1 Response to uo87lendl_wilander

1. Voo de Mar says:

   January 9, 2021 at 5:20 pm

   Wilander’s photo after his semifinal win

   Points won by each set: | 42-49, 25-5, 55-51, 38-37 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   18 % Lendl – 29 of 160
   22 % Wilander – 32 of 142

   The match lasted 4 hours 47 minutes – the longest “tie-break” four-setter in history until Roland Garros ’06 when Rafael Nadal defeats Paul-Henri Mathieu 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 after 4 hours 53 minutes (the previous record – 4:42 hrs – also co-created Wilander in a major final, vs Guillermo Vilas five years earlier in Paris ’82; they played a longer set, 103 minutes)… In the 1st set Wilander saved a set point at *6:7 (tie-break); he squandered a double set point leading 6:5* (40/15) in the 3rd set (the Swede in that set came back thrice from a break down) – the longest set in the US Open history until 2023. The only break of serve in the 4th set occurred in the last game of the championships. “I was very pumped the whole tournament,” Wilander said. “I tried from the beginning today to be really pumped because sometimes Monday finals are not easy to play. It feels like the tournament’s over and the stadium’s not full. I tried not to look around.” It was their second major final that year, in Paris they fought more than four hours too.

   Lendl’s route to his 67th title:
   1 Barry Moir 6-0, 6-0, 6-0
   2 Jean-Philippe Fleurian 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
   3 Jim Pugh 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
   4 Anders Jarryd 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4
   Q John McEnroe 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
   S Jimmy Connors 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
   W Mats Wilander 6-7(7), 6-0, 7-6(4), 6-4

   Lendl got to the final not dropping a set, demolishing in back-to-back matches the legends of the tournament (McEnroe & Connors)… He became the first man since 1969 to reach all four major semifinals within a calendar-year.

   Interesting article about the time of tennis matches (written after the final)

   Log in to Reply