I've long maintained that their 84 Open match was the best they ever had in sustained level of play. Mcenroe did really rave about Connors afterwards.
He served really well that day(% in the 60s, I think) and Connors broke him something like 8 times.
The 80 match was different. Mcenroe
had a set point at 5-4 in the 2nd. Connors then won 11 games in a row.
Mac constantly jawing at the umpire.
Connors had 3-1 in the 3rd and 30-30.
Great return, Mcenroe floated the volley up, Connors came foward to take it in the air before Mac could recover to the open court. Connors' volley caught the tape. Another break there and I can't see him losing. Of course he'd still had Borg in the final. Unlike 84, where I agree with Mustard about him beating Lendl, Borg was another matter.
I don't think Connors had lost a set, in 84, before the semi. He had started using the midsize leading up to the Open, and it really helped his game. For awhile, at least.
PC mentioned how Mcenroe liked to change the pace versus Connors. Set point in the 3rd set of the 84 match
was an excellent example of this. It was about a 20 hit rally. Connors used to like the delayed approach if someone constantly was chipping or floating his backhand. He did just that in this rally. Timed it perfectly, had a high backhand volley, and missed it wide by about an inch.
I've said this a couple times in other threads. I think that an often overlooked strength, I mean real strength, of Mcenroe was his movement.
He could really cover the court. I felt a smidgen faster than Connors. Not quite Borg or Gerulaitis, but excellent nonetheless. This helped him in his backcourt rallies with Connors.