Connors vs. Agassi

Connors vs. Agassi
US-Open 89 QF Agassi won 6:1, 4:6, 0:6, 6:3, 6:4
Just a few points i found on an old VHS tape

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Connors
• vs.
• Agassi
• jimmy
• connors
• andre
• agassi
• tennis
• usopen
• connorsvsagassi
• uso
• uso89
• us-open
• us-open89
• 1989

[tennisboi]

wow what a match... isnt this the one where they go five sets and conors get really sick halfway through? thanks for the video!

[pacodemic]

Yes, Connors was too tired in the 5th set, but would have won it if it was best of 3, you can see the score at 1:28 for a moment :-)

[VerdascoFan]

@pacodemic If it was best of 3 it wouldnt be a slam. No point trying to use that to defend Connors.

[pacodemic]

@VerdascoFan He was like 40 years old, Agassi was like 20

THATS why i mentioned the best of 3 thing.

and this was a SEMI-FINAL so he had to win a few matches before.

And this IS a good defense ...lol.

when YOU become 40 you will realize

[3434arc1]

Yep. In Agassi's book "Open" it was Sampras that was the terrible tipper, though other than that, Agassi makes him sound like a decent guy. Connors, on the other hand, was an arrogant condescending nasty piece of work.

[jlr0926]

such a fun match to watch; great ground strokes and love to watch Connors attacking at the net. He was twice Andre's age when they played this match...they are both great players, but despite similar # of slams, Connors accomplished much more over his entire career. I'd say both faced some top notch competition in their respective eras. FYI...Connors beat Agassi handily at an exhibition not long after this match using the same strategy.

[JIM2oob]

@3434arc1 Connors was known to be rude and a sore loser as was Pancho Gonzales - legendary for being a REALLY sore loser although he rarely lost. (Something about being super competitive). On the other hand, both were great commentators - praising other players while being humble about their own great accomplishments. Agassi was the flip side - nicest of the nice guys.

[JIM2oob]

@pacodemic Good points. Nice to see crossover between generations for some perspective - these two are 18 YRS apart! Connors serve was one of the weakest on the tour while Agassi had one of the greatest return of serves in history as did Connors. What was that bagel about? Thanks for the post!

[alin1975]

@TheTopspin77

Very nice talking to you too :)

[TheTopspin77]

@alin1975 : I guess I can agree with you on this point, especially if you rank Agassi 6th/7th all time. Good analysis buddy. It was nice debating you : )

[alin1975]

@TheTopspin77

I am not just waiting for these replies lol - I just happened to log in :)

I agree that Fed and Sampras are probably best, but remember that players like Borg usually only played 3 slams/year (also slam counting is a fairly recent thing).

I think the competition was similar. Connors faced a peak Borg, Mac, & Lendl and similar aging/2nd-tier players.

I rank Agassi joint 6th/7th with Mac, so maybe its not "far ahead" but Connors's record is better in every way imo.

[TheTopspin77]

@alin1975 : You make a valid point but Agassi also played at a time when Sampras and Federer were at their peak. These are two guys who have won the most Grand Slams in the history of the sport. Both Sampras and Federer beat Agassi in grand slam finals and he still has eight slams. Connors is great but I don't think he's that far ahead of Agassi.

[alin1975]

@TheTopspin77

Connors did not play the French in his prime due to a dispute. Moreover, in that era the Aussie was not considered an important tour. Connors went twice in his career and won it once. Despite this, he won as many slams as Agassi. More importantly, he spent 268 weeks at no1(!!!) to Agassi's 101. He has 148 tournaments to Agassi's 68. He has 2 doubles slams to none.

I like Agassi very much, but Connors is imo the nr 5 best player of the open era.

[TheTopspin77]

@alin1975 ; Why are you saying that? Agassi won 8 grand slams and won the French which Jimmy Connors never did. In addition Agassi played against Sampras and Federer in their prime who both have won more grand slams than any other men in history. Connors was a great player but I will never say he was better than Agassi in his prime.

[camvantasco]

This was awesome. Thanks for posting it.