Fast surfaces are fun to play on. especially when it’s indoors. It really amplifies the sounds - especially the “boom” when ball zooms past the receiver, during an ace. I love playing indoors.
I was going to comment about the surface and saw this as the first comment. The ball must have skidded through on every serve, almost like playing on a wet grass court??
I played with a wooden racquet when I was first taught tennis. I had a booming serve even as a teen because it was the one shot I could practice by myself all day long. When the change went to graphite and braided graphite my serve got even faster once the adjustment was made. I played with the original Dunlap Max 200g and then the Original Wilson Pro Staff. (Point of fact - The original Wilson Pro Staff was actually created and made for Jimmy Connors as a replacement for his T-2000) he played with it for a short time about less than a year, he even did commercials for the racquet and for some reason stopped playing with it. He signed a big contract to endorse it and wasn't sure if they sued for breach of contract. Anyway as we all know Pete Sampras is credited with making the racquet famous at that time almost all the pros were using it on the men's and women's side. It is one of the finest racquets ever made. Oh my racquet was the original Jack Kramer, I always wanted the Pro Staff but could not afford the $20 Price at the time lol lol lol. Two of the finest wood racquets ever! I always wanted and interviewer to ask Connors about the racquet but they dont do their homework at all and probably dont think its worth asking maybe.
The Dunlop Maxply with gut strings had the most power/control of any wooden racket I ever used. Rod Laver won his two Grand Slams with it, for example. But it was around as fragile as an eggshell. You had to buy a new one every few months, even if you never abused it.
@@Richard-g4u1r I have not played since 1982, when most players still used wood. The new large racquets have changed the style of the game. Longer rallies, baseline boredom.
Brilliant video. Many thanks. The courts were SO much faster, as was the time taken between points. Required a different set of skills to today. Only Federer of the recent big 3 would be able to cope with these conditions.
I was amazed to find this lengthy video as there are very few videos of Lew Hoad and Pancho Gonsales to watch. Besides the actual match the post interview of Lew Hoad was delightful. The early professionals did it very tough unlike the modern players who are paid huge sums to play on the very best courts. Thanks for making this video available to watch and it is very much appreciated.
Yep very rugged way of life. From all I've heard, many nights of constant travel, playing the best of the world over and over. No wonder Hoad never won them all, among other reasons. Heard when he wasn't in the mood he'd lose to anyone. But on his day would beat Anyone
@@Dman9fp Hoad won the official No. 1 pro ranking for 1959 with Gonzales second, Rosewall third. This was a tournaments series points system which Kramer invented. The template for today's ATP points system.
Wow! Absolutely rare quality footage! Never seen these greats play before, only read about their epic pro challenge match series. Hard hitting wood racquets on a wood surface between two legends. Thank you for posting - Kudos!
@@carseye1219 In the 1958 and 1959 tours, Hoad and Gonzales started in Australia with best-of five set matches on grass surfaces in major stadiums, then switched to the portable canvas loose surface for best-of-three matches in America in local gyms.
Yes, very interesting. Never saw any of these former great players. You can see the complete differerent technique of backhand and the serve without loading.... Nice ❤
It's flawed logic when I hear people say Laver would have won many more Grand Slams if the pros were allowed to play in the Slams. If the pros (such as Hoad, Rosewall, Gonzales) were allowed to play in 1962, Laver would NOT have won the Grand Slam that year. The same with subsequent years. Not until something like 1967 when Laver began to dominate the field. Laver "won" the Pro Slam (US Pro, Wembly Pro, French Pro) in 1967 and then the open Slam in 1969. That would be it.
@@BangNguyen-ux4ie Didn't Laver win the pro slam several years, I saw him beat Rosewall in straight sets in the London leg in 1966, would have had a good chance of the slam in any of the years 1965 to 1970. Some events he could not play in because of contractual arrangements.
I think they might be playing on a basketball court or a temporary wood court. Either way it’s lightning fast. I played on a wood court once in the early 90’s and returning serve was a demoralizing experience. I’d love to see Nadal or Djokovic try returning Gonzalez’s serve on a wood court.
@@Brauzeuge1516 Novak's abilities are not good on fast surfaces?! Where did you get this theory? Novak won Miami 6 times, Paris 6 times, and the Masters Cup 7 times. They are all fast surfaces, not to mention that he won Wimbledon 7 times
@@MalekAhmed-kz3zu we are speaking from fast. today everything is slow down, surfaces, balls...he is not the player for really fast courts or u wanna debate that
Priceless video of possibly the two greatest players ever to swing a racquet. In those days, the serve was a point winner, unlike the automatic returns of serve today with the larger racquet heads.
