We were so blessed to have guys like this playing in the 80's . The BIG 3 today may have more grand slams but I enjoyed the style tennis better back in the 80's early 90's myself.
Love tales like this....imagine in the current world....what current movie would you love to see upon release and then go home and watch which current match/players/venue?The answer is a resounding ZERO no nope!Go on try....its not possible....and they played at Madison....the then ultimate indoor carpet tennis venue....We will never get those days again....The guys who lived it ...i hope they thoroughly enjoyed it....or perhaps quite sad now knowing how great it was and not hey living in these shitty times....lol....thats life i guess....
Oh yeah. And so much more variety in the play. Don't get me wrong, the boys today can hit a topspin forehand like no one else... but I miss the days of contrasting styles so much.
Agreed boys. Everything now is just bashing the ball back and forth from the baseline. Theres no variety, and in my mind, the ball is going way too fast. Its almost like watching ping pong.
There were many incredible baseline rallies. Lendl returned superbly and forced Becker to rally from the back but he was equal to the task. His backhand had improved significantly since 1986 and was especially effective.
Lendl was so great. In that era we tryied to copy something of everybody. The styles were so unique and marvelous. There was always a player with a unique style in the top 20. You could learn so much!!
I can never stop loving Becker to this day. He was a few years older than me and back in the 80s he just look super innocent yet strong and very determined, well mannered and confident. My entire family look up to him. After almost 40 years we still love him dearly. We still don't forget his "Boris dive" and the ugly serving positions he always had despite the strong serve. Forever Boris !!
The 10 best grass court players in open era are based on grass court major titles are 1.Roger Federer=8 2.Pete Sampras=7 3.Novak Djokovic=7 4. Bjorn Borg=5 5. Rod Laver=4 6.Jimmy Connors=4 7.Stephan Edberg=4 8. John McEnroe=3 9. Boris Becker=3 10. Rafael Nadal=2 in open era.
13 greatest players in open era are 1.Novak Djokovic 2. Rafael Nadal 3.Roger Federer 4. Pete Sampras 5. Rod Laver 6. Bjorn Borg 7. Andre Agassi 8. Jimmy Connors 9. Ivan lendl 10.John McEnroe 11. Mats Wilander 12. Boris Becker 13. Stephan Edberg.
My first favourite tennis player during my childhood when I just started following tennis. But only after seeing the comments I am able to understand how good he was. Hail hero Lendl ❤️❤️
this is one of the Top 3 matches i've seen, ever. I remember it vividly. I've seen a lot of matches from 1980ish to present day, and this one is right at the top. The level of play, closeness of the match, precision of shot, and fight was insane! This ranks right up there with Borg vs Mac 1980 Wimbledon; Rafa vs Fed 2008 Wimbledon Final; Fed vs Djokovic Wimbledon final 2019; Verdasco vs Nadal Australian Open 5 set marathon. Those are the ones that come to mind. This one is right up there!
If Boris Becker would have seriousness,hard work and commitment of Ivan Lendl he would have won 12 to 14 grandslam titles instead of six grandslams and would have won many more grand prix tournaments for his talent and exuberance.
One of the underrated shots that Becker possessed at that time at that time was the ability to take the cross court shot to his backhand and straighten it out down the line it would always throw players off because Becker held the ball on his racquet for a millisecond and would drive it down the line which most times would send weaken return back to the open court for him to put away a forehand. That was one of his go to shots. Lendl would also often push you wider and wider with his inside out forehand moving you further cross court and then rip it down the line. So it was basically the same thing as Becker only in reverse.
@@lesliesmith1797 All the great baseliners back then - Borg, Connors, Wilander, Lendl and Agassi would do as well today as they did back then (I saw every one of them).
@@lesliesmith1797 You are less of logic all the Best tenismens from 70, 80 and 90 with theiar talent having today tehnology of training ,diet , rokets , and pharmaceutical and medical care wod bit Federer Nadal or Djokovic , dont forget Nadal have medical permision to take medicines ho have doping like both Williams sisters or in gimnastics ather american girl Biles , best in this time bicose ofcorse of doping but for amerlocs is normal for Rusia is bad they are baned .
Ken Arthur, if you think about it Lendl and Borg truly laid the blueprint for the modern power baseline game. Becker's baseline game was not in their league but he was no slouch from the back and the fact he went toe to toe against Pete (who is in the crowd 😉) in 1996 hannover proved just how well his game held up almost a decade later. Not to forget he beat Lendl primarily from the baseline in the 1991 AO final on a medium slow hardcourt.
@@lesliesmith1797 Make today's players go into a time machine and play with the raquets of their choice from 1988 against these 2 freaking MONSTERS. Don't blame the ones who had it harder. It would be interesting. And don't forget about the notion of "standing on the shoulders of giants."
