FULL VERSION 1977 - Borg vs Laver - WITC
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2017
- Thank you for your gracious use of this classic match!
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PertSnergleman's Review:
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In 1977 the World Invitational Tennis Classic saw two-time CYGS winner "Rocket" Rod Laver face off against the ice-cool Swede Bjorn Borg.
The Borgenator won in straight sets... 
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Pancho was such a great technical analyst. Miss him!
As well as a serve & volley machine
Björn Borg..young, what a player....Rod Laver, a little bit older, what a player. Thanks for the show guys! Im a swede, so Björn has a special place In my heart.
a little bit older? Try like 18 years older, like almost two of Borgs lifetimes here...
great players and great announcers - great memories from the 70s for me and the family
It's a great honour for me to watch this great match of two Legends. Thanks for uploading this one.
the interview at the end... God the people were so nice and so sweat... boths players .. interviews.. commentator.. fans... so sweat , wonderful environment... now a days it's like MMA Tennis .. ruthless .. except for maybe the very top federer nadal, djocokic.. very gracious... let this video be a reminder of how wonderful this sport could be if everybody just mind their manners... Tennis is great, great sport.
Growing up in the 80's and 90's, never got to see the legends play when they were younger. Thanks for posting this.
Today's game is all about power and blasting the ball as hard as they can. The game of the past was more about touch, ball placement and strategy. Imagine if they had the training, equipment, sports science and technology of today, how they would fare.
Borg was so ahead of his time..was already using massive topspin, deep shots from the baseline like Nadal today...Can even see his motion was to create big spin. With modern rackets, Borg at this age would be terrifying to play with that topspin.
Absolutely right. Actually, the reason they keep talking about Borg's "unorthodox" style during the match is because he was the first one to do it like this. The extreme western grip, the open stance ... that was his invention. Truly a genius.
Absolutely but Johnny mac still beat him with the continental grip
@@suhasjoshi2905 Not on clay
Same thing with Guillermo vilas
Actually, Laver was using topspin before Borg, and Lew Hoad before him.
I had the great honor to hit with Laver many times one summer while he was in Encinitas. Such a nice guy
So cool. Something you'll never forget.
Wow!!
The technique of both players is beautiful to watch .
This was in 1976, not 1977. The exact date is 11 October 1976. However the match was televised the following year, which is why they're dating it 1977. Misdating matches was common practice on network television in those days; they would often show older matches and give a false impression that they were happening live. This fact is easy to verify because there's a New York Times article about the match from October 12, 1976.
Thank you Mr. Pedantic
Thank you Mr. Scholar
🤣
What a privilege to be able to see this match. My tennis career started in my later years but this video makes me feel like I am part of the tennis world of the 70´s. Thanks!!!!
These two make the best tennis ever. Thanks Rod and Björn.
Played. They played the best tennis. You don’t make tennis.
Not even close to players today ....yo are just nostalgic because most likely this was your era......reality is they would get demolished by todays pros .....it is not even close.
About 20 years ago I found in our garage what I genuinely believed was a badminton racket that belonged to my mother when she was a child in the 60's and 70's.It was only a few years ago having watched highlights of one of the old Wimbledon finals and paying close attention to the size of the rackets the players were using that I realized it was actually a tennis racket I had found.The players of today look so much better because the equipment has improved so much and the professionalism of the game has improved over the years (as it does in every sport).It's completely unfair to denigrate the great players of the past compared to modern players as they don't get to benefit from the advances in equipment and training techniques over the years.
One thing you can clearly say though, is Rocket was one bad motherfucker.
Camera work and angles are better than much of todays coverage
Brilliant to see, two of the greats of the game, going head-to-head.
Thanks for uploading this one...
oi i'm paul kennedy
@@thepykey
LOL!!!
So Laver still played against Borg who still played against Lendl who still played against Sampras who still played against Federer who was born after Laver retired!
So what? That’s how generations of sport work.
This blew my mind. Until now I thought everyone was born at the same time.
Watch the video of Laver pushing Connors to four sets in the mid-70s. Then Connors pushing Agassi to five in ‘89, and then Agassi pushing Federer to five in ‘04.