The sanded wood has multiple coats of paint, so there's really no texture taking speed off the ball. It probably does actually accelerate the ball depending on the type of spin with which the shot was struck, but you'd need a physicist to tell you the details on that. 🙂
Absolute tennis titans even if it does look like it here (both past their peaks, especially Hoad who had serious back issues (apparently surgeries, change of diet, stretches, excercises didnt really fix it) and allegedly drank heavily in large part to help with the pain Gonzales, himself claimed by many to be the greatest of all time in the 20th century, said Hoad was his strongest opposition and vice versa (& keep in mind a 40+ year old Gonzales had beaten in or near their peak Laver, Rosewall, Newcombe, etc in the 70s) In Hoad's wife's memoir mostly about her late husband, in it is an excerpt where Gonzales had said: "Lew was such a strong son-of-a-b***h. On his day, when he tried, you just couldn't beat him. He was probably the best and toughest player when he wanted to be. He hit the ball harder than anyone I ever played. He would take the ball low inside the court and whip it at your head, and you knew the damn thing would drop six inches inside the baseline if you let it go but it was coming so fast, egg-shaped with top-spin that sometimes you couldnt even get a racquet on it. He was the only guy, if I was playing my best tennis, who could still beat me. The series we played was ball-busting, every day fraught with drauma. I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead were enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique" This book isnt perfect but has some good insights like that. & especially Id be very eager to see their match at the dawn of the open era at wimbledon in 1967, both well past their peaks and out of shape but apparently played a very entertaining match in which Hoad won 3-6, 11-9, 8-6
Not sure if these are covered by canvas or are bare wood. At any rate, it would be next to impossible to have any rally over 3 shots. I can remember playing on gymnasium wood before we had an indoor court. The ball would just shoot off the surface.
It's amazing to think that during Laver's peak years 63-67, he couldn't play any Slams cos he was on the rival pro circuit. Just think how much he'd have won if he'd been playing Slams during that period
This is certainly not a wood surface, looks more like a rubberized sheet on top of a solid undersurface, perhaps wood or concrete. The soft rubber surface gives good footing. Hoad's legendary volleying technique on good display here, players today could learn something from this video. This venue in St. Austell was used for celebrity tournaments in the 1930s, the Royal Family played here. The bounces look fairly true and hittable, the style of the day was serve and volley. A delight to see and hear Gonzales exchange comments with a guy in the audience.
There's no backcourt room at all on this court and the surface is lightning fast. No way can you have any rallies. I'm sure these guys were not thrilled playing on that court.
I say underrated because people just look & c he won 2 US Opens & that’s all they know not that he was the World’s top professional player for 8 years & therefore the No 1 player in the world all the public talk about is Grand Slam titles & he was banned from playing them just like Ken Rosewell would of won 15-20 Slams
Yep there was a Rule back then- they must have 1 foot on the ground while serving. Seems fair, hard enough to return fast serves with those minimal sweetspot rackets Edit: & I'm sure this film footage seems like anything except a dime a dozen. But media was All physical back then, probably more abundant than we think, just hiding away in basements, libraries or something
That rule was changed in 1959, and this is 1964, but both players had learnt and played most of their careers under the old rule and probably didn't see a need to change anything. Looking at this I have to agree ;-)
@@EJP286CRSKW Hoad experimented with the jump serve in 1959. I guess he did not like it and went back to foot on ground, which gave him an easier motion toward the net.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 Thank you. I guess they must all have given it a go when it became legal, but changing something that ingrained is pretty difficult.
Not much footage of Hoad and this is the longest that I’ve seen. I am unable to find anything that to me supports the legend that he is among the best ever. I’m not knocking him but I just haven’t seen that. He missed slams playing as a pro a shortened career due to a bad back so there’s not much footage to go on and impossible to judge him as an all-time great based on what there is available. His peers spoke highly of his peak performance. That court is beyond awful. I played on indoor wood during winter practice in college. It was slick and fast. I liked playing on it. I think the court here is wood covered in canvas. It looks like craters everywhere so it would not only be fast but would give bad bounces. And that stairwell in the corner could be a hazard. Wouldn’t want to run into that. The audience is all dressed up in their Sunday best.
I think either Pancho Segura or Jack Kramer wrote that on his best days, nobody could beat Lew Hoad. That is not saying he's the best ever. You can have a player who can beat anybody when he's "on", but not consistent enough to put together a successful career. We cannot say that such a player is the best ever.
What is your take on Gonzales here? The game was different then, serve and volley. Cannot happen today with the jumbo racquet heads. The current players would be hopeless with wood racquets.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 The cratered surface of wood covered in canvas is so god-awful that it’s hard to judge. I’ve seen Gonzalez and see him as a great in sort of the big man Tilden mode. Pancho was old when pros were allowed back to the slams, so am era already made had to judge with the pro/amateur divide is made harder in the case of pancho. I’ve watched video of Roy Emerson that impressed me more than either of these guys and nobody talks about Emerson. He was a beast with a powerful game, won 12 slams. I recommend checking him out. In ‘96 I had a chance to hit with him at a charity event. Rosewall too. Emerson was a lot more fun but exchanging my BH with Rosewall’s legendary underspun BH was the highlight for sure. I never got to hit with Connors, but his BH is sort of a 2-handed Rosewall if you think about it.
