For all you Edberg fans out there
I attended Legends Live both days:
Time has stood still for Edberg. He looks the same and he plays at the same high level.
I must say, even though I've followed Edberg's career since the mid 80s, I now know I never really understood how great a volley player he is. You just don't see how difficult the shots are on TV.
I had seats right by the court. I now know what Edbergs 2nd serve kicker sounds like. It sounds like an airplane swooshing by. VRRROOOOM! There's no sound when the racquet hits the ball, just a loud swoosh as racquet head goes through the air and a roar as the ball takes off and spins out. I saw how high kicked first hand (those wide to the ad court which could spin out kicked so high Mac and Leconte had to overhead them!)
Some things worth noting:
* He played a more all court game. He didn't S&V on more than 2-3 second serves the entire 2 days
* He didn't chip n' charge even once! He got chip and charged, though
* He played with what looked like a stock ncode 90.
SPOILERS below (for those who can get their hands on a dvd)::
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Edberg beat Mac 6-3, 4-6 12-10 (Champions Tie-break) (not sure about the tie score) in the finals of Legends Live.
You could see that Edberg was the better man here. It wasn't as close as the score suggests. His serve is still extremely effective and he had no problems in his own serve until 4-5 in the second set, when Mac played a great game for the set. In the tie breaker Edberg was up 4 points on two occasions but got nervous (as he said in the speech afterwards) and dumped a couple of easy vollyes in the net. He finished it off with an ace after saving one match point for Mac.
The match was generall well played and there were many great points and few unforced errors. You just don't see tennis like this anymore.
My conclusion: Edberg is not match tough like Mac. Had he been, it wouldn't even have been close.
I attended Legends Live both days:
Time has stood still for Edberg. He looks the same and he plays at the same high level.
I must say, even though I've followed Edberg's career since the mid 80s, I now know I never really understood how great a volley player he is. You just don't see how difficult the shots are on TV.
I had seats right by the court. I now know what Edbergs 2nd serve kicker sounds like. It sounds like an airplane swooshing by. VRRROOOOM! There's no sound when the racquet hits the ball, just a loud swoosh as racquet head goes through the air and a roar as the ball takes off and spins out. I saw how high kicked first hand (those wide to the ad court which could spin out kicked so high Mac and Leconte had to overhead them!)
Some things worth noting:
* He played a more all court game. He didn't S&V on more than 2-3 second serves the entire 2 days
* He didn't chip n' charge even once! He got chip and charged, though
* He played with what looked like a stock ncode 90.
SPOILERS below (for those who can get their hands on a dvd)::
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
Edberg beat Mac 6-3, 4-6 12-10 (Champions Tie-break) (not sure about the tie score) in the finals of Legends Live.
You could see that Edberg was the better man here. It wasn't as close as the score suggests. His serve is still extremely effective and he had no problems in his own serve until 4-5 in the second set, when Mac played a great game for the set. In the tie breaker Edberg was up 4 points on two occasions but got nervous (as he said in the speech afterwards) and dumped a couple of easy vollyes in the net. He finished it off with an ace after saving one match point for Mac.
The match was generall well played and there were many great points and few unforced errors. You just don't see tennis like this anymore.
My conclusion: Edberg is not match tough like Mac. Had he been, it wouldn't even have been close.
