masters79gerulaitis_connors

Points won by each set: [ 39-37, 33-21 ]
Points won directly on serve:
31 % Gerulaitis – 22 of 70
15 % Connors – 9 of 60

“Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row” – it’s a famous phrase said by Gerulaitis [4] after beating Connors [2]. Even though Gerulaitis belonged to the strict tennis elite of the late 70s, he was regularly losing to the two best players (Borg & Connors) and ironically finished his career with a 0-17 H2H against the Swede. In January ’80 he turned the tables against Connors though, that shocking semifinal initiated a streak of his four consecutive wins over the fellow American. Connors was on his way to get the 17th straight win when he led 5:3 – Gerulaitis saved two set points in that game with two identical aces (the second one with some controversy) and grabbed 10 of the last 12 games!

Serve & volley: Gerulaitis 13/27, Connors 4/9

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