Edberg v McEnroe - 89 W SF (1/10)

[telmolicious]

how can edberg be 24 here when he was born in 66?

[TheKPRZ]

Why did almost every top player that time always serve and volley? Its boring, u dont see the long ball races as today.

[sandro7739]

STEFAN EDBERG: THE BEST TENNIS PLAYER OF ALL TIMES!

[tacprc]

In his younger years, McEnroe stayed fit by practicing and playing. Remember that he played both singles and doubles and went deep in most draws. Later, perhaps when he had injuries and couldn't practice or play as much, I believe that he did start working out in gyms. That's what I recall from reading his biography

[gyozop]

"Thosewere the days my friend, we thought hey'd never end" - how I miss the serve and volley game from tennis! I respect today's players as much as the old ones, but th show is just not the same.

[ToddSweeneyOnce]

Maybe my biggest disappointment ever as a tennis fan was when Chang beat Stefan to win this tournament.

[jbdoggy]

I have always loved watching Johnny serve. Someone told me that that sideways stance that he uses is to disguise his serve intentions. I dunno, but I think it also helps him put more into his trademark slice service given the greater trunk rotation involved. Can anyone explain?

[Sididouche]

A classic ;-)

[Ignozi]

What's with Bud Collins and his obsession with Edberg footfaulting?

[teflonmagnet]

@Ignozi huge advantage to a net rusher if he's on the line before contacting ball with serve. edberg wass a notorious foot faulter.

[Ignozi]

@teflonmagnet I guess it's something which comes with his style of play. Getting to net as fast as possible results in foot faults.

[Edu2503]

Shit! That net is so fucking high!

[kurtmandos66]

Federer said in a swedish interview that if he could have one shot of all the past players it would be Edbergs volley!

[assindiastignani]

@kurtmandos66 MacEnroe had magic hands and could do anything. He invented shots as he went along. Still, for me, Edberg's high backhand volley is the greatest masterpiece in men's tennis of the last forty years. A thing of beauty:

[solarveillesurtoi]

hello i'm a theater director

and i wrote a play about jmcenroe

could you please help me !

i'm looking for videos

and maybe you can send me some !

it would be a great help

i can send you first a USB flashcard

and you could send me back!

tell me if it's possible and thank you so much

grouplil@yahoo.fr

[stephraymartin]

Great, epic match on the biggest stage between two of the great serve and volleyers.

[RATio77]

those commentators who moan about edberg footfaulting all the time really have no clue. They think they can see if he touched the line from a tv perspective. WTF!

[asher29886]

serve and volley is the most exciting style of tennis, yet it has been killed off due to the new strings and rackets available making it easier to get the ball to dip down under the net. its not that player don't/can't serve and volley its just easier to get passed. they have slowed down the grass so much it is ridiculous. there is no way nadal should have a chance on grass with his big loopy shots. the ball is comes on slow and sits up alot more than it used too...

[Superapeaholic]

I loved tennis in those days. Still do, but it seems there was a better pool of players/characters/entertainer­s. Nowadays, its Federer / Nadal / Federer / Nadal / Nadal / Federer / Federer. And on the Womens, Williams, Williams, Williams, Williams, Sharapova, Williams, Williams.. Just gets old.

[templedown]

great match. if i remember right, edberg won in 3 straight tiebreakers and mac even said good job to the ump after he shook his hand.

[ginesdepasamonte]

It's not so much the players of thoday's game, it's the equipment of today's game. McEnroe put the ball on the sweet spot when the sweet spot was the size of an acorn. Give Nadal that racquet and Mac would kill him.

[ysdwdy]

IMO there is not one reason. In case of Mac, he was just not physically fit to compete with the top players of his later years. He hated to work out. Sure he is talented enough as he shows in his senior tours. But the game turned really physical starting with Lendl's dominance and the rise of Becker and Edberg. Mac frequently admitted the physical superiority of these guys.

[ginesdepasamonte]

I would agree that there are many reasons, but the new tech is one of the major factors involved in the physical premium that today's game put on players. Also, Mac was much more than talent and artistry. Mac was very fit through most of his time on tour. Just look at his super-Saturday performances. Getting married and having a family and letting up on doubles did take its toll on him in his late tour days. Even then, however, he was still the best doubles player on tour.

[pn2xtreme]

@ysdwdy He's also really fit these days! He and Martina Navratilova amaze me in their quality in play in their 50s.

[wksoh]

@ysdwdy I thought Mac couldn't compete with the likes of power tennis. But did you see the way Johnny mac took out Boris Becker. I was surprised he did with relative ease - wrong footing Becker constantly along the way. From then,.. I thought Mac was properly the best player I've seen - Bjorn Borg too.

