pss@nvuxb.UUCP (P.Schroeder) (11/14/85)
Following are my observations on the men's tennis rankings for 1985
and a forecast for 1986.
1-Ivan Lendl : From week to week, Lendl has been the best player in the
world in 1985. A finalist at the French, a disappointing 4th round
loss at Wimbledon, a win at the U.S. Open, plus numerous other
tournament victories make him a solid #1. Even if he has a miserable
Australian Open, he isn't likely to slip to #2. 1986 could be a great
year for Lendl; he'll be co-favorite at the French (with Wilander)
and the favorite at the U.S. Open. A real test will be to see if he
will break through at Wimbledon, and I think he can. Lendl's hard work
with his conditioning and net game are really starting to pay off.
2-John McEnroe : McEnroe has had a relatively poor year with a semi-final
loss at the French, a quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon, and a loss in
the U.S. Open final to Lendl. Only his success at other tournaments
keeps him at #2. Despite McEnroe's claim to the contrary, even if
he wins the Australian Open, he shouldn't overtake Lendl this year.
1986 is a crossroads year for McEnroe and he knows it. The only way
for him to catch up with Lendl is to work to get himself into shape,
something he has never done before (or had to do for that matter).
Personally, I don't think he has the work ethic to do it, and his
off-court distractions (Tatam plus ?) could cause a further slip in
the rankings.
3-Mats Wilander : Wilander has had a solid year that could have been much
better with a few breakthroughs here and there. A victory at the
French, a shocking 1st round exit from Wimbledon, a tough semi-final
loss at the U.S. Open to McEnroe (best men's match of the tournament),
good showings at other tournaments, plus another fine year of Davis
Cup play (has not lost a meaningful Cup match since the classic 6-1/2
hour duel with McEnroe in 1982) all make for a successful 1985 for Mats.
Wilander is the two-time defending Australian Open champ, and should
he repeat will, in my opinion, vault ahead of McEnroe into #2.
Still, Wilander has had a bit of a strange year. During the spring European
clay court season, he couldn't seem to get past Miloslav Mecir.
Lately, he has had trouble with Thierry Tulasne, losing to him twice
within a few weeks. 1986 looms as another growth year; he'll be
favored, along with Lendl, at the French and could break through at
the U.S. Open. However, his poor showings at Wimbledon must be a concern
to him. His two Australian titles indicate that he can play on grass,
so my guess is that he'll do well there eventually. It's difficult
to criticize someone who has 4 Grand Slam singles titles at age 21.
4-Jimmy Connors : Connors has not won a Grand Prix title this year, but
is the only man to get to the semi-finals at the French, Wimbledon,
and U.S. Open in 1985 (small consolation since he got no further).
Connors is not expected to enter the Australian Open so his year
is pretty well wrapped up. There is no doubt in my mind that his
days at #4 are numbered with Becker and Edberg looming below him,
and it's highly unlikely that he'll ever win another Grand Slam title.
5-Boris Becker : Becker has won three tournaments in his career, all in
1985, including Wimbledon. He lost in the 2nd round at the French Open,
in the 4th round of the U.S. Open, and is not going to enter the
Australian Open (I'm not sure why unless it's to prepare for the Davis
Cup finals in December). I like Becker and he's an exciting player,
but he has been the recipient (or victim) of the biggest hype campaign
in pro tennis; it remains to be seen whether he can sustain
the momentum of his Wimbledon victory and consistently perform at the
level of Lendl, McEnroe, and Wilander. 1986 will find Becker in the
spotlight again, but too much shouldn't be expected of him. After all,
he's only 17.
6-Stefan Edberg : Edberg is the last player that I'll mention in this list.
While his record at Grand Slam tournaments has been unspectacular to
date (never past the quarterfinals), he has shown well lately on all
types of surfaces. He probably has more raw talent than either Wilander
or Becker but must attain a higher level of consistency to really
break through. 1986 could be the year for him to win Wimbledon or
the U.S. Open, and if so it would make him a legitimate #1 threat.
