Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
This was played in January 1981(but technically counted for the 1980 season)
Borg d McEnroe 6-4,6-7(3-7),7-6(7-2)
McEnroe had 40 non-service winners: 1 fh, 5 bh, 23 fhv, 8 bhv, 3 ov
Borg had 31: 10 fh, 12 bh, 3 fhv, 3 bhv, 3 ov
Winners by set
Borg: 6, 10, 15
Mac: 13, 16, 11
Mac had 5 aces, 7 doubles
Borg had 3 aces, 3 doubles
Mac was 61 of 107 on 1st serves or 57%
Borg was 74 of 116 or 64%
Mac had 31 unreturned serves, of which I judged 7 as service winners
Borg had 24 unreturned serves, of which I judged 3 as service winners
Mac had 3 passing shot winners, Borg 18
Mac was 2 of 6 on break points, Borg 3 of 8
here is part of an article on this tournament that appeared in SI:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124137/3/index.htm
here is a clip showing Borg's arguing & penalty points, courtesy krosero:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVwPAOpFweY
Borg d McEnroe 6-4,6-7(3-7),7-6(7-2)
McEnroe had 40 non-service winners: 1 fh, 5 bh, 23 fhv, 8 bhv, 3 ov
Borg had 31: 10 fh, 12 bh, 3 fhv, 3 bhv, 3 ov
Winners by set
Borg: 6, 10, 15
Mac: 13, 16, 11
Mac had 5 aces, 7 doubles
Borg had 3 aces, 3 doubles
Mac was 61 of 107 on 1st serves or 57%
Borg was 74 of 116 or 64%
Mac had 31 unreturned serves, of which I judged 7 as service winners
Borg had 24 unreturned serves, of which I judged 3 as service winners
Mac had 3 passing shot winners, Borg 18
Mac was 2 of 6 on break points, Borg 3 of 8
here is part of an article on this tournament that appeared in SI:
On opening night in New York he(Gene Mayer) created total havoc by jumping all over McEnroe , beating him 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 despite 17 aces from Junior, who had to battle stomach pains, a pulled muscle in his left leg and his chronic sore back in addition to the voracious Mayer .
What this upset, combined with Mayer 's subsequent 6-3, 7-5 victory over Clerc, did was force McEnroe into the position of having to defeat his partner-in-legend, Borg , on Thursday night to remain alive in the tournament. Oh, what a night it was! The Knicks and the Rangers should have such good times at the Garden. Scalpers (cleaning up at $40 per); celebrities ( Warhol , David Merrick, Robert Duvall , Henry Kissinger ); a packed house (19,103); heavyweight championship atmosphere (Raging Mac vs. Sugar Bjorn). Even Connors , who has been eclipsed by the two younger men, called it "another classic matchup."
And it was. McEnroe 's rhythm and texture were missing early as Borg won the first set 6-4, and Bjorn came from behind in the second to serve for the match at 6-5. But another dramatic chapter in the rivalry quickly unfolded after McEnroe struck a winning lob and a drop volley to square the set.
At 3-all in the tie-breaker, Borg 's forehand pass was signaled good by the base linesman, but Umpire Mike Lugg, an Englishman sporting a handlebar moustache whose handlebars had apparently fallen off, overruled him, giving McEnroe the point and a 4-3 lead. Then a funny thing happened. Borg frowned. He strolled to the chair. He...yes, he...disputed the call. (Quick, phone That's Incredible.) With the crowd booing and whistling, Borg quietly implored Lugg to ask the linesman about the call. Lugg would not Lugg ordered Borg to continue play and put the 30-second clock on him. Borg stood his ground. Lugg awarded a delay-of-game penalty point to McEnroe .
"I couldn't believe it," McEnroe remembered thinking. "Just imagine what the crowd would have done to me in that situation."
Dick Roberson, chief of the Grand Prix supervisors, came out to talk to Borg . Still Bjorn stood by the chair. Lugg gave McEnroe a second penalty point. Then, almost imperceptibly, Borg glanced at his mentor, Lennart Bergelin , in the stands. Bergelin slowly stood up and sat down again. Borg walked out to resume play.
"I was very mad, very disappointed," he said later. Did he think about quitting? "No."
Behind now 6-3 in the tie-breaker, Borg banged an out-ball to lose the set. But immediately he became much more aggressive. Both men served two love games in the third set, and McEnroe once purposely drilled the ball into the crowd to give Borg a point another call had denied him. Junior then bowed deeply as the cheering swelled. There were no break points as the great rivals battled to yet another tie-breaker.
This time, at 2-3 on serve, McEnroe 's southpaw slice delivery wasn't wide enough, and Borg cracked a backhand return winner. That was the crucial arrow. A weary McEnroe made three more mistakes—a netted backhand volley and two miserable approaches—and it was over 19 minutes past midnight, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. "A match high up on my list," said the winner.
Then came Tank Friday. First McEnroe , already eliminated from contention, gave in to Clerc. Then Borg , who couldn't get to sleep until 4 a.m., surrendered to Mayer . Back to back, a total of six games won by the two best players in the world. As a result of all this, Mayer , having finished with a 3-0 record in the blue round robin, now would play the loser of Connors-Lendl from the red group, the winner to draw Borg . "Get out the diving scorecards," somebody said. "Connors-Lendl will be a real three-meter springboard job."
After blowing two set points and collapsing 7-1 in the first-set tie-breaker, Lendl took the full plunge, spraying balls into the far reaches of Gotham. Connors , incensed at the Czech's obvious lack of effort, waved him off after the postmatch handshake and then called him "chicken. I don't understand how a player with his talent and future could act like that."
The next day Lendl , oozing confidence, brushed off Mayer in straight sets. Then he brushed off the media with what sounded suspiciously like clucking noises. "I changed my tactics the other night and it didn't work," Lendl said. "It happens sometimes."
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124137/3/index.htm
here is a clip showing Borg's arguing & penalty points, courtesy krosero:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVwPAOpFweY