Stats for 1980 Masters (Borg-McEnroe)

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:

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
 

CyBorg

Legend
That article was bang on about Borg's floppy shirt. Goes to show that even Bjorn's fashion sense was deserting him around this time.
 

krosero

Legend
More from the Washington Post:

January 16, 1981, Friday, Final Edition

Borg Wins in 3 Sets;
Testy Borg Eliminates McEnroe;
Connors, Lendl, Mayer Also in Semis

BYLINE: By Barry Lorge, Washington Post Staff Writer

In a match that added another extraordinary chapter to the rivalry between the world's two best tennis players, and will be remembered most vividly for Bjorn Borg losing his temper and being penalized two points in the second-tie breaker, Borg defeated John McEnroe, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, early this morning, eliminating the U.S. Open Champion from the $400,000 Volvo Grand Prix Masters tournament.

This bizarre and gripping contest alternately delighted and infuriated a sellout crowd of 19,103 spectators at Madison Square Gardern, but it is destined to go down in tennis lore as the night Borg briefly lost his legendary cool and argued for four minutes with British umpire Mike Lugg, who docked him two crucial points for delay of game.

There were three other matches on this second day of round-robin play in the Masters. Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and Gene Mayer also increased their records to 2-0, and qualified for Saturday's semi-finals along with Borg. Guillermo Vilas, Harold Solomon and jose-Luis Clerc, like McEnroe, lost for the second day in a row and were also eliminated.


But everything else that happened paled in comparison with the latest dramatic masterpiece in the Borg-McEnroe rivalry, which built in tension for 2 hours 43 minutes and ended at 20 minutes past midnight with Borg again proving his strength of character.

Borg had narrowly but surely maintained the upper hand for the better part of two sets, and served for the match at 6-5 in the second. But then McEnroe -- displaying the same combativeness that enabled him to stretch Borg to the limit in last year's majestic Wimbledon final, and beat him in another five-set epic in the U.S. Open final two months later -- hung in grittily, broke back, and forced the tie breaker that turned into something from Never Never Land.

Never does Borg, the most solid and unflappable of champions, lose his temper. But he did Thursday night.

When the forehand passing shot that he hit at 3-3 in the tie breaker was called out by the umpire Lugg, overruling a linesman who insisted that it was good, Borg became furious. He didn't rant and rave, but neither did he give in. He was sure the umpire was wrong and voiced his objections, firmly and at length.

Standing beneath the umpire's high chair, motioning with the racket in his right hand to the spot where he felt he had been wronged, Borg startled everyone -- spectators, officials, and McEnroe alike -- by refusing to accept the call and play on. After a full two minutes of discussion, Lugg looked straight ahead with an implacable expression and issued this warning: "Reporting Mr. Borg. Time delay."

Standing his ground with jaw set, as immovable as a statue, Borg kept glaring at Lugg and said nothing until the umpire followed his warning with a point penalty, making the score 5-3 for McEnroe. Thirty seconds later, he assessed another penalty, making it 6-3, set point for McEnroe.

Jeers and catcalls filled the vast, tension-charged arena. McEnroe, who had angrily argued several line calls earlier, waited -- confused and embarrassed -- in front of the backdrop. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that was happening," he would say later. "It was incredible that something like this could happen to Borg. I didn't know whether I should tank the match or try or what. I almost wanted to ask the umpire to play it from 4-3. I didn't want to take the penalty points."

Borg, who later said he was "100 percent sure the ball was good" and that he was very upset with the umpire, finally decided to play, but knocked a backhand wide to lose the suddenly farcical tie breaker, 7-3.

Into the decisive third set they went. The crowd had no idea what to expect. People had never seen anything like this from Borg before. "I think he's going to blow sky-high," predicted one astonished aficionado.

She was wrong. Borg and McEnroe, whose grand battles last year elevated their rivalry to a lofty plane that has captivated the public imagination, both played magnificently despite a few more acrimonious disputes. In the end, Borg protested four times and played like fury.

The remarkable 24-year-old Swede played more aggressively in the final set than he did earlier in the match, serving mightily and coming to the net. McEnroe, forgetting completely about the hamstring muscle he had pulled in losing to Mayer the previous night and had heavily taped, matched him stroke for stroke, coming in behind clever chips and slices and volleying like a demon.