My prediction for the rankings at the end of 1986:
1-Lendl
2-Wilander
3-McEnroe
4-Becker
5-Edberg
6-Connors
7-Anders Jarryd
8-Joakim Nystrom
9-Yannick Noah
10-Paul Annacone
How about some discussion on the upcoming Australian Open and the Davis
Cup final between Sweden and West Germany?cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) (11/16/85)
> > 1-Lendl > 2-Wilander > 3-McEnroe > 4-Becker > 5-Edberg > 6-Connors > 7-Anders Jarryd > 8-Joakim Nystrom > 9-Yannick Noah > 10-Paul Annacone > > How about some discussion on the upcoming Australian Open and the Davis > Cup final between Sweden and West Germany? I guess we'll just have to see about the rankings, but i really doubt that McEnroe will be #3. He did beat Lendl twice this year, and has a decent record in the majors. Willander has 1 good tournament this year (the French) and outside of that he has been, well, mediocre. Edberg ahead of Connors? I don't know about this one. One of the main reasons Connors hasn't won a tournament this year is that he tends not to play in non-top flight tournaments. He usually ends up losing to McEnroe, Lendl or someone like that. I would put him at 5. Edberg hasn't done well in the majors, and I don't really think that his record is all that impressive. I would question your putting Jarryd over Nystrom. Joakim had a good French open (pushing McEnroe to 7-5 in the fifth), we all know what happened to him at Wimbledon and he upset Becker at the open when Becker was riding high. He also dumped McEnroe at the WCT Finals in Dallas, and he did it convincingly. Jarryd has only a semi-final at Wimbledon, and he didn't have to beat anybody of consequence to get there. He has had a few good wins of late, but not enough to put him above Nystrom (in my mind). Paul Annacone? I would be interested in hearing your reasons on this selection. It seems to me that Miroslav Mecir has had a much better overall year than Annacone. 2 wins over Willander, and a victory over Connors to start off the year. He has slipped as of late, but still, he was a major force during the first half of the year. -- Allan McKillop (...ucbvax!ucdavis!deneb!cccallan) "Where there's a will, there's a relative..."
pss@nvuxb.UUCP (P.Schroeder) (11/18/85)
>> me >Allan McKillop >> 1-Lendl >> 2-Wilander >> 3-McEnroe >> 4-Becker >> 5-Edberg >> 6-Connors >> 7-Anders Jarryd >> 8-Joakim Nystrom >> 9-Yannick Noah >> 10-Paul Annacone >> >> How about some discussion on the upcoming Australian Open and the Davis >> Cup final between Sweden and West Germany? > >I guess we'll just have to see about the rankings, but i really doubt >that McEnroe will be #3. He did beat Lendl twice this year, and has >a decent record in the majors. Willander has 1 good tournament this >year (the French) and outside of that he has been, well, mediocre. >Edberg ahead of Connors? I don't know about this one. One of the >main reasons Connors hasn't won a tournament this year is that he tends >not to play in non-top flight tournaments. He usually ends up losing >to McEnroe, Lendl or someone like that. I would put him at 5. Edberg >hasn't done well in the majors, and I don't really think that his record >is all that impressive. I would question your putting Jarryd over >Nystrom. Joakim had a good French open (pushing McEnroe to 7-5 in the >fifth), we all know what happened to him at Wimbledon and he upset >Becker at the open when Becker was riding high. He also dumped McEnroe >at the WCT Finals in Dallas, and he did it convincingly. Jarryd has >only a semi-final at Wimbledon, and he didn't have to beat anybody of >consequence to get there. He has had a few good wins of late, but >not enough to put him above Nystrom (in my mind). > >Paul Annacone? I would be interested in hearing your reasons on this >selection. It seems to me that Miroslav Mecir has had a much better >overall year than Annacone. 2 wins over Willander, and a victory >over Connors to start off the year. He has slipped as of late, but >still, he was a major force during the first half of the year. I agree with your assessment of 1985. However, if you look at my original article, this top ten list is a projection for the end of 1986, not 1985. The narrative preceding this list in my article gives my opinions for 1985.