1972 Men's Final
Ilie Nastase def. Arthur Ashe, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
 In many ways, Nastase was just what tennis needed among American fans: A villain whose brilliance you couldn’t help but admire , even as you were hissing his antics.
John McEnroe’s overwhelming popularity a decade later owes a lot to Nastase breaking down that barrier.
After losing an exhausting Wimbledon final earlier in the summer, Nastase was the only foreigner in the final four at the Open.
The crowd of nearly 15,000 was solidly behind Ashe even before Nastase began throwing temper tantrums over bad calls, but even the pro-USA gathering couldn’t help but admire his remarkable shots as he twice rallied from a set down to claim his first Grand Slam title.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/1/2010 10:21:11 AM | with 0 comments
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To the Vicario, go the spoils
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Aranxta-Sanchez Vicario def. Steffi Graf 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4
At age 23, Vicario had one Grand Slam title to her name, and it had come five years previous.
She started the year by reaching the finals of the Australian Open where Graf obliterated her 6-1, 6-2. She didn’t let the rout faze her, returning to the scene of her previous triumph and winning the French Open over Mary Pierce.
Graf was stunned in the first round of Wimbledon by Lori McNeil, and reached the US Open with her No. 1 ranking in doubt and a back injury forcing her to get treatment and stretch for two hours before each match.
Despite the long odds, Graf reached the finals and seemed en route to another whipping of Vicario when she took the first set 6-1. When the pain returned, Vicario had her moment in the sun, fighting off Graf to take the second set 7-6(3) before closing out her nemesis in three sets.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/2/2010 11:20:24 AM | with 0 comments
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Looks like somebody has boquet envy.
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1948
Margaret Osborne duPont def. Louise Brough 4-6, 6-4, 15-13
 Brough (at left) was in her prime, having won the Open the year before and starting a run of three straight Wimbledon crowns earlier in the summer.
She would ultimately claim 35 Grand Slam titles between singles, doubles and mixed doubles. 
du Pont (at right) had notched the French title in 1946 and Wimbledon in 1947. They were undeniably the two best players in the world when they clashed, but also close friends and double partners.
In the finals of 1948, Osborne took the first set and lost the second then avoided a match point in the third, to take the 15-13 marathon third set, the longest in final history. It was the first of three straight US Open titles for Osborne.
The next year Brough got a measure of revenge with one of the most bizarre Wimbledon finals ever, beating duPont 10-8, 1-6, 10-8.
The pair went into the Hall of Fame together in 1967.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/3/2010 11:12:09 AM | with 0 comments
Mats Wilander defeats Ivan Lendl 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
 Lendl had become an automatic at the Open.
It wouldn’t have been surprising to see his named stamped into the final when the draw was released the week before. After all, he made eight straight finals from 1981 to 1989.
Wilander was on the rise, but had lost to Lendl here in 1987 in four sets. He responded by upping his game with titles at the Australian and French Opens, setting himself up as the odds-on favorite to end Lendl’s four-year stranglehold on the title.
After scratching and clawing his way past a young Andre Agassi in the semifinals, Lendl won the second and fourth sets, but Wilander was the better, ending Lendl’s 156-week run atop the rankings.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/6/2010 10:17:42 AM | with 0 comments
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Her name wasn't Baby, it's Chris. Miss Evert if you're nasty.
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Chris Evert def. Evonne Goolagong, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
It was an era of superpowers in women’s tennis, as witnessed in the first three Slams of the year – Goolagong took the Australian, Evert the French and Billie Jean King the crown at Wimbledon.
At the US Open, Evert zipped into the finals without losing a set, only to drop the first of the title match to Goolagong. She rallied back to win the next two sets, winning the title at age 21.
It was the first of four straight crowns at the US for Evert, and sealed her first time finishing No. 1 on the year.
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Nick on 9/6/2010 10:45:11 AM | with 0 comments
Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Sampras was on a 33-tournament losing streak and it was clear his career was winding down.
He had lost in the finals of the previous two Opens, and had not hoisted the trophy since 1996. He was seeded 17th entering the tournament he had won on five different occasions, but gained confidence in his friendly confines, eliminating Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals and Sjeng Schalken in the semifinals, both in straight sets.
On the other end of the bracket was his longtime rival, Agassi, who had to breath deep to edge Max Mirnyi in the quarters and a tough Lleyton Hewitt in the semis.
Sampras saved his best for last, recording a personal record of 33 aces in a major final to beat Agassi for the fourth time at the US Open, and the third time in a final.
Then, Sampras did what just a handful of athletes have ever done successfully, walked away after winning it all. Sampras became just the third tennis player to retire after winning a major, joining Shirley Fry (Australia, 1957) and Helen Wills Moody (Wimbledon, 1938).
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/6/2010 10:52:59 AM | with 1 comments
Juan Martin del Potro def. Roger Federer
3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2
Federer was impossible to stop, having won five straight titles at the US Open and the crowns at the French Open and Wimbledon already in 2009.
Del Potro was not yet 21 years old, and had taken Federer five sets at the French Open, then tuned up for the US by winning the title at Washington DC and reaching the finals at Montreal.
He took out Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, only to fall behind Federer 2-1 in the final. He fought back with incredible tenacity, winning the fourth set 7-6(4) and wiping out the King 6-2 in the fifth to become the first Argentine to take the US Open in 32 years, and the first player ever to beat Federer and Nadal in the same Grand Slam event.
del Potro's overwhelming outpouring of emotion at having won the major makes it all the more enjoyable to watch. Plus, it got him three minutes with Charlie Rose.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/7/2010 10:34:35 AM | with 0 comments
Steffi Graf def. Martina Navratilova
3-6, 7-5, 6-1
The guard changed again, this time with the 20-year-old German upstaging the 33-year old Czech turned American citizen.
