1 Response to uo77vilas-connors

1. Voo de Mar says:

   August 18, 2020 at 5:20 pm

   Points won by each set: | 22-30, 27-25, 47-46, 29-15 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   24 % Vilas – 29 of 120
   14 % Connors – 17 of 121

   That 3-hour 16-minute duel was concluded in total chaos (players didn’t shake hands because fans stepped onto the court), Connors had a break point leading 4:1 in the 3rd set, three break points at 4:3 and two set points at 5:4* (40/15)… Both players didn’t lose a set en route to the final (14-0). It was the third & last US Open held on green-clay. “Ever since this tournament started,” Connors said, speaking from his midtown hotel, “I said this was my national championship. I said the only way anyone would get it away from me was to take it from me. And they took it from me.” Connors didn’t take part in the post-final ceremony and was fined for $1K (as a runner-up got the check for $16K). “On the last point, I saw it was out,” Vilas said about the match point, “It was so noisy, I didn’t know what was happening. The fans started shouting it was out. I turned’ to the linesman, and he said it was out.”

   Vilas’ route to his 29th title:
   1 Manuel Santana 6-1, 6-0
   2 Gene Mayer 6-3, 6-0
   3 Victor Amaya 6-3, 6-3
   4 Jose Higueras 6-3, 6-1
   Q Raymond Moore 6-1, 6-1, 6-0
   S Harold Solomon 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2
   W Jimmy Connors 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0

   ==================================================

   ☆ The 25-year-old Argentinian reached the top of the tennis world with that triumph, having won two major titles in 1977, being in the finals of three Grand Slam events (Australian Open with lower status at the time). His 1977 form was unbelievable, he distinctively won more matches & titles than anyone else, he didn’t finish the season as the No. 1 in the world though. It was just fourth year of computing tennis results, there were two major organizations (ATP & WCT) & a lot of mess. Here’s the comparison of three best players in the end of the 1977 season (finished in January ’78):

   1. Jimmy Connors… 68-14 record (82 %); 8 titles (Winner: Masters; runner-up: Wimbledon & US Open; didn’t play in Melbourne & Paris)
   2. Guillermo Vilas… 134-14 record (90 %); 16 titles (Winner: French & US Opens; runner-up: Australian Open; 3R Wimbledon)
   3. Bjorn Borg… 76-7 record (91 %); 11 titles (Winner: Wimbledon; runner-up: Masters; 4R US Open; didn’t play in Melbourne & Paris)

   38 years later the ATP began to reconsider for the second time the No. 1 for Vilas: articles in English & Spanish
   

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