[ysdwdy]

I always laugh when commentators like Collins blame the raquet technology. For example, Wilson Prostaff 6.0 (Edberg, Courier, Sampras,etc.) was debuted in 1984 and used even by Federer in his early pro career. I think the current Federer frame is only an upgrade version of that. Can Federer still play with orig. Prostaff? Absolutely.

[ginesdepasamonte]

@ysdwdy WABOS! In the early days of the new tech, Mac was still the best (1984 was his best year) and he was playing opponents who had also made the change. The new era did not arrive until the generation that learned tennis primarily with the new racquets showed up. That generation's arrival can be marked with Becker's first Wimbledon title. After that, Mac still stayed in the top 10 for a long time. Now, the power has even taken the Mac/Becker game out of use. Are you blind or just stupid?

[ysdwdy]

No need for that kind of language. Neither does it help your argument.

[ginesdepasamonte]

Nor does it hurt. Also, you should expect some degree of ire when you describe another's opinion on this subject as laughable. Maybe you should watch your own language first?

[BevelDevil]

@ysdwdy

It's not the equipment technology alone-- it's the technology plus the new techniques that the new technology allows to exist. Yeah, the ProStaff was around in the 80s, but players need to grow up using that technology so they can develop their strokes around it. So expect a 5-10 year lag. The new rackets has helped the return game more than the serve game. And this is even more the case with the introduction of Luxilon strings, so says Mac.

[asdfuogh]

@ysdwdy Federer can play that original frame because he grew up playing with wooden racquets (I think, based on pictures I've seen). But, does anyone seriously think Nadal can hit the same kind of shot he hits nowadays with a wooden racquet?

The thing is, I don't think anyone really doubts that players today can play with older frames; it's just that they'd play differently because net play would have more advantages than baseline play.

[climz1989]

i wanna cock smack that doof

[Fuchury]

Great players!! I saw Edberg live in 1990 versus Ivanisevic.Really a GREAT player.He had a great backhand! Many thanks for this video!

[bjornsiborgsi]

i hated bud collins commentary. he loved mcenroe, becker and sampras, and despised lendl.

[SVolleyGame]

S&v in singles is a whole different animal than doubles. Much much more difficult. Not only it requires exceptional hand to eye coordination+foot-work, one needs rock solid mentality and statistically smart ways of winning the match. Sure we can still see s&v even today (like Dent). They play heck of nice looking match but end of losing the match. It is almost like throwing a lot of punches in a boxing match to a defensive turtle but still lose. I hate that.

[pacodemic]

Its because of ivanisevic and sampras, they had to slow down tennis by making the balls slower and the lawn too, nadal wouldnt have won wimbledon in 2000 no way, and federer won paris this year partly because they made the balls way faster, söderlin would have never made it to the finals the year before,btw Willander said that too,players like edberg, mcenroe becker and even sampras wouldnt be as succesful today. they should make rackets smaller, instead of balls bigger :-)

[uuduu7]

@pacodemic

Your thinking is quite naive n simplistic ..

There's no official consensus that Wimbledon's lawn is slower, most players still say there's little difference compared to the 90s.

IRONICALLY, new racket technology made balls zip faster thru air, its measured !

Compare old vs current videos, notice speed of exchange now is much faster !

I say Nadal can win more grass titles if transported back to the 90s due to his superior retrieval n movements !

[pacodemic]

@uuduu7 ive seen a a video where they compared federers serve in 2001 with federers serve in 2008... both serves where excatly 184 km fast...but when the serve from 2001 touched the green it was bouncing like 2 times faster away than the ball in 2008.. sorry, its not naive.. and its not "thinking"... its just a fact.

[uuduu7]

@pacodemic

I do not take words for granted (so far most writers who say the courts are slower do not accompany with a COMPREHENSIVE study at all).

..

SO, pl state the video link, lets see if its a comprehensive fair comparison (taking all factors into account) or a slip-shod "observation".

..

Pls note, two serves of the same speed may have different bounce due to not just the surface, it significantly also depds on amount of spin, the quality of ball, wind, weather humidity etc ..

[juanparty]

mc enroe couldn't compite in these times, i think than he never wooul win a tournament in this time

[FirstTurnKill]

McEnroe would have dominated in any era. Obviously, he couldn't rely on the same aggressive net-attacking style; but, like all great champions, he would have found a way to adjust.

[IricForset]

He would be in the top 20 for sure, up and down, but with Federer and Nadal around, he wouldnt win any grand slams. Even the likes of underachievers, Safin, hewitt, Nalbandian could beat him.

[ysdwdy]

Granted McEnroe in his prime was physically inferior, hated to work out and had a passable ground game, if he were to be born again in this era, IMO, he would've become a very different looking player at the top.