Graf was never better than in ’89, compiling an 86-2 record and winning 14 of the 16 tournament she entered.
She met Navratilova in three finals, including the US where she dropped the opening set before wearing out Martina in the end.
The video clip below is a bittersweet one, and not just because Navratilova appears to have stolen one of Andre Agassi's mullet wigs to wear for the final.
As beautifully played as the tennis is between these two all-time legends, the opening shot of the southern end of Manhattan Island, with the World Trade Center towers gleaming in the late summer sunshine, remains a grim reminder of what thoughts will forever turn to come early September in New York City.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/8/2010 11:03:53 AM | with 0 comments
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“It’s just not enough to play a good match against her anymore.”
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Martina Navratilova def. Chris Evert Lloyd
4-6, 6-4, 6-4
From 1975 to 1984, Evert, under one name or another, won six US Opens and made the finals of four others.
But in 1983, Martina Navratilova had taken the title from her in a quick 6-1, 6-3 decision and was poised to begin her own run of dominance.
At the time of the 1984 title match, neither Loyd nor Navratilova had lost a set in the tournament, and their all-time rivalry stood tied 30-30.
Navratilova was on a 54-match win streak, one short of Evert’s Open Era record. Evert took first blood, but Navratilova overwhelmed her to take the crown.
Evert, perhaps realizing her time was growing short atop the hill, lamented, “It’s just not enough to play a good match against her anymore.”
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Public Anonymous User on 9/9/2010 10:30:26 AM | with 0 comments
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Arthur Ashe didn't just break a few records, he broke the darn jukebox.
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Arthur Ashe def. Tom Okker
14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Walls were torn down and history written as the Open Era began.
Ashe fought his way to the final with a four-set win over Clark Graebner that became the subject of John McPhee’s “Levels of the Game.”
In the final, Ashe racked up 26 aces and won an exhaustive first set to survive Okker, becoming the first native-born champion in 14 years.
Ashe also set a mark that can never be equaled.
Two weeks before the Open, Ashe had won the U.S. Amateur final, thus becoming the only amateur to ever win that title and the US Open.
As an amateur, Ashe was unable to collect the $14,000 prize money, instead receiving $20 a day in expenses.
He also served a mean alphabet game.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/10/2010 10:37:54 AM | with 0 comments
Steffi Graf def. Monica Seles
7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3
In 1993, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles had the hottest rivalry in tennis, but it was cut short when psychopath Gunter Parche stabbed Seles in the back at a match, costing her two years of her career.
Seles returned to the tour in 1995 and reached the final by eliminating Jana Novotna and Conchita Martinez. After winning just one Slam in 1994, Graf had re-established her dominance in the sport with wins at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Seles led the first set 6-5 and was convinced she had scored an ace for the lead but it was called a fault and she squandered the lead.
Believing her opponent done mentally, Graf relaxed and was destroyed 6-0 in the second set.
Graf fell behind 0-30 in the first game and at break point in the third set, but overcame both deficits to take the 6-3 win.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/11/2010 8:30:18 AM | with 0 comments
John McEnroe def. Bjorn Borg
7-6(4), 6-1, 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-4
Love him or hate him, that day in 1980 John McEnroe was the sole reason Bjorn Borg never achieved the career Grand Slam.
The pair had already clashed at Wimbledon that summer, with Borg taking a five-set epic for his 10th Slam. But the US Open was McEnroe’s turf, having won the title the year before, and he had already escaped one noose in the semifinals, losing the third set to Jimmy Connors 6-0 to go down 2-1 before rallying to the win.
McEnroe took the first two sets over Borg in the final, only to see the seasoned veteran take the next two.
“When I lost the fourth set, I thought my body was going to fall off,” McEnroe quipped later. In the seventh game of the fifth set,
Borg double faulted twice and couldn’t recover, as McEnroe won the four-hour, 13-minute marathon.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/12/2010 8:51:02 AM | with 0 comments
 September 24 is known for an epic event in the history of men’s tennis.
The year was 1938 and there was no one better in the sport than Don Budge, then 23 years old and in the midst of a five-year reign as the No. 1 player in the world.
A native of Oakland, Budge’s father was a former Scottish soccer player. Budge attended Cal-Berkley briefly, leaving to play for the US Davis Cup auxiliary team.
In 1937, he took the tennis world by storm, winning the singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles crown at Wimbledon. He won the singles and mixed doubles at the US Open later that year. Turns out, he was just getting warmed up.
In 1938, he defeated John Bromwich in the Australian Open final, Roderick Menzel for the French Open title and Henry “Bunny” Austin for the crown at Wimbledon.
To cap it all, 72 years ago to the day, he defeated Gene Mako to take the crown at the US Open, becoming the first person ever to win the Grand Slam. 
He turned pro in 1939, and took on the two biggest players on that circuit, defeating Ellsworth Vines 22 matches to 17, and Fred Perry 28-8. He continued to dominate pro tennis through the early 1940s, then joined the U.S. Air Force to serve in the second World War.
While on an obstacle course in training in 1943, he tore a muscle in his shoulder, an injury that he would never recover from fully.
Post-WWII, Bobby Riggs took over as the best player in the country, although Budge continued to play into the 1950s, beating World No. 1 Pancho Gonzales in Los Angeles in 1954 at age 41.
Budge, who died in 2000, has been ranked anywhere from first to fifth among various tennis magazines and experts, among the greatest players of all time.
Posted to Legends of the Game by
Nick on 9/24/2010 3:39:16 PM | with 0 comments
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