And Laver played against Pancho Gonzalez and Gonzalez played against Jack Kramer and Kramer played against Bobby Riggs and Riggs played against Don Budge and Budge played against Bill Tilden!
@@ViaticalTree Well said and funny as hell
Borg's girlfriend, tennis player herself, smoking in the stands 🤣
Love and miss those days!!
29:43 LOL
Two tennis legends !! First time I 've seen playing they were really great!
Glimpses of how good Rod was in his early days .. he did well against much younger player.
incredible matchup, legendary players, and awesome footage! thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks for posting!
Unbelievable pace with wood! They were really going for it. You need a very strong forearm to handle those rackets.
This video could be in the museum of tennis history- it features the 3 best players of three generations: Borg (70s) Laver (60s) and Gonzalez (50s). Three all time greats.
Laver aged 39 Borg 21 bit of a mismatch in career timing, but fascinating to watch thanks for the download.
What a great video! Thanks a lot!😊
Thanks for posting! Folks coming in here should look at the indoor match between these two in order to see what a badass the Rocket really was. Really.
Amazing power with wooden rackets
Thanks for posting this.. FANTASTIC to see. I remember Ilie Nastase trounced Borg in this WITC event .. don't know if that was before or after Wimbledon.
WOW will have to watch in a few weeks. I grew up after these 2 legends
Thanks for posting this!
nooo.thank you for your sister
This is just gold !
I got the feeling that Borg was playing within himself against , let's face it , an ageing Rod Laver , who was a mere shadow of the player he was at his peak . Borg knew he could contain Laver throughout the match and didn't have to hit top gear to do so - probably as a mark of respect to a once great champion .
Yes, but you could still watch the beauty in Laver´s strokes. Such a fluid way to hit the ball.
Yes I agree. I think it is quite well known that Borg was not pushing here, one can see it and I have read it before. He treated it like an expo, and Borg never played to more than 70 or 75% capacity in expos.
I enjoy listening to Gonzales.
This is one of my favourites videos on YT
Thank goodness today's coverage does not have so many camera angles and camera movement during actual play. It's hard to really get a feel for the balls' trajectory and pace. But this is a great match featuring two of the sport's best of all time.
I like the low court level angle in this video, today's coverage the camera is much higher so you can't see the height of the ball.
Those were the days.....Yvonne and Vilas were my favorites....thank you.
No serve clock needed with these legends.
I love the different camera angles used. The production was ahead of its time, still looks good in 2022
The interview between the set was charming
the arch on borg's shots and their affect on laver are akin to how nadal's jumpy ball has always botherd federer
Interviews between the sets?!! Bring that back!
Laver's return of serve is hilarious. Just standing there
Borg is mind-blowing here. He basically invented the modern windshield-wiper forehand -- and he did it with a tiny wood racquet. Incredible hand-eye coordination here. I think what commenters are missing is just how hard it is to hit the ball AT ALL with those wood racquets and to hit it with pace and placement was nearly impossible. By the way Jimmy Connors was still using the flat forehand a dozen years later. Borg was way ahead of his time.
Top spin bollocks, worst era of tennis ever. Have a cup of tea between shots.
Bjorn boring Borg wasted tennis, as Adriano Panatta said many times
Hey... Look at that! Borg is doing the same thing with his loopy topspin right handed forehand crosscourt to Laver's lefty one-handed backhand that Nadal has been doing for years with his whip-like left handed topspin forehand crosscourt to Roger's righty one handed backhand. Neat!
History repeats but flips! :)
Other way round sparky. Nadal does what borg did.
Birds chirping in the background. Lovely scene.
It is entirely unfortunate that Laver and Mac never played. Just missed each other by 18 months or so. Laver played Connors and Borg but not Mac. That my friends, would have been one helluva match and I'm sad nobody ever thought of doing an exhibition between the two of them either, in '78 or '79.
Connors deconstructed Laver at Wimbledon.
@@postergmail6202 Yah of course it's 3-0 Jimmy but you know that's a May-December relationship. We've all seen Laver give a young Bjorn fits too. And he was old as dirt then too right.
I Love this video great People Honest People & most of all Respectable Talented people.
