Watch peak 1984 McEnroe summon his inner 4.0 pusher

[dannyslicer]

He is a master of the angles. Master of serve placement also. Master of volley placement.
That's to compensate for his FH weird, almost seems a liability.

Everyone focused on his offense, but look at his masterful pusher defense!
As I watched this entire video, I realized JMac is a legit defensive pusher, despite his offensive net rush.

As I watched this entire video, I loved how Mac gives you one more ball.
As I watched this entire video, I saw he never overdoes it.
When out of position, he will just bunt you another ball.
Where the rec player will try to rip winner, Mac gently bunts the ball back to stay in the point.
As I watched this entire video, I was reminded of the classic 65+ 4.0 dubs masters who never overhit a ball, ever.

To anyone who doesn't understand why you lost to pusher, do watch this entire video

 

[travlerajm]

His FH is all weird, almost seems a liability.
He is a master of the angles. Master of serve placement also. Master of volley placement.
As I watched this entire video, I realized JMac is a legit pusher despite his net rush.

As I watched this entire video, I loved how Mac gives you one more ball.
As I watched this entire video, I saw he never overdoes it.
When out of position, he will just bunt you another ball.
Where the rec player will try to rip winner, Mac gently bunts the ball back to stay in the point.
As I watched this entire video, I was reminded of the classic 65+ 4.0 dubs masters who never miss a ball, ever.

To anyone who doesn't understand why you lost to pusher, do watch this entire video

Mac was my initial model for aggressive pushing style. Then he passed the torch on to Edberg.

 

[Waves]

That was awesome to watch. Thanks for posting.

Mac had his chances, and he knew it! He blew several opportunities, but also Lendl was a wall and played some clutch points.

I can see now exactly what you are saying about pushing from Mac. He just got the ball back many times with a bunt from either side. I never really considered that before. Nice catch! You could see he was almost always biding his time until he could try to get to the net. Gambled more than a few times and got burned too…like many of us, just wasn’t patient enough, haha.

Thanks again!

 

[travlerajm]

Interestingly thing for me watching this replay is that something happened to Mac that made him a bit less sharp in the second half of the match. His volleys got laggier and less precise. He started making more unforced errors, sometimes missing DTL volleys wide, and sometimes volleying too close to the center to compensate and giving Lendl too easy a shot. His game was messed up just enough that Lendl passed him in level.

 

[dannyslicer]

Mac had his chances, and he knew it! He blew several opportunities, but also Lendl was a wall and played some clutch points.

Yes, the match itself was also great.
Ivan came up with some thread the needle passing shots, repeatedly.
Super clutch.

 

[dannyslicer]

Mac's missed pass at break point at 3-3 in the 5th cost him the match

 

[travlerajm]

Mac's missed pass at break point at 3-3 in the 5th cost him the match

Yes. But by that point his level had already deteriorated to trash and he knew it.

 

[onehandbh]

One of the greatest Roland Garros finals ever.