1 Response to ao80teacher_warwick

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 22, 2022 at 9:46 pm

   Points won by each set: | 36-31, 41-39, 35-24 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   30 % Teacher – 30 of 100
   27 % Warwick – 29 of 106

   The most forgotten major final of the Open Era? So obscure, that in many sources (including Wikipedia), Teacher won the 3rd set 6-2, if fact he won it 6-3… In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to compare Australian Open with other Slams for the years 1968-88 because the event held at Kooyong was less prestigious #. Nevertheless in those years always at least one finalist was an elite player, except the year 1980. Teacher [11] never played a major semifinal in his 32 other Slams while Warwick [36] never did the same in his other 36 Slam appearances. Neither of those seeded players (8 & 14) took part in the season-ending Masters, albeit Teacher was quite close thanks to his AO triumph. The year 1980 was the best in his career, he was 26 at the time, played six finals losing five before the Aussie Open conclusion in which he was a distinctive favorite: higher ranked, had won their only match before, and Warwick finished his semifinal a day before with an injured right shoulder. “I don’t want to use it as an excuse, I probably wouldn’t have won anyhow,” Warwick said. When he woke up on the day, he found he could not even raise his right arm. “I couldn’t pick up a cup of tea,” . [ A few hours later Warwick triumphed in doubles, alongside Mark Edmondson ]. I think the forehand separated them. The first two sets were balanced, Warwick was 3 and 2 points away to win them. In the tie-break he was a victim of terrible umpiring: at 4-all he fired a service winner, but the linesman called it ‘out’, then he changed his decision and the umpire awarded the point to Warwick. Teacher protested, claiming the linesman’s voice affected his return, which was untrue in my opinion. The umpire changed his decision for the second time awarding two serves to Warwick – he lost three points in a row and it discouraged him in the following set – Teacher built a 3:0* advantage and fully controlled the rest of the final.

   Teacher’s route to his 4th title:
   2 Tim Mayotte 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6
   3 Ulrich Marten 6-2, 7-6, 7-6
   4 John Austin 6-4, 6-1, 7-6
   Q Paul McNamee 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6
   S Peter McNamara 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
   W Kim Warwick 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3

   # Four best players of 1980: Borg, McEnroe, Connors, G.Mayer – none of them took part in the ’80 event

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