Björn Borg vs Ilie Nastase Wimby F 1976 (3 of 4)

The Ice Man storms ahead -- dominating a brilliantly playing Nastase achieving one of the Holy Grails of tennis -- going 21-0 in sets at the world's greatest tennis tournament -- a feat never matched before or since in tennis history when both professional and amateur players have been allowed to compete in the draw. This record being made even more remarkable considering that Ilie also hadn't lost a set arriving into the final -- never, ever occurring before or since that both finalists distinguished themselves like that. Borg went on scoring 41 straight -- on-court -- victorious matches at Wimbledon at only 25 years of age -- also an unmatched record to this day -- made even more mind-boggling when one considers that he was ultimately seen as primarily a clay court master during a time filled with some of greatest grass-court serve and volleyers and aggressive players the world has ever seen -- among them John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. The ATP pro tennis players in a great majority -- and many experts -- voted Borg as the No. 1 tennis player player in the world of 1976, an honor also awarded to him in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 -- scoring the highest game-winning percentages in the Open Era during his reign -- unmatched still to this day and achieving such unsurpassed domination when the surface-speeds where more polarized than ever before or since and despite being challenged by great specialized experts on both the fastest and the slowest surfaces. Note how sharply Jack Kramer points out Björn's remarkable clutch and brilliance when playing the most crucial points -- traits that's on display already here and was The Ice Man's trademark throughout his prime. Out of the total 220 points in this final: 89 of them ended with clean winner by either player -- or 40.5% out all points played -- 24,1% for Borg (or 43.44 % out of his own 122 points) and Nastase made 16.4% -- 36.7% of his 98 points won. In only 34 games and only armed with his tiny wood-racquet Borg hammered 53 clean winners (including service aces) past Ilie Nastase, who clocked 36 clean winners including service aces) and played a great match here -- served and volleyed marvelously himself (both players nailing 62% of their first serves) , consistently rocketed venomous returns at the Swede and, most surprisingly, made fewer errors than Borg in rallies -- 39 to Björn's 41 (total errors ended at 62 for Borg -- making 19 return errors and 2 DF's -- and 69 errors for Nastase -- making 27 return errors and 3 DF's) yet Nastase was routed -- decisively -- in straight sets by what many believe are still the greatest, fastest and most surface versatile player who ever walked onto a tennis court...

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Björn Borg
• Ilie Nastase
• Wimbledon
• Tennis