Neither player had a break point in the set, and the match wound its way inexorably into another best-of-12-point tie breaker. This time, Borg was all business.

At 1-1, Borg won perhaps the most important point of the whole affair. Borg rifled a great return of a second serve, McEnroe somehow intercepted it with a lunging forehand drop volley that looked like a winner, but Borg swiftly got to the ball and looped a topspin forehand passing shot down the line into the corner. That made it 2-1, and Borg was never behind thereafter.
 

krosero

Legend
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
I hadn't noticed this before, but that's an astounding number of winners from McEnroe's forehand volley.

Might be interesting to look over some of our previous stats, for his stronger side at net. In the 1980 W final, he had more from the FH side, but in '81 it was his BH.
 

krosero

Legend
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

In these 36 games, they played only 3 points fewer than in the 33 games I saw in the previous year’s semifinal.

In this year, compared to the previous year:

Borg’s first-serve percentage was one point higher, McEnroe’s 6 points higher. Borg had 1 less ace, McEnroe 1 more. Borg had 2 fewer doubles, McEnroe 6 more. Borg drew 7 more return errors, McEnroe 9 more.

And Borg had 16 fewer non-service winners, McEnroe 5 more.
 

Kirko

Hall of Fame
Getting rid of the Masters was a huge mistake. This tourney was the third most important behind the US Open and Wimbledon back in the day

Yes !!!!!!! that and the Alan King Classic my very very favs. you're right winnning it was really up there like a forest hills or wimbledon. it was awesome.
 
Thanks for the stats on this match also Krosero. Looks like in both the Jan. 80 and Jan.81 matches, Borg had about 63-64% for his first serve %, which is so important. McEnroe is trying to get to net on every point, but Borg is defending great and also making many trips to the net as well to end points of his own. You can hear that NY big crowd (19,000+ in Madison Square Garden) just roaring as they watch great tennis between "Johnny Mac" and the "The Iceman". Great atmosphere.

87895268.jpg


The video clip posted earlier by Krosero on YT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVwPAOpFweY (Borg argung a call here.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpgAKQ3dQfg (a couple of minutes of additional footage in this YT clip)
 
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jrepac

Hall of Fame
NYC Masters

Fun reading this...I truly miss the Masters, and the old "Virginia Slims" for that matter...who really cared if Philip Morris was the sponsor, I didn't ! :twisted:

they moved stuff over to Germany and then to China...are you freaking kidding me?

there was something special about the tradition of playing in the Garden..

even when the women took up at the Staples Center in LA, it was never quite the same...
 
Fun reading this...I truly miss the Masters, and the old "Virginia Slims" for that matter...who really cared if Philip Morris was the sponsor, I didn't ! :twisted:

they moved stuff over to Germany and then to China...are you freaking kidding me?

there was something special about the tradition of playing in the Garden..

even when the women took up at the Staples Center in LA, it was never quite the same...

Hey Jrepac, did you see this one as well? (See the '79 Masters final, played in Jan. 1980, McEnroe vs. Borg, Borg won 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 in this final. Krosero has a stats thread on this match as well. There are 13 parts to this match on YT now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cgGZreEaXw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhbIcGwqk8s&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCAS3FjJvFI&feature=related
 
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krosero

Legend
Borg essentially won this match with his first serve, in the final tiebreak.

Borg made 7 of 10 first serves in the two tiebreaks (70%). By tiebreak:

2 of 5 (he lost 1 of the 2 on an overrule)
5 of 5 (he won 4)

McEnroe made 4 of 7 first serves in the two tiebreaks (57%). By tiebreak:

2 of 3 (he won all 3 of those pts. and won his remaining 2 service pts. on penalties)
2 of 4 (he won only 1 service point, on a first serve)

Borg really took the final tiebreak at 2-3 with a backhand return of McEnroe’s first serve that sent John to the carpet, putting Bjorn up a mini-break. After that McEnroe was still attacking but made two unforced errors to end the match (in my judgment those were the only UE’s by either player).
 
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