Which of these marquee matchups was the greatest?
- Thread starter Clutch
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Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
Tough call, all were great.
In terms of historical importance, I'd say Laver-Rosewall helped bring more exposure to tennis than any other match('72 WCT Dallas Finals)
This match made tennis on televison into a viable option. It generated huge ratings, tv industry realized they were on to something & tennis became widely broadcasted.
Borg-McEnroe was tennis at its peak as far as interst from sports fans went(not just tennis fans tuned in) It became tennis' equivalent of Ali-Frazier. The '80 Wimbledon final is the most famous match of all time. More people around the world watched it than any other. When casual fans talk to Mac, he says this is the match they all remember.
Evert-Navratilova
They played 80 times. No two players will ever play that many times. It helped women's tennis get more respect from the media.
In terms of historical importance, I'd say Laver-Rosewall helped bring more exposure to tennis than any other match('72 WCT Dallas Finals)
This match made tennis on televison into a viable option. It generated huge ratings, tv industry realized they were on to something & tennis became widely broadcasted.
Borg-McEnroe was tennis at its peak as far as interst from sports fans went(not just tennis fans tuned in) It became tennis' equivalent of Ali-Frazier. The '80 Wimbledon final is the most famous match of all time. More people around the world watched it than any other. When casual fans talk to Mac, he says this is the match they all remember.
Evert-Navratilova
They played 80 times. No two players will ever play that many times. It helped women's tennis get more respect from the media.
joe sch
Legend
Macs SV attack was soo exciting to watch. It was also fun seeing him make a fool of himself since Bjorn never really let that stuff phase him. What a matchup. Todays power serving really makes tennis boring. I would have loved to see the Kramer and Gonzales matchups, anybody have any of this video ?
supersmash
Semi-Pro
Sampras v Agassi. Flawless tennis. No breaks of serve.
Serve-And-Volley
Rookie
My vote goes for Johnny Mac and Bjorn Borg. The fluid, voliate, American serve and volley, against the tough quiety Scandinavian baseliner. What a rivalry for the ages...
The matchup between MacEnroe and Borg was great because of the contrasting, complementing styles and characters: the quiet, athletic baseliner vs. the volatile, magic serve-and-volleyer. The same mixture was in the Martina-Chris matchup. As Kevin said, the Laver-Rosewall matches put pro tennis on the map. Alongside the Dallas-match in 1972, which drew 25 millions tv recipients, there was an important Wimbledon match in in the pro event in 1967, which Laver won 6-2,6-2,12-10. It was a great success at the gates and the tv ratings and opened the door to open tennis in 1968. It's sorry, that some of their best matches, when both were in their prime, were played on the pre open pro tour without any tv exposure or film documentation. There were great 5 setters at Paris 1963, which Rosewall won, at Wembley 1964 and Boston 1966, which Laver won in the 5th. Arthur Ashe always stated , that the best match he had seen, was the Laver-Rosewall final at the Los Angeles South West Pacific open in 1968, which Laver won over Rosewall 4-6,6-0,6-0.
wildbill88AA
Banned
actually connors-mcenroe had some great matches,although they were players of different generarations. they had contrasting styles and volatile personalitys. i can remember one match where connors came back from 2 sets down. they went into the 5th set and mcenroe began arguing about a line call. mac picked up his bag and started to walk off. connors grabbed him by the arm and wouldn't let him leave. connors went on to win the 5th set.
Evert vs Martina
*Great contrast in styles
*By far the best 2 players of their generation
*Met each other many, many times in tournament plays, may be more than the rest combine
* Many great close matches
Laver vs Rosewall - before my time
Court vs King - before my time
Borg vs Mac - was still young & did not appreciate it, Borg retired to young otherwise I'm sure this would be #1 for me
Sampras vs Agassi - Sampras beat down Agassi was too many times, not enough great matches
Hingis vs Williams - You really scraped the bottom of the barrel for your last pick... this one does not fit in
*Great contrast in styles
*By far the best 2 players of their generation
*Met each other many, many times in tournament plays, may be more than the rest combine
* Many great close matches
Laver vs Rosewall - before my time
Court vs King - before my time
Borg vs Mac - was still young & did not appreciate it, Borg retired to young otherwise I'm sure this would be #1 for me
Sampras vs Agassi - Sampras beat down Agassi was too many times, not enough great matches
Hingis vs Williams - You really scraped the bottom of the barrel for your last pick... this one does not fit in
Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
Yeah, you should have had Seles-Graf instead of Hingis-Williams(which Williams did you mean?)
killer
Semi-Pro
Have to go with Martina-Chris, if not for anything but longevity's sake...the fact that they met each other so many times in their prime makes for a great rivalry. The others are good, granted...and the first match i ever saw was Mac v Borg 1980 (i was only five!)...i could just have easily voted for that one.
Kaptain Karl
Hall Of Fame
Hands down, Borg / Mac.
(Others have covered it sufficiently.)
- KK
(Others have covered it sufficiently.)
- KK
RiosTheGenius
Hall of Fame
I would add Gambill vs Fish.
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