article by Nicola Pucci
In rewinding the tape of history and returning to that afternoon of June 10, 1984 on the center court of Roland-Garrosa Hamlet-like doubt assails me: we tend to remember more Ivan Lendl’s first victory in a Slam tournament, or the wonderful symphony proposed for two and a half sets by the brilliant tennis of John McEnroe, which unfortunately for him remained unfinished?
Good question. Undoubtedly. And if we leave the burden of defining the sporting dispute to the reader, some background information is necessary as a prelude to the account of that extraordinary edition of the French Internationals.
McEnroe, in fact, he is marking what will be the best year of his career (finally, he will close the season with 82 victories and only 3 defeats!), unquestionably the number 1 in the ranking and undefeated when he showed up for the appointment at the Porte d’Auteuil. In fact, the American has only achieved victoriesin Philadelphia (against Lendl, 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6), in Richmond, in Madrid, in Brussels (again against the Czechoslovakian, 6-1 6-3), at the WCT Finals in Dallas ( not to be confused with Masterd, which “genius” will make his in January 1985) and at Forest Hills (third victory against “Ivan the Terrible“, 6-4 6-2), then taking the luxury of seizing a fourth success against Lendl, 6-3 6-2, at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, a prestigious appetizer on clay for what would later be the great challenges of the Roland Garros.
Lendl, for his part, currently number 2 in the world, has athe course of life” difficult to decipher. Since it appeared on the circuit, starting in 1978, quickly climbed the charts (on 28 February 1983, for the first time, he headed that ranking which would see him number 1 for a total of 270 weeks!), winning a lot but always finding someone more skilled than him in the Slam tournaments. As certified by the four lost finals, 1981 against Borg at Roland-Garros, 1982 and 1983 against Connors at the US Open and 1983 against Wilander at the Australian Open. In short, a “luxury loser“, a label that in truth he would really like to get rid of. And what better occasion than Paris 1984, on the surface that suits him better than any other, and is perhaps a little indigestible to his rival?
The scoreboard credits McEnroe and Lendl, obviously, as the top two seeds, with Jimmy Connors playing the role of third wheelalthough it itself does not have much pedigree on the “rosso“. Yannick Noah, holder of the title, is number 6, just as Mats Wilander, winner in 1982 and finalist the following year, is number 4, with the rampant Jimmy Arias, produced by Nick Bollettieri’s school, Andres Gomez (who granted the encore in Rome), José Luis Clerc, the other Swede Henrik Sundstrom (winner in Monte Carlo) and the “vecchio” Guillermo Vilas completes the top ten of the favorites to win.
The first rounds, to be honest, do not reserve major problems for the two most anticipated protagonistsone, McEnroe, who leaves only crumbs to Horacio De La Pena, Ben Testerman and Mel Purcell, the other, Lendl, to do the same with Matt Mitchell, Mario Martinez and Paul McNamee. And if the American, in the round of 16, concedes a set to the expert clay-court player José Higueras (seeded number 12, 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-3), the Czechoslovakian dominates the Swede Anders Jarryd (seeded number 11 , 6-4 6-0 6-4)the only tennis player from his country to play serve-and-volley (waiting for Stefan Edberg) and unquestionably more at ease on fast courts.
In the meantime, seven of the top eight in the draw are on time for the quarter-finals, with the exception of Clerc (number 8), ousted in the second round by Karel Novacekin turn defeated in the round of 32 by the Italian Francesco Cancellotti, fresh from success at the Florence tournament and who in the round of 16 surrendered to Sundstrom (number 9, who prevailed 7-5 6-1 6-2).
Four quarters of nobility, therefore, with McEnroe (1) who leaves Arias no chance (5, defeated in three quick sets, 6-3 6-4 6-4) and crosses paths with Connors (3) in the semi-final who in turn gets the better of Sundstrom in three sets (9, beaten 7-6 6-1 6-4). What if Lendl (2) lascia and Gomez (7, who sells his life dearly, 6-4 6-7 6-4 6-3) the second set, Wilander (4) and Noah (6) replicate the previous year’s finalwith the Scandinavian winning this time at the end of a tight battle resolved in the decisive set (7-6 2-6 3-6 6-3 6-3).
The two semi-finals pit McEnroe and Connors against each other at the top of the drawfor an American derby between two tennis players who don’t really love each other, and Lendl and Wilander in the low one, for a challenge that will have more than one repeat in the final in the following four years. And if the Parisian public was expecting a battle, they were partially disappointed, with John defeating Jimbo in three sets, 7-5 6-1 6-2, and Ivan doing the same with Mats, 6-3 6-3 7-5, guaranteeing the desired final on the eve of the tournament.
June 10, 1984. Center Court of Roland-Garros. The left-handed genius of John McEnroe, who would practice serve-and-volley even on sand, against the pressure from the baseline of Ivan Lendl, who if he could would break down the Berlin Wall (not surprisingly, he is Czechoslovakian) with the sound of cannon shots with his forehand. A clash of styles that is about to give one of the most memorable fights in the entire history of tennis.
Winning serves, counterattacks, sudden runs to the net, uncatchable volleys. You really can’t play better than this on a tennis court and with an offensive propensity. And inevitably, for the first two and a half sets, until 6-3 6-2 2-2 McEnroe, there was no match at all. Lendl finds himself under 0/30 and 30/40 on his serve, another break would definitively pave the way for the American to triumph, but two backhand returns that go out by a few centimeters effectively mark the turning point of the match. Lendl remains clinging to the serve, his passers are now more solid, as is the pressure from the baseline, while Mcnroe’s serve is less inviolable and the volley stutters every now and then. And at 5-4, with a well-calibrated lob and two winning returns with a backhand, the Czechoslovakian makes the first break of the match and halves the deficit.
Now the match is open, exciting, McEnroe still has the strength to break Lendl’s serve twice and take the lead at 4-2 in the fourth set, he has the ball to make it 5-3 but he hits a low forehand volley long, and a few minutes later the Czechoslovakian gets it back. To then drag the match to the fifth set, 7-5 thanks to an extraordinary winning lob that bypasses McEnroe projected into the net.
What seemed like a perfect performance now turns into a nightmare for McEnroe, five Slam successes (2 at Wimbledon and 3 at the US Open) count for nothing more against a tennis player than in Major boasts only four defeats, to the point that the Americans have renamed him “chicken“. Il “pollo” Lendl, now, no longer lets go, McEnroe has lost inspiration and at 5-6 30/40, called to face a match point, misses a forehand volley that is normally banal for him.
3-6 2-6 6-4 7-5 7-5, the Musketeers Cup ends up in the hands of Lendl, who breaks the Slam spell. All John has left is the regret of what the Roland-Garros dream could, and should have been, and unfortunately for him it didn’t turn into reality.
2024-05-26 06:43:15
#LENDLS #SLAM #VICTORY #PARIS #MCENROES #BITTER #DAY #SportHistoria
