cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) (11/06/85)
Well, the year is starting to wrap up, and it is time to start thinking about who has the inside track on #1. With only 2 more major tournaments for both the men and women (the Australian, the Virginia Slims finals for women and the Masters for men (sponsored by whoever is coughing up the big bucks this year)), there is not too much more time left for the challengers to make up ground on the leaders. The Men: The obvious leader of the pack right now is Lendl. After beating McEnroe again in Belguim this week and Wilander in Tokyo, he has shown he is in top form. He has won a major (the US Open) and was runner-up in another (the French) and has done exceptionally well in other tournament. McEnroe has had a bad year. A decent showing in Paris (losing semi-final to Wilander), a poor showing at Wimbledon and a dissapointment at Flushing Meadows. Other than the two weeks just prior to the Open (where he beat Lendl in successive weeks), he has had a lack luster year (for him). Wilander had a great two weeks at the French, but then has done nothing after that (except for a good showing vs. McEnroe at the Open). Could retain the #1 position if he wins the Australian and the masters. Becker has had some outstanding results since his Wimbledon win. beat Wilander at Cincinatti and Jarryd in Tokyo (beofre putting up a good fight to Lendl), and that has really suprised me. He has shown that he is not just a flash-in-the-pan. Could start to challenge for #1 in two years. Connors has started to lose a step. When was the last time he beat someone above him? But he has shown his usually consistancy by being the only man to reach the semis of all fo the Grand Slam tournaments so far. Other than those 5, nobody among the men has shown anything other than a few good wins. The best-of-the-rest are probably Nystrom (i look forward to a rematch between him and Becker in the Davis Cup finals), Jarryd and Curren. The Women: Navratrilova still has to be dethroned as #1. She too, like McEnroe, has had a lack-luster year (for her) losing 5 times (2 to Evert-Llyod, 2 to Mandlikova and 1 to Khode-Kilsch). Has only retained her Wimbledon title, and has lost twice in doubles with Shriver (losing both their Wimbledon and US Open crowns). But she is still the front runner this year, but not by nearly as much as in previous years. Evert-Llyod has had an up-and-down year herself. A big win to start off the year over Navratilova, and a huge win in Paris. She let the Wimbledon title slip out of her grasp when Navratilova came back from one set down to retain her title. A poor showing vs. Mandlikova at the Open cost her a title shot there. She has done well, playing a lot this year. Two early seaon upsets by Garrison and Jordan could hurt her. She is the only real challenger. Has to win the Australian to have a shot at number 1. Mandlikova played well early (beating both Evert-Llyod and Navratilova in successive weeks), but then played poorly until the Open. Maybe she is starting to show what she is capable of, and could make a run at #1 next year, but not this. The best-of-the-rest are Garrison (having an excellent year), Khode-Kilsch (having a suprisingly good year) and Sukova (having a suprisingly average year). I hope that i haven't bored too many of you, and i hope that this starts up some more discussion about tennis! lets hear some opinions! How are we ever going to get net.tennis if we all remain quiet?!?! ________________________________________________________________________________ Allan McKillop (...ucbvax!ucdavis!deneb!cccallan) "Where there's a will, there's a relative..."
cher@ihlpm.UUCP (Cherepov) (11/07/85)
- I think that Allan came up with a pretty good summary, I can add a list of disappointing performances and add a couple of people who did well but were not mentioned. Among men Yannick Noah made some noticeable improvements - he started to win. He is quite a show - especially in doubles - and who knows? - might regain his 83 form. Edberg has been creeping up steadily without much fanfare.. List of disappontments would have to start with Krickstein, Cash, Gomez. Even a bigger (although not surprising) disappointment is Vilas. There is a shortage of people who look good + have good looking strokes, I guess... But that's subjective, some people think Lendl is all fluid & elegant. Among women Sabatini is the most interesting new entry, however the way she hits her backhand suggests that it'll be a lot of ice packs and elbow supports and time off for her. Especially her topspin backhand on clay: she almost wraps around with hand fully extended - nice but scary sight. Blah, blah, blah...: I do have a great number of other good topics I'd love to dicuss: extravagant costs of junior tennis, disgust with Bud Collins, etc, but work+school... I intend to go to MIlwaukee to see Borg & McEnroe hit some balls and will try to post a review about that. That's Nov 12, then they move to StLouis, I think... Mike Cherepov
fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) (11/07/85)
In article <233@ucdavis.UUCP> cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) writes: > >(Jimmy) Connors has started to lose a step. When was the last time >he beat someone above him? But he has shown his usually consistancy >by being the only man to reach the semis of all fo the Grand Slam >tournaments so far. Even when Connors was #1, he rarely beat players ranked above him. :-) Frank Silbermann
wjh@bonnie.UUCP (Bill Hery) (11/07/85)
> ..... > disgust with Bud Collins, etc, > Does anbody else remember when Bud was a really good tennis commentator (before he took lessons from Howard Cosell on continuous blathering)? Several (10-12?) years ago he used to cover tennis matches for PBS, including the US clay court championships (?) from the Longmeadow Cricket Club in Massachusetts. As I recall, he let the action speak for itself quite a bit. Now, when I watch tennis matches on TV, I just turn down the volume and listen to music instead.
cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) (11/11/85)
> In article <233@ucdavis.UUCP> cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) writes: > > > >(Jimmy) Connors has started to lose a step. When was the last time > >he beat someone above him? But he has shown his usually consistancy > >by being the only man to reach the semis of all fo the Grand Slam > >tournaments so far. > > Even when Connors was #1, he rarely beat players ranked above him. > :-) > Frank Silbermann I think my point still stands. how many straight has he lost to Lendl and McEnroe? I know he has never beaten Wilander, and those are the three who are ranked above him on the ATP computer right now. Hey, i won't argue with anybody that he is a great player, but he is not as great as he used to be. i do like your point, though. touche'! -- Allan McKillop (...ucbvax!ucdavis!deneb!cccallan) "Where there's a will, there's a relative..."