[pacodemic]

juanparty, players like

Connors, Lendl, McEnroe, Borg, Nastase, Villas, Willander and Rod Lavor would be top players in any aera. McEnroe would win many tournements.

But they would probably play a different style

[kusta345]

classic macenroe

[IDWTPH]

Anyone else miss Stefan Edberg?

[snrbaires]

Thanks for uploading this footage. Mac & Edberg both had first volleys which were out of this world.

[MultiStar83]

Oh yes, I miss the serve & volley style, too, but the problem is that today this style of play (pure serve & volley) from guys like Edberg or McEnroe probably could not be successful anymore. The reason for this is that even grass is so much slower than in the 80s and 90s and the passing shots and returns from guys like Federer or Nadal are extremely good. They can hit passing shots from nearly everywhere on the court, so that even Edberg or McEnroe would have their problems...

[juic889]

I think the real problem is that wide body rackets should be banned. Tennis player should use conventional rackets instead so they can really put some real power and be more creative in how they construct a point.

If this ever happens, they I would see a different Nadal and Federer...Federer of course has more creativity, Nadal has more power in his forehand which really hurts Federer.

-t

[JimAsian1]

I disagree that Serve and Volley can't reemerge. The problem is that no one has the courage to be different and try to play serve and volley. And if some do, they may not be as talented. And no one wants to take the time to learn serve and volley and perfect the skills.

So I guess until someone thinks differently, your assumption is right. I hope someone comes along to disprove your views that serve and volley can't make it today.

[JimAsian1]

I shouldn't say there are no talented serve and volleyers today, maybe there are. But not as talented as John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, or Pete Sampras.

[MultiStar83]

I agree with your view that nobody has the courage today to play differently (serve & volley). And I even believe that a guy like Federer could do it quite successfully. He has all the skills and has done it in the past very consistently (i.e. watch his match with Sampras at Wimbledon 2001) and even today he does it from time to time, but in my opinion not frequently enough.

[JimAsian1]

But I do respect your views. Peace.

[ysdwdy]

Even during Edberg's days, serve & volleyers (meaning those playing that way consistently) were relatively few. Edberg was really the only one from Sweden before and since.

[ysdwdy]

Bjorkman was an excellent serve & volleyer but was not such a big factor in singles. Another one I liked was Todd Woodbridge - a genius of a player, but he also didn't have much success in singles. I think it takes much more than having just a good serve & volley game to make it in singles. Edberg & McEnroe obviously had them.

[Summon256]

@MultiStar83 i know exactly how to make it so i could block nearly ANY PASSING shot Nadal sends me...and i'm sure Edberg does too...it doesn't matter how angled your passing shot is, it doesn't matter how powerful it is, the REACTION and SPEEd - what matters the most...i can block half of the net reacting almost immediately after the Nadal's swing...blocking half of the net...

[Aaronthegreatest]

@Summon256 oh good! sign up for the ATP then and put those bums in their place :D

[Summon256]

@Aaronthegreatest i wish i could...i really do...but i have some serious money issues...

[receipt22]

that is how tennis should be played on grass.

the stupid baseline rallies we see today should be a banned forever and all times. that's how you can play on clay but not on grass.

[xVincex8]

wtf is that, they just serve and volley after. come on..

[bryanj2u]

wow rallies are soo short back in the old days. now its like 30 hits per rally cus there are no serve n vollyers left

[v2174230322]

the two greatest serve volleyers ever

[ToddSweeneyOnce]

@v2174230322 Absolutely.

[fred29600]

pure grass player!!

[tenniscollector]

hey thanks for uploading this. I too remember the match watching here in australia. Mac had a long four setter 4 hour match in the quarters vs mats wilander. Mac in the autumn of his singles professional career would go on to reach a Semifinal at the U.S Open in 1990 but lost 6-2,6-4,3-6,6-3 to Pete Sampras. I'll be looking for a copy of this one.

[johnp1727]

I remember this match well. It was one of McEnroe's best shots at winning a major in the latter half of his career. He lit up Wimbledon '89 with his thrilling five-set win over Darren Cahill in the first round after being down two sets to none and a brilliant win over Wilander in the quarters. Adding to the drama were the death threats he received during the tournament. Man, he had chances in this match. It would have been awesome to see him play a red-hot Becker in the final.

[Apathian]

Young Edberg looked like movie star material.

[BluffnWin72]

I remember watching this match in the summer of '89. Previously, McEnroe had picked on Edberg's weaker forehand, but not in this match. McEnroe modified his service by slowing it down. It was definitely a great battle between the top two serve and volleyers in the game. Thanks again for uploading this masterpiece!!!

[flircat]

This is great!! I would buy it on DVD if you have it.

[angryniggah]

your posts are grrrrrrrreat!!!

thanks