1983 Australian Open, Wilander v. Lendl

The final -- Mats Wilander d. Ivan Lendl 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• tennis
• Wilander
• Lendl

[lifebajs91]

can somone tell me if these two were rivals?

[krosero]

They were indeed. Coming into this match Wilander had taken their French Open meeting and Lendl had taken their two meetings at the U.S. Open. Wilander also beat Lendl in the 1985 French and 1988 U.S. Open finals. Lendl beat Wilander at the 1984 French Open and in the 1987 French and U.S. Open finals.

[notthelastword]

Head 2 Head Lendl 15 Wilander 7. In Slam finals 6-3 to Lendl.

[krosero]

No, Wilander had the advantage in Slam finals, 3-2. In all Slam meetings, Lendl led 5-4.

[gugalpm]

No surprise nobody cared about the AO when the 83 finalists were Wilander and Lendl. That's not grass tennis at all.

[krosero]

Actually 1983 marked the resurgence of this tournament, precisely because the top players in the world participated (Lendl at #1, McEnroe at #2, Wilander #5). The period when "nobody cared" ended in 1982. And I wouldn't place too much emphasis on that long rally; Wilander was coming in to net. That's how he beat McEnroe in the semis.

[nizzam1]

wow two greats in action, especially lendl i wonder why ppl say he was not good on grass after all he reached the aus open final here when it was played on grass, reached consecutive wimbledon finals in 86 n 87, reached the semis in 88, 89, won a couple of titles at queens club as well....... i guess it is because most ppl hated him thus they say all sorts of negative things abt him to undermine his greatness

[ferrari79100]

the centre court of Kooyong was beautiful, a court of another time

[fromanotherstar]

Always loved the way Mats played....hardly any power, great consistency, great in the mental department...very smart....by 88 he had total mastery of all the shots culminating in the US open win over the great lendl

[pme96]

I wonder if they both relaxed with a few marlboros after those long rallies?

[melendes1966]

@goodyears73

Lend was always trying to win Wimbledon tournament, he led by 2 sets to 1 vs Becker in semis of wimbledon in 1989, but he finaly lost by 3 sets to 2

[gugalpm]

@melendes1966 No it's not. Watch Edberg on grass. That's grass tennis.

[goodyears73]

@nizzam1 well said ...in you tube search "lendl vs becker at Queens" and you can see how Ivan improved in serve and volley play ... for istance grass specialist as Edberg or Becker did nothing on clay.

Lendl efforts to win Wimbledon deserved better luck ...

[melendes1966]

@gugalpm

That's grass tennis Marcel

[mandisgoj]

@lifebajs91 Yes they where. They met eachother several times, in French Open for example. But they are friends now :)

[alin1975]

Ahh... the good old days.

Back when it was possible to have different playing styles in tennis.

These two players were amazing. Lendl is definitely one of the top 5 of the open era and Wilander probably top 10 or so. I was a big fan of Wilander back in the day :)

[ineverglid]

I'd forgotten how quaint the old Australian Open venue was, but make no mistake any of you who think this was a genteel era in tennis. Lendl and Wilander both raised the bar in men's tennis. Without them you would be seeing the game as you see it today. It was Lendl who inspired Sampras to maximise his physical fitness and Federer today almost seems like a hybrid between Lendl and Sampras. In addition, both Lendl and Wilander were far better volleyers than most players today.

[ulizinho]

@gugalpm

was the lawn there faster or slower then in Wimby?