Can you imagine interviewing a player today during a changeover when he's losing? He will tell you to bug off
Would have been fantastic to see what McEnroe's reaction would have been.
In those days, experts used to say that playing with a western grip and extreme topspin will cause injuries to the shoulder/ wrist and Borg would only play for a few years. Today, everyone plays with extreme topspin. He started this style in tennis but doesn't get much credit for it.
there are multiple parts of this video where they discourage hitting like Borg. now literally no one hits like Laver.
I'm surprised that more players did not adopt the technique of the left hand coming off of the racket after the two-handed backhand contact. Wilander did, but I can't think of anyone else.
Look at the awesome running one-handed backhand pass by Laver at 17:20!!!
I was just about to comment on that shot myself. How do you find that shot from the distance he had to travel?!@%
Ah, yes, this was in the days when tennis was a sport that interested folks could watch, rather than the business it is today. Such a shame that money rules everything. Two of the greatest players ever, a joy to watch.
You have Pancho Gonzalez coming in on this. He was Pro Circuit rather than the Majors in his day. Pancho liked the old school American Capitalism of things, to play for Invitational money. He was more interested in prizemoney Invitationals such as shown here than the Majors. Such was his wiring. But this tournament was nice. It had a nice welcoming American flavor to it.
Terima kasih videonya terbaik
These two put tennis on the map!
He looks a lot older than 38. He makes Federer look 18. But Laver is one of the greatest players ever. TWO Grand Slams (winning all 4 majors in the same year) 11 total and he was banned for several years too 1963-1967
Laver wa a very good player. No doubt about that. But the grand slam tournaments were in the early- and mid-60s just amateur tournaments. Roy Emerson won in that time 13 grand slam titles. After that, Emerson never reached a semi-final at a grand slam tournament again. Even Laver could not win grand slam titles after 1969. Laver had an easy first grand slam in 1962 and an easy second grand slam in 1969, because he could now take advantage of his years at the professional tour. Laver lost in 1969 against the much older Pancho Gonzales in New York. Emerson could never win against Pancho Gonzales.
Consider, Laver missed 5 peak years (age 25 - 30) ie. 20 majors to play 'pro' while he was the best player in the world. Imagine if Roger, Novak or Nadal had missed those years. Also, the last man to win a calendar grand slam was Don Budge in 1938. No slam is 'easy' .
borg giving laver the nadal treatment, crosscourt forehand filled to the brim with topspin to the one-handed backhand, bouncing over the shoulders or even higher. and just like federer, laver couldn't handle it. basically the proto federer-nadal clay matchup 4 years before roger himself was even born
So this is 1977. It would be Nadal giving his opponents the Borg treatment.
Tennis without grunting.
What I found awesome was that Laver won the tournament a year earlier, at 37. Borg grew up on clay so his game was suited for this surface - he might have lost to Rod on a hard surface. Early in Borg's career he could win on hard courts because he was a superior athlete. As time went on he became a dominant player on hard courts and grass as he adapted to these surfaces and became a good player at net.
Borg is one of my all-time favorites, but Laver's slice is a thing of beauty.
thanks
So some people here are saying that these are mediocre players.
Consider the following exercise. Lendl arrived at the scene two years after this match (79). He didn't play with Laver, but did play with Borg. It was close (though Borg was dominant over a young Lendl).
Then, Agassi started playing in 86-87. Agassi and Lendl's matches were really close. Although Lendl was mostly dominant over Agassi, it reversed in later years when Lendl was over 31.
Then, Federer arrived at the scene (98ish). Played with Agassi. Yes, Federer won most of the matches, but Agassi b. Federer as far as 2002. Even in 2005, one of Federer's most dominant seasons, a 35 year old Agassi (WAY past his prime) took a set from RF at the USO Final.
My point is: Tennis does evolve and of course now it's faster, but it's a constant change -- not discrete or based on specific players. And it's not obvious that if you put the Big 3 in the 70s they would crush everybody.
They're All great, just using the equipment of their time as the great game changes through eras. Bring back woods and watch again. It would all look classic.
Agassi didn't have an edge over Lendl.One could say his backhand was better but Lendl was faster and served better.
