Wilander-Lendl 1983 AusOpen final

[mattennis]

Mats Wilander winning his second GS tournament ( he was 19 ).

The grass-courts of the AusOpen had a higher bounce than Wimbledon's grass (in general, also depending on the wheather and other circumstances), and both players stayed back and played a lot of nice rallyes on second serves. Also Wilander's net game looked better than Lendl's in this match. Wilander defeated McEnroe in the SF, so he defeated both nº1 and nº2 players in the world in SF and F for this great win.

This was Lendl's fourth GS final (he lost to Bjorn Borg in five sets in 1981 Roland Garros, and lost to Connors both in four sets in 1982 and 1983 US OPEN finals).

It was Wilander's third GS final (he won 1982 Roland Garros, at 17, defeating in succession Lendl, Gerulaitis, Clerc and Vilas in the last four rounds, and he lost to Noah the following year, 1983, in the Roland Garros final).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJUBD6t2VcU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZy2ZX4LYJY


When Wilander won Roland Garros in 1985 (defeating again nº1 player in the world McEnroe in the SF and nº2 player in the world Ivan Lendl in the final), it was his fourth GS title and he was just 20 years old. He was the youngest player (at least in the Open Era) to win four GS titles.

 

[kiki]

I recall it perfectly, and it was considered to be a big surprise since Wilander had never made it to the Wimbledon quarters ( he was defeated by Teacher in 1982 and by Tanner in 1983)

Mats adapted pretty well to the high bouncing kooyong park, and, like Vilas, won two Australian Open on grass ( and a third on hard)

But unlike Vilas, whose two titles came in the context of poor draws, mats wins coincided with the reemergence of the AO after a decade of weak attendances and, generally speaking, poor draws ( at least for a gran slam event).Mats also took the 84 Open with a great four sets win over Curren.No fluke at all.

 

[mattennis]

Yes, the 1984 final Wilander-Curren is a great match I have watched several times.

Curren played with his wood racquet (may have been the last player in a GS final playing with an all-wood 65 s.i. racquet), and even though his serve was (as always) amazing, the return of serve was the key. Wilander with his graphite racquet with bigger head, made many many great returns that would have been almost impossible with a wood 65 s.i. racquet like that of Curren.

Wilander is one of the smartest tennis players I have ever seen.

 

[kiki]

Curren was in his best year, that of 1985, reaching the two biggest grass events finals on a row.He laos beat the world´s three best players of the time, Lendl at Australian and connors and Mc enroe at Wimbledon.

That was a great year for Kevin.Had his opponent in the final been any other than becker, he may have been already a Wimbly champ.

 

[big ted]

the ausopen back then must have played like wimbledon does now for wilander to beat mcenroe on grass thats an accomplishment.

 

[magnut]

Wilander IS the smartest player there has ever been. Others are close but Mats is the king in this area. All one has to do is watch his US Open win over Lendl. Matts actually served and volleyed a lot in that match (even on match point). He gets little to no respect on these forums. A great player to watch as well. I have never seen him play on grass though.

I think I might order some of his early matces. I am guessing he is Borg like as he was a pretty straight laced baseliner in those days (even though Borg could s&V as well).

 

[jean pierre]

Vilas beated excellent grass players in AO, like Chris Lewis (Wimbledon finalist), Victor Amaya or Tony Roche. He also won the Masters in Kooyong, beating Borg, Newcombe and Nastase ! Vilas was a great australian grass player (and Wilander also).

I recall it perfectly, and it was considered to be a big surprise since Wilander had never made it to the Wimbledon quarters ( he was defeated by Teacher in 1982 and by Tanner in 1983)

Mats adapted pretty well to the high bouncing kooyong park, and, like Vilas, won two Australian Open on grass ( and a third on hard)

But unlike Vilas, whose two titles came in the context of poor draws, mats wins coincided with the reemergence of the AO after a decade of weak attendances and, generally speaking, poor draws ( at least for a gran slam event).Mats also took the 84 Open with a great four sets win over Curren.No fluke at all.

 

[kiki]

Vilas beated excellent grass players in AO, like Chris Lewis (Wimbledon finalist), Victor Amaya or Tony Roche. He also won the Masters in Kooyong, beating Borg, Newcombe and Nastase ! Vilas was a great australian grass player (and Wilander also).

True, and he also beat John Alexander, a top ten player for some time.

Vilas understood the high bouncing effects at Kooyong in the same way Wilander did.

 

[kiki]

Wilander IS the smartest player there has ever been. Others are close but Mats is the king in this area. All one has to do is watch his US Open win over Lendl. Matts actually served and volleyed a lot in that match (even on match point). He gets little to no respect on these forums. A great player to watch as well. I have never seen him play on grass though.

I think I might order some of his early matces. I am guessing he is Borg like as he was a pretty straight laced baseliner in those days (even though Borg could s&V as well).[/QU

Agreed, Mats was a great champion and a special character in one of the most, if not most competitive eras.

 

[Nadal_Power]

One of the strangest Grass match I ever watched! There were 16 rallyes with 20 shots or more, going to 37 in few points. And they attacked backhand side of opponent like lunatics

 

[bluetrain4]

Wilander IS the smartest player there has ever been. Others are close but Mats is the king in this area. All one has to do is watch his US Open win over Lendl. Matts actually served and volleyed a lot in that match (even on match point). He gets little to no respect on these forums. A great player to watch as well. I have never seen him play on grass though.

I think I might order some of his early matces. I am guessing he is Borg like as he was a pretty straight laced baseliner in those days (even though Borg could s&V as well).

"
I think he gets respect, but he is overshadowed by others. He was one of those players who simply flamed out fairly young. After '88 he just wasn't the same. And, he could have been. But, he wasn't fully engaged. He was still on tour, but not fully "there" for a number of years.

