1 Response to philadelphia83mcenroe_lendl

1. Voo de Mar says:

   February 19, 2016 at 6:43 am

   Points won by each set: | 30-37, 46-43, 36-31, 30-18 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   39 % McEnroe – 50 of 127
   30 % Lendl – 44 of 144

   That three-hour final turned the tables in the McEnroe-Lendl rivalry. Even though McEnroe ended seasons 1981-82 as the best player in the world, he couldn’t deal at that time with his biggest contender – Lendl (it was a time in tennis history when McEnroe’s former biggest rival – Borg suspended his career). The Czechoslovak, after losing the first two encounters to McEnroe [3], had won their seven consecutive meetings, dropping just 1 set out of 21 as he entered the 2nd set of their final in Philadelphia! In that pivotal set, McEnroe already had two set points at 5:2*, but needed six SPs in total to end the terrible streak of 11 sets lost in a row to Lendl [2]. In the 3rd set the American trailed 3:4 (15/40) when erased two mini-set points with service winners. “It was an important win for me,” the top-seeded McEnroe said after registering his 31st victory in his last 32 Grand Prix matches and collecting the $54,000 first prize. “I’m not going to pretend that it was a run-of-the-mill-type thing. I needed to win.”

   McEnroe’s route to his 40th title:
   1 John Sadri 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3
   2 Mike De Palmer 7-6(6), 6-2
   Q Eliot Teltscher 6-3, 7-6(3)
   S Tim Mayotte 6-3, 6-3
   W Ivan Lendl 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-3

   * McEnroe snapped Lendl’s 66-match winning streak indoors! Lendl had also won 17 matches in a row (20 counting tournament in Antwerp ’82).
   * McEnroe’s last title claimed with a wooden racquet, he kept Dunlop though, changing to graphite after second round loss in Richmond held in a week after Philadelphia (February)

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