Laver had great variety, love Borg's relentless style too
Now this is a clash of generations. Laver's forehand is such a grace to watch and that BH at 34:34
@13:15: Look at that stylish motor vehicle that goes to the overall winner of the tournament.... Enough room to host your own key party in it!....My god, the Seventies...
... Shaggin' wagon! Lol
Winner of the Aces count...
Back then, it made sense for the average player. The average tennis pro. would go from tournament to tournament in one of these vans, which has room for a coach, luggage, and equipment. Of course, guys like Laver and Borg would get limo service and 5 star hotels, but the average guy ranked 200 probably had one of these vans. When I played for Rutgers in the early 80s, our team traveled in one of these vans with one of us driving.
legends
Laver was from the generation before. Brilliant in “his day”. Borg was the new arrival who played a new kind of tennis never seen before. The latter was more skilled, athletic, fitter and stronger. A great match to have recorded for posterity though.🎾.x
This really isn't an even match in that Bjorn Borg was in his prime at this time and he was more than 18 years younger than Rod Laver whose peak was in the mid 1960s. But it's still nice to see them play each other!
shows you how good Laver was.
@@tomloft2000 Yes, it does! I thought his drop shot from outside the baseline (at 33:46 in the video) was especially amazing!
Laver really does have a lot in common with Federer. The style and accuracy.
Don't insult maestro Laver.
bwaaaaaaahhh !
LMAO.....Federer could be Laver Left handed....Look at the way Rod plays...Who is any body kidding here....Today's players are a million times better....Rod has no weapons.
Caroline Stevens do your research about racquets of the time before making dumb comments.
@@carolinestevens6503 Whom do You thin is the most qualified to make comparison of the great tennis players, from the following list? [and why?]
[please rank them in order in Your opinion]
Caroline Stevens, Roger Federer, Refael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Stephan Edberg, Mats Wilander, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Ille Nastase, Ion Tiriac, Guillermo Villas, Stan Smith, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche, Rod Laver, Richard "Pancho" Gonzales, Cliff Drysdale, Vic Braden, Jack Kramer, Lew Hoad, Tony Trabert, Lew Purcell, Bill Tilden, Bill Holden, Brad Gilbert, Paul Anneconne, Tim Gulickson, Nick Bollettieri.
Sincerely,
:-)
"The player who serves the most aces wins this Chateau Ford Club Wagon. Evonne Goolagong is in the lead with....One"
Damn that's a slow court lol.
Now I see what Jonny Mac is talking about when he mentions Rod Laver as one of the greats of the game.....
Laver was already about 40 years old here.
Altri tempi
Ace Frehley & Geddy Lee used have some great tennis matches.
Tull too, Tull would team up with THING, and take on Robert Plant & HULK in doubles.
Saw many Doubles Finals at Forest Hills,
Gene Simmons & Ted Nugent against
Lee Marvin & James Coburn.
Classic 5 Set battles
When you say Tull, do you mean Ian Anderson?
The fact that Laver has two wins against Borg solidifies his GOAT status.
please.
damn rod is so smooth. First time seeing him play
First time ive seen Rod Laver play - ; bit before my time in his hey day. Its not hard to see How he was the greatest of his era .
Borg also, the first of the super consistent and super fast - one of the first of long line of two handed players, and also great.
Given his age, i would say Laver at his peak would have owned Borg.
Lavers style and power off both sides , and ability to change direction of the ball so well - he would have done to Borg what Mc McEnroe learned to do - just too much variety and smarts .
Ha, no way in hell. Borg would've blown that little man off the court. It would've been like a better Olivier Rochus against someone like Safin. Borg was hardly trying for much of this match cuz he didn't want to embarrass Laver.
@John Renehan, net magicians could do that to Borg and Nastase owned him until Wimbledon '76. Borg himself learned to come into the net alot better.
Borg strung his strings super tight. Tight is for more control, loose is for more power.
I am Bjorn of Borg. Resistance is futile.
5:39 Seeing Borg take the ball from Laver's fault and just stuff it in his pocket is hilarious in comparison to the modern game
And Laver playing with a ball in his hand if the first serve went in.
