What was the cause of Lendl dominating McEnroe early in his career, and why the change in 1983?

[timnz]

Lendl dominated McEnroe early in his career. From 1980 to 1982 inclusive, Lendl led 7-2. The dominance became so strong that in 1981 to 1982 inclusive, McEnroe only won 1 set in 7 matches against Lendl!

Then in 1983 the tide changed.

In Philadelphia in 1983 McEnroe won in 4 sets. It was the last time they played with McEnroe having a wooden racket. Some weeks later - the 1983 WCT Finals was decided on a 5th set tie breaker with McEnroe winning. That was the first major tournament that McEnroe played with the Graphite racket.

So the two questions are:

1/ Why did Lendl dominate McEnroe early on?

2/ What made for the change in 1983?

Some reasons I have heard about the change in dominance are:

a/ Don Budge advising McEnroe to approach down the centre to avoid Lendl's running passing shots ie cut down the angles.

b/ The change to graphite by McEnroe in May of 1983 to give him more power.

I particularly would like answers to the earlier question. Why the early dominance of Lendl over McEnroe?

 

[KG1965]

A good thread.

It would be good too
Why Borg to top Mac suffered in 79-80 , when he suffered the Mac game Connors ?

Borg suffered because the game Connors until 1977 and after Connors does not win more ?

Lendl was suffering because the game Connors ran until the American (1984 ) ?

 

[KG1965]

n my opinion Mac was excellent in 1979-80 , he was the opponent of Borg in the two-year period of phenomenal Swedish .
It was strong in the legs and arms and had strength .
In 1981-1983 McEnroe lost weight and strength , won so much but it was less effective , although there was Borg . And Lendl and Connors took advantage .
In 1984 Supermac back sharply on but is the last ray of light .

Lendl was the most violent player in tennis history , drew much stronger than Borg and Connors and Mac could not stand so much violence in the shots .

 

[Moose Malloy]

I particularly would like answers to the earlier question. Why the early dominance of Lendl over McEnroe?

Well, Lendl was pretty dominant over almost everyone in 1982, not just Mac (15 titles, 106-9 record. outside of the majors he was probably the best player in the world that year. not to shabby in '81 either - 96-14. He actually had higher win %'s those years than he did in '83 or '84)

I took stats on their '82 USO SF, some good answers to your question here from krosero and articles from that time
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/stats-for-1982-uso-sf-lendl-mcenroe.373112/

Basically the answer is Lendl's power overwhelmed Mac to some degree(John Newcombe called Lendl's fh in '82, "the hardest I've ever seen anyone hit a fh") and he was indecisive in his tactics. He decided(with help of graphite racquet, though as you say he already turned the tide with wood in '83 Philly final) to attack Lendl's 2nd serve more in '83. Lendl got away with low serve %'s in most of their matches in '81/'82 because Mac wasn't attacking 2nd serves. Watch '82 USO & '84 USO back to back to see how different his approach was. He was just relentless in his attack in '84, while in '82 he quite often stayed back and rallied with Lendl(bad idea).

 

[hoodjem]

When did Mac switch to the graphite Dunlop?

(I think he had it by 1984.)

 

[hoodjem]

Watch '82 USO & '84 USO back to back to see how different his approach was. He was just relentless in his attack in '84, while in '82 he quite often stayed back and rallied with Lendl (bad idea).

Only a Borg could out rally Lendl.

Yep, bad idea for Mac (with his atrocious ground strokes).

 

[urban]

Mac had a pattern that worked against Lendl in 1983/84: He attacked the second serve of Lendl with a slice to the backhand. Lendl's answer always was a down the line backhand, which Mac was waiting for with his backhand volley into the empty court. After many losses, Lendl did learn a cross court backhand, and the first steps to this new backhand cross came in the RG 1984 final during the course of the match. Mac was always a bit vulnerable against long, flat hitters, he did better against topspinners like Borg. As i saw from close by in a training match at the Duesseldorf WTC in 1984 with Jimmy Arias, at the baseline Mac stood always one meter in the court, and played a blocking game without much backswing, always leaning back with his upper body. His baseline shots looked a bit cramped, but at his peak he got away with it with his good footwork, timing and anticipation. It was like table tennis (and i do remember a British ping pong player named Douglas, who played a similar game).

 

[Arafel]

Only a Borg could out rally Lendl.

Yep, bad idea for Mac (with his atrocious ground strokes).

First, J Mac's groundies aren't atrocious. They were actually quite effective, and I think very underrated because of the brilliance of his serve and volley game. But I've seen matches where Mac wins plenty of points from the baseline.

Second, Borg wasn't the only player who could out-rally Lendl in this period. Jimmy Connors was actually very effective against Lendl from the backcourt. Lendl gave Jimmy lots of pace, and Jimmy ate it up.

 

[goldenera]

Lendl dominated McEnroe early in his career. From 1980 to 1982 inclusive, Lendl led 7-2. The dominance became so strong that in 1981 to 1982 inclusive, McEnroe only won 1 set in 7 matches against Lendl!

Then in 1983 the tide changed.

In Philadelphia in 1983 McEnroe won in 4 sets. It was the last time they played with McEnroe having a wooden racket. Some weeks later - the 1983 WCT Finals was decided on a 5th set tie breaker with McEnroe winning. That was the first major tournament that McEnroe played with the Graphite racket.

So the two questions are:

1/ Why did Lendl dominate McEnroe early on?

2/ What made for the change in 1983?

Some reasons I have heard about the change in dominance are:

a/ Don Budge advising McEnroe to approach down the centre to avoid Lendl's running passing shots ie cut down the angles.

b/ The change to graphite by McEnroe in May of 1983 to give him more power.

I particularly would like answers to the earlier question. Why the early dominance of Lendl over McEnroe?

Mac changed the way he attacked Ivan
And was a bit fitter,too
It was like cat and mousse
Lendl changed that tide in 85