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

A classic match between two former champions Stefan Edberg & John McEnroe

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• tennis
• serve
• volley
• lesson

[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.

[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.

[juanparty]

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

[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]

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 :-)

[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!

[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:

[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.

[Summon256]

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

[Aaronthegreatest]

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

[pn2xtreme]

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

[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.