Yes! It's wild@@BasPronk
Borg was 18-19 here and Laver was 39-40 which was really old for that era. Laver was the great serve and volleyer who inspired John McEnroe. He was not as effective on slow clay courts of the day. Borg was the greatest player in history up to that point on clay and even at that young age was recognized as such. Watching Laver play 15 years earlier is more representative of his "Rocket Rod" reputation, hitting crisp volleys and serves with huge grip and heavy 14+ ounce 65 square inch racket. Borg in turn was using an 80 lb strung heavy 65 square inch Bancroft racket! There was no trampolining in his racket! Folks that was the day and age where blood blisters and tennis elbow were common requisites for playing the game of tennis!
and Laver was not really outplayed.also his groundstrokes are not weak compared to Borg.
@@thebigmonstaandy6644 This is true. Laver's groundstrokes were not weak at all (and much better than his protege McEnroe's) though Borg's groundstrokes were one of the greatest in tennis history and his domination at the French Open on clay is hard to ignore. Rod Laver even acknowledges just how difficult it was for him to handle those high deep top-spinned shots. Borg was a wall of consistency and precision, especially when he had to pass. Rod Laver was one of the greatest (and certainly contender for the top spot) tennis players. When I think of Laver's game, I think of his incredible serve and volleying (something that did not go amiss to McEnroe) and of course his power with only a wood racket at hand.
@@ClearMindedOne but here in match he is much older than Borg and has chance in second set.for me he is better than Borg.
Borg was 20 at that time, it was 1977 and Borg had already won Wimbledon in 1976 without losing a single set.
Mansplain.
Pancho was a great analytical commentator.
I keep reading about the game is different today. These two were hitting top spin forehands like they do today and they're hitting the slice serve like they do today. They played the net better than they do today. They went for the angles on the serve like they do today. Some clown mentioning that he could easily return their serves. The serves were kicking. You wouldn't have done nothing. I grew up watching these guys. I also remember Poncho and some of the guys before him. Having seen multiple era's, the guys back then could play now, the guys now could play back then. People who say the era's can't be compared don't know tennis.🤔
I can't believe you mean what you write. You just have to open your eyes. Borg vs. Laver - wonderful tennis in the 70's era. But none of both would have ANY chance against one of the pros today - even in the extended world rankings. The athleticism of the players, speed, spin, racquet material, etc. have evolved so much with each generation - neither would come close to a return chance on good serves today. Borg made a comeback attempt in the early '90s - and didn't win a game. Just one set!!! And that's four generations ago. So let's enjoy Borg and Laver without glorifying their game and making nonsensical comparisons. Many greetings.
@@oliverriedmann6777 you sound real good on paper but you don't get it. The players back then took care of the business that was in front of them, worked with what they had and with what they accomplished, made them all the more amazing. When Flojo won the 100 m in the Olympics, she actually beat Jesse Owen's 100 yd dash time. Are you going to tell me Flojo is better than Jesse Owens? Let's see if you get this: if he were alive today and had the advantages of the technology today, he would be the very best. If you are great you are great. You probably don't think Jim Thorpe did anything either. You among others are confused species who only think current athletes are the greatest ever. By the way Borg came back, old, out of shape, had been out of the game for quite a while with a wooden racket, and was in and out... Come on man, pick a better example than that one. 🤔
@@oliverriedmann6777 What's your point? Borg didn't do well in 1991 and yet Connors made the US Open semifinals that very same year. And he was older than Borg. Kind of drives in a wedge in your argument, doesn't it? Borg struggled because he didn't play for nine years. Think before you post.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Borg would LOVE playing with today's polys and frames. Laver would be very effective also.
@@reuelray Dear Roosevelt Jesse Owen's ran a 9.3 hundred yd dash Flo Jo ran the 100 meters but a 10.4 hundred meters is about a 9.6 hundred yd dash.
Quel joueur ce rod laver .!!
Great to watch 2 maestros.. The generation gap.. Pukka
Those rackets made it impossible to play the way they play today.
If you give Federer one of those rackets, he'd be in trouble trying to play against those tricky top spin balls.
And strings.
