 |
Tennis, Everyone?
It's Been Three Decades Since a Few Far-Sighted Officials Rocked the Staid Amateur Tennis Establishment and Jolted the Game into the Modern Era
Bruce Goldman
From the Print Edition:
Michael Richards, Sep/Oct 97
(continued from page 4)
1983--Restaging their 1982 final, Connors bests Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-0, to win his fifth title, the most U.S. men's singles championships since Bill Tilden won seven (1920-25, '29).
1984--On the day known in Open lore as Super Saturday, all four matches on the stadium court go the distance. After Smith defeats John Newcombe in a senior men's semi, Lendl saves a match point to beat Pat Cash in the men's semis, Martina avratilova ousts Evert to take the women's title and McEnroe, the eventual champ, outlasts Connors in the nightcap.
1988--Steffi Graf joins Connolly and Court in the record books by capturing the Grand Slam with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 conquest of Gabriela Sabatini, then adds the "Golden Slam" to her collection by winning the Olympic gold medal in Seoul.
1990--Pete Sampras becomes the youngest men's champion at 19 years and 28 days with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 pasting of Andre Agassi.
1991--Seventeen years after he embarrasses Rosewall, Connors, then 39 himself, falls to Jim Courier in the semifinals, but not before mesmerizing Open crowds with come-from-behind victories over Patrick McEnroe and Aaron Krickstein.
1994--Agassi becomes the first unseeded player in the Open era to claim the title, knocking off five seeded foes, including No. 4 Michael Stich in the final, 6-1, 7-6, 7-5.
1995--Monica Seles reaches the final in only her second tournament since being stabbed in the back nearly two and a half years earlier, falling to Graf, 7-6, 6-0, 6-3.
1996--Sampras survives fatigue and stomach pains in pulling out a dramatic, five-set quarterfinal victory over Alex Corretja, then goes on to record his fourth U.S. title with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 triumph over Michael Chang.
--BG
You must be logged in to post a comment.
RSS