Flashback US Open: Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe celebrate on US Open's greatest day
Back in the past, the US Open was the only Major with a strange schedule that included the semi-finals and the final on back-to-back days, with a so-called Super Saturday that contained two men's semi-finals and the women's final. There weren't too many reasons to pack the most important encounters of the tournament in the best-of-five format in two days, and the main reason was the CBS who had the rights for broadcasting in the US Open, with everything changing when they lost it in 2015. In arguably the most magnificent Super Saturday ever, the crowd had the opportunity to see three excellent matches on September 8, 1984, with Ivan Lendl, Pat Cash, John McEnroe, and Jimmy Connors pushing each other to the distance for more than seven and a half hours, backed by Martina Navratilova who defeated Chris Evert in three sets in the women's final! Overall, tennis fans at Louis Armstrong Stadium had a chance to enjoy the world's best tennis from 11 am to 11 pm, in what would be remembered as one of the most excellent days in tennis history!
The same players who had reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon were in the same stage as the US Open, producing one of the most incredible semi-final days at Majors ever. John McEnroe toppled the defending champion Jimmy Connors 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the last match of the day to join Ivan Lendl in the final after the Czech prevailed against Pat Cash 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats for the entire day! McEnroe needed three hours and 46 minutes to upend the great rival, beating Jimmy for the eighth time in a row and giving his best to outplay the 32-year-old crowd favorite. Connors led 3-1 in the third set, with the momentum on his side after winning the previous set before John won four straight games to open up a 5-3 lead. Jimmy got the break back, only to lose the set 7-5 after a backhand volley from McEnroe, with a lot of work to do in the rest of the clash. The older American delivered incredible tennis in the fourth set, creating a double break lead at 5-2 before John bounced back.
On September 8, 1984, US Open crowd could enjoy tennis for 12 hours.McEnroe even had a break chance in the ninth game, failing to convert it and suffering a break a few minutes later to give the set to Jimmy, who sent the encounter into a decider. There, McEnroe took 12 out of the first 13 points to sprint into a 3-0 lead, keeping it throughout the set to reach the fourth title match at home in New York. Ivan Lendl advanced to his third consecutive US Open final (losing the previous two to Connors), saving a match point in the 12th game of the deciding set to edge Pat Cash in three hours and 49 minutes! Lendl faced break chances in only five service games, dropping serve three times from eight opportunities offered to Cash who fended off six out of ten break opportunities to stay in touch until the very last point. They hit around 100 service winners, with Lendl dominating from the baseline and Cash at the net in what had been a great mixture of attacking tennis and entertaining rallies.
Pat earned a break already in the second game of the match and won the opener 6-3, looking determined to upend the favorite and move into the final. Ivan recovered his game in sets two and three, serving well and moving two points away from the victory at 5-5 in the fourth set tie break. Nonetheless, he missed a forehand and Cash sealed the set with a service winner, converting the third set point to make the result even at 2-2 and prolong the battle. The Czech hit a double fault to lose serve at the beginning of set number five, getting broken for the first time since the second game of the match but pulling it back immediately to avoid chasing the result at that stage.
Pat had to save a match point in the tenth game, firing a service winner to get out of jail and earning a massive chance to seal the deal after breaking Lendl's serve in the next one. Ivan saved a match point in that 12th game and got the break back after two errors from his rival, with the deciding tie break to declare the winner and the first finalist. From 4-4, Lendl won three points in a row and converted the second match point when Cash netted a volley, setting the thrilling final with John McEnroe who was the player to beat that season. Wasting his opportunity, an angry Aussie threw his racquet into the stands, caught by Peter Husting from Winnetka who supported him during the match!
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3im4iig
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