If he grew up playing with these racquet it would be no problem so stop making uninformed comments and oh, learn how to spell racquet.
@@davidr2802 we don't know, so what i write is right.
@@davidr2802For example the way Borg played today would not be good.
The way they play today was not possible back then.
So we can't know if Borg would be a champion today and we don't know if Federer would have been a champion in 1980.
Of course we can think that both would have found a way because they are very intelligent.
But we don't know, and in the Borg era it was tremendously effective.
Sorry for my English.
Rod Laver has a haircut to die for
Looks like someone did 😂😂😂😂😂
cool post
Can you please upload the full match between these two legends in WCT Finals 1975 someday?
Ok
Chris was such a commentator
There is a game between Ashe and Borg from an earlier edition of US Open where Borg serves harder, before he strung his rackets harder.
Neither has settled down, first to do so I’m sure won. Both are so tight.
Rod playing the whole point w a ball in his off hand.
funny btw are you related to poncho
lol nope
... you're saying some players play with their balls in their hand?
Graf did the same.
minuto 33:47 el drop de Laver... jamas vi una cosa igual.....increible la capacidad tecnica de Laver... realmente bien considerado para algunos el mejor de todos los tiempos... un adelantado para esa epoca..completisimo en todas las facetas tecnicas ....solo le falto envergadura fisica...
This looks more like badminton compared to today.
Laver..hitting with the Dunlop Maxply..hit with it too..remember, tendency to crack at the throat, on miss hit overheads..
This is the 1976 WITC Invitational, not 1977!
In Flushing, I'd see John Cougar Mellencamp & Dr. McCoy take on
Tom Petty & Darth Vader.
Serve & Volley. Different game back then.
🎾🎾
Hello PertSnergleman!Thanks for this upload.I wanna ask you, if you have one of the following matches or all, and you can upload them:
1.Ilie Nastase-Nikola Pilic, Roland Garros Men's Singles Final 1973
2.Ilie Nastase/Ion Tiriac-Arthur Ashe/Charlie Pasarell, Roland Garros Men's Doubles Final 1970
3.Virginia Ruzici-Mima Jausovec, Roland Garros Women's Singles Final 1978
4.Virginia Ruzici/Mima Jausovec-Gail Sherriff Lovera/Lesley Turner Bowrey, Roland Garros Women's Doubles Final 1978
5.Ilie Nastase/Jimmy Connors-John Cooper/Neale Fraser, Wimbledon Men's Doubles Final 1973
6.Ilie Nastase/Jimmy Connors-Tom Okker/Marty Riessen-US Open Men's Doubles Final 1975
7.Ilie Nastase-Jan Kodes-Roland Garros Men's Singles Final 1971
8.Ilie Nastase/Ion Tiriac-Dennis Ralston/Clark Graebner-Roland Garros Men's Doubles Final 1966
9.Ilie Nastase-Arthur Ashe-Us Open Men's Singles Final 1972
10.Romania-SUA-Davis Cup Final 1972,Arenele BNR, Bucharest, Romania (4 singles matches+1 doubles match)
Thank you very much!
Smooth point at 33:44! Smooth!
is fake..not true..stupid
Some guy, a squash player, was telling me [ us ] in about 1975 - 76 about Bjorn Borg's racquet wiring. Borg had yet to win his first Wimbledon, but was known of on the ATP circuit. He said, " That Borg fella, he has his racquets strung to 80 pounds per square inch.". Or whatever it was.
You can actually hear the higher pitch of Borgs raquet when he hits compared to Laver
@@danoguitar Indeed ? Okay.
Lol wiring. It’s called string. And it’s just 80 pounds, not pounds per square inch.
@@ViaticalTree Ah, so.
And then Connors and the Wilson T2000 would take the opposite tack.
“Laver sucked.”
Tell me you know nothing about tennis without telling me you know nothing about tennis.
Laver..the only men's player to win two slams..62' and 69'.
@@michaelhegyan7464the one and only GOAT
@@huguesmsh5293 You're late with that comment.
Yeah he must of been pretty shit to win all four slams (GrandSlam) in a year twice. He was so shit Federer idolised the guy 🙄 I mean what an idiot right?