Epic match! This video is a wonderful history class for tennis fans who never witnessed 1980s tennis and those court-level footages are gold. Thank you.
Boris had a great serve that helped him out. I have read an article long time ago that he and slobadan zivojinovoc (another fast server) had been directed by Ian tiriac their Manager to cut trees in forest to get their shoulder speed and power in to the arms giving rthem best of serves. Loved him as he was one of those rare who could give sampras a run on best of his days. But truly great drama and epic to watch becker play
Lendl had the best groundstrokes in tennis history. He consistently hit the ball in the middle of a very difficult heavy and small racquet (80 sq in). His serve, return of serve, footwork and fitness were top notch. He could have won a few more slams had he changed his racquet earlier (at the end of 88 which was this match) and implemented a better net attack game to his arsenal. He is an under-appreciated champion and I definitely rank him higher than McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Becker, Edberg and Agassi in the history books. The only players from his generation who were better than him were Borg and Sampras. Lendl is definitely one of the 10 best players of all time.
Good arguments. Mac also was tops in dubs forever too though, that is quite a feat my brother. Nobody else even comes close. Sure you can say dubs was his "practice" and it was largely but that still doesn't mean he was going to be #1 in BOTH DISCIPLINES. That's fucking badass right thurrr.
Thanks for this great great upload by Lendltennis. A truly great piece of tennis history, love the music and Wilander's, Becker's and Lendl's commentary
Ivan Lendl have 8 major titles and 5 atp finals titles in open era actually he is bigger tennis player than Boris Becker as he was world no 1 for 270 weeks more than Jimmy Connors bro Sad he never won Wimbledon title but he reached Wimbledon finals twice in 1986 and 1987 but Boris Becker never reached French open finals in his life
Ivan lendl set the model of the modern player. perfect fitness and no weaknesses. the terminator of tennis as brad gilbert calls him in his best seller book.
A pleasure to see this game again, even if it is a brief summary. What variety of shots! Flat, slices, topspin shots... What spectacular! What a show of tennis! Becker's volley with those stretched out at the net, like a soccer goalkeeper, his surprising improvement in his baseline game that an already mature Boris guessed from tennis, too bad he didn't have continuity for more years ... Ivan's passing balloon, one of his specialties (this should be the only purpose of this shot, not to bore the rival), those passings with side effect (banana shots) that Nadal popularizes today, but with better rackets and strings ...
Same here. But the US open finals loses to Becker and Wilander were worse. Oh, and his loss to Edberg in 5 sets, having beaten Becker in 5 sets. A fresh Lendl would have taken Edberg there.
Same and same!! Die hard fan and that netcoord was a nightmare. First, there was the netcoord that saved Becker at Wimbledon where he dove and Ivan's passing shot hit net and Becker hit the winning shot from the ground. Then this happened. :(
I’m a huge Edberg fan. Edberg started overtaking Lendl, around late-90, and even in ‘91. ‘91 was probably Edberg’s finest year on tour. Here, though, Lendl may have beaten Edberg.
No one did. It was dead even upto that point (Becker had won 1 more point), it was cruel but Becker had lost the 1985 and 1986 finals to Lendl and maybe some luck was required. It went Beckers way this time
On my Birthday wow!! Crazy I just Noticed it wow. I was born 4 Years after this Match without Question One of If the Greatest Finish in ATP Finals History!!!
La plus intense finale de l histoire des Masters entre les deux meilleurs joueurs sur dur et moquette de cette fin de décennie 80 ,avant l apparition de Sampras ,la confirmation d Edberg....
Ive ALWAYS liked Boris Becker, the HUMAN BEING...there is something fundamentally decent about who he is, that Ive always liked. So, it was sorta tough watching him be punished for fraud. I hope he can put his life back on the rails, when he gets out. Their matches were always a spectacle, because they had a similar style of play, but for the fact that Boris played the net a bit more than Ivan. They changed the game...and they were 'power pioneers'. Before them, guys didnt strike the ball as hard as they did.
@ Denis Hofmeister. It is hard to determine the best men's singles match of the 1980's because obviously there were so many great matches back then. Lendl-Becker 1986 Benson and Hedges Final at Wembley Stadium, McEnroe-Lendl 1984 French Open final, Lendl-Cash 1984 U.S. Open semifinal (although a slightly overrated match because of Pat Cash's somewhat sloppy play in the early stages of that match when he at times over hit the ball making errors), Borg-McEnroe 1980 Wimbledon final, Lendl-Wilander 1988 U.S. Open final, 1980 McEnroe -Connors U.S. Open semifinal, Borg -Connors 1981 Wimbledon semifinal (when Borg came back from 2 sets to love down to win in 5 sets) , etc. I think probably the best men's singles match of the 1980's was the 1984 U.S.Open semifinal between Connors and McEnroe because the quality of play from both players lasted through all 5 sets. Both played superbly in that 5-set classic. All that match lacked was a dramatic finish to the 5th set. McEnroe got the early break of serve and rode out that break of serve to the end of the set to win the match.
