10 pm. Beats Connors in straights the next day(4 pm start time)

1981 USO: McEnroe beats Gerulaitis in 5 on a hot day. Beats Borg in the final the next day.

1984 USO: Mac beats Connors in 5, match ends after 11. Beats Lendl in straights in the final the next day(Mac's 'lack of fitness' is a myth imo)

1981 Davis Cup Final: Mac beats Vilas in 3 on Day 1, wins the doubles in 5 on Day 2, beats Clerc in 5 on Day 3.

1986 Davis Cup Final: Cash beats Edberg on Day 1- 13-11, 13-11, 6-4. Wins the doubles the next day. Comes back from 2 sets to love on Day 3 vs Pernfors.

1995 Davis Cup Final: Sampras beats Chesnokov in 5 on Day 1(on clay), collapses from cramps. Wins the doubles the next day & the clinching singles match on Day 3.

2003 USO: Henin beats Capriati in a 3 hour 3 setter(think it ended after 11 pm) Comes back to beat Clijsters the following night.



There's more to that story: Mac beat Lendl in the QF on Thursday(4 sets) & played 5 sets of doubles on Friday, before his semi on Saturday. Wouldn't be surprised if he spent more time on court that event than any other player in major history.


Also, there were a lot of best of 5 set non slam events in the 70s/80s.

I wouldn't be surprised if some former Italian Open champs played a 5 set semifinal & then won the final the next day(looks like Gerulaitis played a 4 set semifinal at Rome in '79 & then won a 5 set, 5 hour match vs Vilas the next day)

I recall some of the WCT Dallas winners in the 80s playing 5 setters that ended late the night before the final(CBS also dictated the schedule of this event)

Ditto with Key Biscayne(Muster played a 5 setter vs Noah in '89, had he not been in a car accident that night, he would have had to play Lendl the following afternoon)

Where do you know all these from? Amazing...

 

[Moose Malloy]

Came across this article(looks like the '92 USO final may have had the 2 'least fresh' players in major history)

And the comment on the match time of Vilas-Orantes does show that match times are a bit misleading(both nadal & verdasco were taking a lot of time in between points, that wouldn't fly in 1975)

To see tired Stefan Edberg outlast shaky Pete Sampras, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, last evening raised the comparison with punch-drunk fighters and out-on-their-feet marathon dancers.

"That's why they pay them the big bucks," you say. It's a good point. The winner was going for over $500,000 and the top computer rating in tennis for male millionaires. Plus, it was a Grand Slam final.

That's why CBS executives shake down the United States Tennis Association officials each year and say: "We want the men. Saturday. And Sunday. Got that?"

So that's what happens. The players know the score. As Jim Courier said after losing the semifinal on Saturday, "Saturday, Sunday, semi and final, is great for tennis in America. It is bad for two people, the players that play on Sunday. But for everybody else, it is great, so I think it is a sacrifice that we all make. Not that we have much choice, but we do it anyway."

There was an extra tension this year after Sampras was last seen grimacing at the net after his victory over Courier on Saturday evening. He was suffering from a stomach virus, and he admitted that it bothered him yesterday.

"I was running out of gas," Sampras said. "I've been playing a lot of tennis this year. I had a long night last night.

"I got to the referee's office pretty dehydrated from diarrhea, and I had two I.V.'s. I didn't get back till 12:30 and didn't get to sleep 'til 3:30. I got up about 8, I still kind of had 'em, but I took some stuff to stop it, and ate proper foods, rice and pasta. Once the match was on, I felt fine."

Anybody can come down with an ailment at any time during the tournament. It's an occupational hazard in an individual sport.

Goran Ivanisevic blamed his queasiness on American hamburgers and cheeseburgers earlier in this tournament, which only reminds us, you are what you eat. Chris Evert was doubtful for a match a few years ago, the result of a bad piece of cheesecake, she said, but the wily champion recovered, with a normal full day off in mid-tournament to get her legs back.

Having a day off would not necessarily protect anybody from the flu or food poisoning, but it would let the male and female finalists prepare for their matches.

While Wimbledon schedules a day off between semifinals and finals, the cold-hearted Open officials make the women play their semifinals on Friday, then the finals on Saturday, sandwiched between the men's semifinals. This forces the two women to sit around and decide whether to eat, sleep, read or practice for hours at a time.

The male winners then have to come back and play the finals on Sunday at 4 P.M., or whenever the Giants' football game ends.

Stefan Edberg chortled only slightly after his 5-hour-26-minute victory on Saturday because he knew Sampras or Courier would have less time to recover. He had just played three straight five-set matches, and he knew he could use a few extra hours.