 

[Goosehead]

wilander beat McEnroe in the SF as well.

 

[Mustard]

wilander beat McEnroe in the SF as well.

Yes, something of an upset win for Wilander. McEnroe won 42 matches in a row after that loss.

 

[Kirijax]

Wilander is one of the greatest players ever. He won on all the surfaces, and even has a Wimbledon title ('86 doubles). He actually has a winning record against Lendl in GS finals. It was too bad that he lost his edge after '88 but I've heard different reasons fro that. But he'll always be in the talks for the list of greatest players.

 

[timnz]

Australian Open 1985

Curren was in his best year, that of 1985, reaching the two biggest grass events finals on a row.He laos beat the world´s three best players of the time, Lendl at Australian and connors and Mc enroe at Wimbledon.

That was a great year for Kevin.Had his opponent in the final been any other than becker, he may have been already a Wimbly champ.

Curren didn't reach the Australian Open final in 1985 and he didn't beat Lendl. Lendl lost to Edberg in a very close 5 set match in the semi's. And Edberg beat Wilander in the final.

Note: I just checked! You mean the 1984 Australian Open, where Curren made the final and beat Lendl in the 4th round. Sorry for confusion.

 

[Pebbles10]

Why Wilander did not play as great after 1988 is because he lost his biggest fan...his dad. His Dad got very sick in 1989 and died the same year.

 

[Mustard]

Why Wilander did not play as great after 1988 is because he lost his biggest fan...his dad. His Dad got very sick in 1989 and died the same year.

A tragedy for Mats, of course, but his motivation for tennis was already suffering by late 1988. He just didn't have a cruise game, and in order to play well, had to prepare extremely well and go into a cocoon of concentration, which is mentally draining. Once the high of getting to number 1 had worn off, he realised that he would have to work even harder in order to stay there, and that just didn't get his competitive juices flowing.

 

[Goosehead]

also..mats was booked to be on the flight that was blown up over Lockerbie on dec 22nd 1988..

luckily he missed the departure time.

 

[Nostradamus]

Mats Wilander strokes has to be the most correct balanced strokes ever in tennis

 

[magnut]

A tragedy for Mats, of course, but his motivation for tennis was already suffering by late 1988. He just didn't have a cruise game, and in order to play well, had to prepare extremely well and go into a cocoon of concentration, which is mentally draining. Once the high of getting to number 1 had worn off, he realised that he would have to work even harder in order to stay there, and that just didn't get his competitive juices flowing.

Didnt know that. Pretty sad actually. The thing is with Mats is he won with his mind. Mental burnouts are a tough thing to come back from and they take a loooong time. Only thing is in Mens tennis you dont have long. I think he did pretty well once he came back and the game was fun again. I dont think Mats ever really won a match easily.

The great thing about Wilander is that he still really loves the game. He does his own thing on a small scale and is comforable with that. He really was never cut out to be a figurehead of the sport. He just doesnt like all the attention. Rios was in a similar manner. Look where Mats is now...living in Idaho...not exactly a tennis hotbed.

Matts is just a regular guy. You could probably approach him on the street and he would be sincerely nice and polite to you.

I will put it this way. I am not a autograph hound and meeting players is not really something that would interest me...However...someday I would like to introduce my sons to a few when they are a little older (maybe 10). The only male players I would really approach to shake my sons hand would be Wilander or Edberg (maybe Rafter...maybe). For female players I would like them to meet Carillo some day. Anyone else....eh, not really interested.

 

[magnut]

also..mats was booked to be on the flight that was blown up over Lockerbie on dec 22nd 1988..

luckily he missed the departure time.

Wow, didnt know that either. You guys are full of facts. If Matts would have died he would be a GOAT contender for a lot more people.

 

[kiki]

Curren didn't reach the Australian Open final in 1985 and he didn't beat Lendl. Lendl lost to Edberg in a very close 5 set match in the semi's. And Edberg beat Wilander in the final.

Note: I just checked! You mean the 1984 Australian Open, where Curren made the final and beat Lendl in the 4th round. Sorry for confusion.

Yes, I tend to place the AO in the following year since it was mostly played between Christmas and new Year eve.

Imagine there were 2 AO in 77 but none in 86...why not place Vitas win in 78 and then go on so Edberg´s first tile is for 86? and every eyar would have its AO.

 

[kiki]

Didnt know that. Pretty sad actually. The thing is with Mats is he won with his mind. Mental burnouts are a tough thing to come back from and they take a loooong time. Only thing is in Mens tennis you dont have long. I think he did pretty well once he came back and the game was fun again. I dont think Mats ever really won a match easily.

The great thing about Wilander is that he still really loves the game. He does his own thing on a small scale and is comforable with that. He really was never cut out to be a figurehead of the sport. He just doesnt like all the attention. Rios was in a similar manner. Look where Mats is now...living in Idaho...not exactly a tennis hotbed.

Matts is just a regular guy. You could probably approach him on the street and he would be sincerely nice and polite to you.

I will put it this way. I am not a autograph hound and meeting players is not really something that would interest me...However...someday I would like to introduce my sons to a few when they are a little older (maybe 10). The only male players I would really approach to shake my sons hand would be Wilander or Edberg (maybe Rafter...maybe). For female players I would like them to meet Carillo some day. Anyone else....eh, not really interested.

For a while, as a hobby, I did some coverage for a tennis magazine.I interviewed, among other top players, Mats Wilander.He was just plain, very polite, friendly although shy.But he always had that smart face and looks, the guy is just a very brilliant guy who just decided to become a tennis pro.But I am sure this guy would have succeeded doing anything else.