The 1988 Masters Final at MSG in NY was a classic match that ended with a 35-shot rally that Becker won on a netcord winner that just fell over the net on Lendl's side of the court.
Actually I think it was a 37-shot rally on which the 1988 Masters' Final between Lendl and Becker ended with Becker winning the point on a net cord winner.
El gran Ivan. Mi modelo de jugador de tenis en los 80. Había muchos y muy buenos, pero Ivan era para mí la vanguardia. El jugador casi perfecto. Gran saque, gran drive, gran reves (reves a una mano... odio el reves a dos manos). Gran jugador de fondo y sobre todo la personalidad. Enfrentar a Ivan en los 80 era como tener en frente a Terminator. Y Terminator no te perdonaba la vida nunca.
Recuerdo tan bien ese partido, con voladas de becker,con puntazos de lendl y un rallie final... De infarto...primera vez que veía el cable en chile...grandes ambos...ídolo boom boom...por siempre
It is interesting that regarding the last point in the 1988 Masters Final between Lendl and Becker, if you include the serve and return-of-serve, the point lasted 37 hits of the tennis ball, but if you start counting after the return-of-serve, the point (or more accurately, the rally) lasted 35 hits of the ball.
Cliff Drysdale in the booth, along with probably Fred Stolle... and what a picture quality! The question is whether the full recording of this match in this picture quality exists anywhere...
@ yay nay. There was a tennis video business years ago on the internet that sold DVDs of the great singles tennis matches from the 1970's -1990's (and possibly the 2000's). I don't know if that tennis video business is still in business or not. I don't remember the name of it.
I do remenber that match point well very well, because I was on my way to my military service and was listening to the radio, what made a live transmission of the match point.
Annoys me how wilander describes lendl as the real no.1at the time. Mats you just won 3 out of 4 grand slams and beat lendl to US Open title. Give yourself some credit man.
5 - 6 down in fifth, Lendl serving for the match, 30 - 30 and Becker played two points thats for me its Boris finest moments. First a massive forehand to give him the breakpoint, and then on the breakpoint a backhand with the finest touch and feel a bit on his backfoot placed on two lines.
Absolutely. Not just that, he repeated the same forehand at 5-5 in the 5th set breaker. Still the match was incredibly close. At the end Becker won by + 2 points. They were dead even at 5 all. As a Becker fan I was both thrilled Boris won but felt gutted for Ivan after the net cord. This was one of their matches where both were friendly to each other in the post match handshake. I think it was because it was so close. Anyone could have won this and both knew that.
Un des plus beaux matchs que j ai pu voir. Lendl était dans son jardin . En 1987 il avait démoli Wilander. La balle de match est légendaire et j étais dévasté, mais Becker avait été monstrueux aussi. Les deux ont d'ailleurs eu chacun un autre grand match: Lendl contre Gerulaitis en 1982 et Becker contre Sampras.
Borg made lendl great. Lendl made becker and Sampras great. Sampras made Federer great. Federer made Nadal and Djokovic great. Champions feed of each other. It's amazing.!!!!.
Sorry to say this but Djokovic and Murray are not in the same league. It would be an embarrassment for Lendl to be mentioned alongside Murray as Becker is to Djokovic
I've been a keen student of the game - and a decent player - for 50 years. But I'm ashamed to say I always - until the last few years - thought of Boris as 'boom-boom'. Whereas, in fact, he's a very elegant player. Technically superb but with a real tennis aesthetic to his game.....
The game looked so playable for the normal person in those days. Now it looks like superhumans and Androids are playing it. These players attracted me to the game and now, there is no love remaining for the game.
The Becker shot I loved best was his backhand slice when he approached. When he had time, he would carve the ball to the side on the deuce court, so it was not only low where his opponent couldnt hit over the ball for the pass, but it would also bite the court and slide sideways away from his opponent as well. On grass it was especially nasty.
The 1988 Masters Final between Lendl and Becker was probably their best match against each other in their rivalry. It was a tremendously close and exciting match to watch! But Becker after winning match point in the 5th set tiebreaker (which was a tremendously long 37- shot, baseline rally) did the idiotically stupid and exceedingly dangerous thing of flinging his racket full force up into the stands! Thank God no one was injured when he did that! He is damned lucky that no one was hurt when he did that foolish thing because if one or more people had been injured by his racket hitting them , he would have potentially faced a huge lawsuit filed by the injured person or persons.
Oh my god! He threw his racket into the crowd. How dangerous. Oh my god! That was dangerous! Oh my god. It was really dangerous! Did we mention it was dangerous to throw the racket into the crowd? Oh my god! Somebody could have been injured. Oh my god. It was so dangerous. Oh my ...
