One of only two times Chrissie got the win over Martina at Wimbledon. Considering what an advantage grass was for Martina’s game, she didn’t well to play so many super tight matches.
Wow, Martina was an undisciplined mess back then, shanking shots she shouldn't have. But there's no denying the RAW talent she already possessed. At 21, Chris already had the foundation of her game solidly in place
Chris is playing here as though she believes she should win . What a difference ! She hits the ball hard and is reaching balls she couldn’t reach in 78 and 79. She’s also volleying better , lobbing better. She’s playing brimming with confidence. Martina makes incredible volleys. All of the raw talent is there .
Martin Pascoe my point here is that in 76 and leading up to this match Chris was clearly the number one player and dominated Martina and her body language here shows that momentum. When a player is on a roll it shows in her body language, this was before Martina developed her game obviously. Later on 82-84 Chris became intimidated by Martina’s momentum like Martina is here against Chris. Not until Chris improved her game did she start beating Martina again in 85-88. Chris had two peaks in her career. First 74-78, then 85-86. - peaks in her ball striking . No one is disputing that Martina’s best was better than Chris’s best.
@@maxipaz5597 I was surprised by the energy levels too. I wonder if the heat had anything to do with it. 1976 is by far the UK's record summer heatwave ☀️
@@lenwelch2195 I won't dispute that but I don't think Evert's major SF record of 52/56 gets enough credit and makes up for a lot especially when Martina won 18 majors just like Chris.
Chris may have been the favorite to win this match, but it was a lot closer than expected. An inexperienced, immature 19-year old Martina making those series of careless overhead mishits at 2-2 in the third set gave the match away. Chris is smiling across the net and thinking: "Thank you very much". They did go on to win the Wimbledon ladies doubles title together in one of Chris's few grand slam doubles titles.
Goolagong is unlucky Martina did not win, since a fat Martina would lost for sure to Goolagong in the final. Goolagong should have even won against Evert, but lost a very tight match (8-6 in the 3rd) due to mental breakdown at the end.
@@richardross4677Evonne led early in the third set, also led the match at 6-5. Chris said she started attacking the net coming in after Evonne's serves which threw off the Australian. In '76 Evert was mentally tough as nails
@@damiencampbell8320 Chris called off her partnership w Martina bc she felt playing doubles w her would lose her mental edge against her in singles as she wrote in her first book