Sometimes the late Saturday match is no big deal for a healthy young player. A classic example is Manuel Orantes, the Spaniard with the perpetual lopsided smile, who played Guillermo Vilas in the second semifinal in 1975 at the West Side Tennis Club.

The two lefties chipped and dunked long into the darkness. Partially because television had not yet mastered the two-minute-plus changeovers for commercials, and partially because players were not yet so brazen to wipe off their racquets and adjust their attitudes between every point, Orantes and Vilas managed to conclude their five-set match in 3:44, much quicker than the five-set matches of today.

Vilas won the first two sets and people rushed to go home. Too bad. Orantes won the next three sets out of sheer good-natured cussedness, finally taking the match, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, ending at 10:30, more than six and a half hours after Jimmy Connors had beaten Bjorn Borg.

Orantes now had 17 1/2 hours until his match with Connors. He went out to eat and got back to his hotel around 1 in the morning and soaked his aching body in a hot bath for two hours, with strong libation, it was rumored, until he could finally sleep.

With so little time to recover, the weary caballero went out and dissected Connors, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. A dozen or more chanting Spanish sailors lifted Orantes on their shoulders and carried him off.

No Spanish sailors carried Edberg off yesterday. Not even any Swedish sailors. But he did win.

"I was a little sick," Edberg said about waking up on Sunday, "but that's what you expect. Once I warmed up, I felt my muscles getting better every minute. I was a bit surprised."

Edberg had more left than his virus-ravaged opponent. But Edberg committed a tactical error in jumping the net and then climbing into the stands to greet his entourage. This display of energy will only encourage the officials to make the lads work the whole weekend next year.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...937A2575AC0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

 

[Conquistador]

Everyone talks about how impressively resilient Nadal was to play the long 5 hour plus match against Verdasco two nights earlier and then a 4 hour plus match in the final, both of which were five setters. Some are calling it the most impressive physical display ever in tennis.

While it was no doubt pretty amazing, there have been others. To my mind, McEnroe's run to the 1980 US Open title was more impressive. McEnroe went five brutal sets in the night match against Jimmy Connors on Saturday, ultimately winning a tiebreak in the fifth set to take the match. At one point, Connors had reeled off something like 10 games in taking the second set, the third set at love, and breaking to go up 2-0 in the fourth before McEnroe rallied. That match went over four hours and ended after midnight. The VERY NEXT day, McEnroe started at 4 in the afternoon against Borg, whom he had valiantly played and lost to in the legendary Wimbledon match earlier that year. Yet McEnroe showed little mental fatigue from that hard loss or physical fatigue from the brutal match against Connors in the semis, taking the first set in a tiebreak and winning the second 6-1. Yet Borg rallied, won the third in a tiebreak and the fourth 7-5. Understand, at that point, Borg, the king of five set matches, looked set to take his first US Open and the third leg of a calendar year Grand Slam. Yet McEnroe summoned incredible reserves, got a break, and served out the fifth at 6-4.

Can anyone else name another impressive physical display in capturing a Slam?
I'm not knocking Nadal. I too thought that Fed would win because Nadal would ultimately tire in their match, and am amazed by what he did. I just don't think it was the top physical display.

Real easy one for me--Andy Roddick vs. Fernando Gonzalez--last years US OPEN---here you have the biggest serve in the history of the game versus the biggest forehand in the history of the game--

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

1995 Davis Cup Final: Sampras beats Chesnokov in 5 on Day 1(on clay), collapses from cramps. Wins the doubles the next day & the clinching singles match on Day 3.

i think we can find other crazy davis cup ties like this...

makes me think about goran who was not so far from doing something similar in 1997 against austria in davis cup...
(on clay of course)
he didn't win all his matches, but i think it deserves to be mentionned :

on the friday, he loses the two 1st sets 63 64 against schaller, wins the two next sets 76 62 before having to retire at 1-3 in the 5th set (i heard it was because of cramps).
but he comes back on court on saturday and wins the double (with hirszon).
and on sunday, he faces muster, who was undefeated on clay in davis cup... and beats him 67 75 67 62 75 ! (i unfortunately dont have the duration of the matches)
too bad croatia finally lost 3-2...


more impressive at 1992 barcelona olympics :
goran won 4 straight five setters (on clay !) for earning his bronze single medal. add to this some double matches (with prpic, all best-of-5 !) as he also got a bronze medal in double...

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

I agree with whoever posted McEnroe's semi and final of 1984 US Open.