The most underrated great in Tennis History Pancho Gonzalez won 2 US Opens then turned Pro Straight away was ranked the top Pro 8 years in a row couldn’t play the Slams for like 12-14 years just like Rosewell probably would’ve won 15-20 Slams look at that Service Action just like Roger Federers when Tennis went Open & he was allowed to play the Slams he was past his peak those 8-10 years at his peak him & Rosewell would of won all 4 of the Slams every year not the guys that did the Amateurs were way inferior as Laver found out when he turned Pro & Rosewell destroyed him & he was the Grand Slam winner 1962 at this point
Pancho was not underated. He was the biggest tennis star of the 50s. How many tennis fans know who Bill Tilden or Don Budge are. It is simply the passage if time.
Seemed split/ slightly in Pancho's favor from what I've read. Memory and big moments can be biasing... idk whose to say who the greatest of the Mid or so 20th century is/ was. Many contenders
In the famous 1958 series, Hoad led 18-9 over Gonzales when Hoad's back injury flared up, then Hoad had a thigh muscle injury which lasted for two months. Final score was 51-36 for Gonzales. In 1959 Hoad took a 13-5 lead on Gonzales in the pro championship tour, but Hoad's back again acted up and the final score was 15-13 (Hoad led 15-12 near the end). For the full year of 1959 Hoad led 24-23. They also played a ten match series in 1961 in Britain with Hoad winning 6-4.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 So I've heard. Even with those facts, I wouldn't say he overall "Owned" Gonzales. Reminds me in a way-- Andy Roddick has said before than Murray is by far the greater grass player- because on paper he's Actually Won 2 wimbledons. 2>0. That's one of even more egregious case of "what if Federer wasn't there"/ very arguably Roddick Was the better grass court player in his Peak. But like Roddick essential said-- opinions/ speculations are like buttholes, and Results are Results. Tennis is a Result-oriented Sport... altho no doubt it's Fun to Speculate say-- would Connors have won the slam in 1974 if allowed to compete in all slams that year, or would Peak Gonzales, Laver, Djokovic, Nadal, Sampras, or Federer, or maybe Hoad end up on top in a tournament of champs all things being equal... but it's still just fun speculation & never meant to be cutthroat arguments based on numbers- at least it's not as fun as other things more worthwhile things to do in this relatively privileged short life-time
@@Dman9fp Agree, I would not say that Hoad "owned" Gonzales, but Hoad seems to have had the edge when not having trouble with his back or thigh injuries. Lifetime in all matches Gonzales had the overall edge on Hoad by 104-78, but on grass Hoad was 21-14 lifetime over Gonzales. The grass matches were in important tournaments or stadiums. Hoad had an edge on Gonzales in important tournaments,, but in marathon head-to-head series Hoad's back prevented him from prevailing.
Read a Jack Kramer book saying some venues were so hot that opponents would agree that whoever won the first set won the match and the loser would tank the 2nd set.
That's not what he said. He said that in the _doubles_ there was such an agreement, but if the guys got competitive they would ignore it and beat each others' brains out until after midnight. And if you watch this through to the interview with Lew you will find that he puts any suggestion of fixing to bed.
Good to see this old footage. That wooden court would have been hell to play on, the fastest surface on earth.
Yeah I’ve played on a wood indoor court: no wonder they can’t return any serves!
Fast surfaces are fun to play on. especially when it’s indoors. It really amplifies the sounds - especially the “boom” when ball zooms past the receiver, during an ace. I love playing indoors.
@@darrellkramer8097 Ever played on a wooden floor.
@@stevehughes1510 No
I was going to comment about the surface and saw this as the first comment. The ball must have skidded through on every serve, almost like playing on a wet grass court??
I played with a wooden racquet when I was first taught tennis. I had a booming serve even as a teen because it was the one shot I could practice by myself all day long. When the change went to graphite and braided graphite my serve got even faster once the adjustment was made. I played with the original Dunlap Max 200g and then the Original Wilson Pro Staff. (Point of fact - The original Wilson Pro Staff was actually created and made for Jimmy Connors as a replacement for his T-2000) he played with it for a short time about less than a year, he even did commercials for the racquet and for some reason stopped playing with it. He signed a big contract to endorse it and wasn't sure if they sued for breach of contract. Anyway as we all know Pete Sampras is credited with making the racquet famous at that time almost all the pros were using it on the men's and women's side. It is one of the finest racquets ever made. Oh my racquet was the original Jack Kramer, I always wanted the Pro Staff but could not afford the $20 Price at the time lol lol lol. Two of the finest wood racquets ever! I always wanted and interviewer to ask Connors about the racquet but they dont do their homework at all and probably dont think its worth asking maybe.
At this time Hoad was using the Hoad signature Dunlop Fort maxply racquet. I used a Dunlop but not the Hoad signature.
The Dunlop Maxply with gut strings had the most power/control of any wooden racket I ever used. Rod Laver won his two Grand Slams with it, for example. But it was around as fragile as an eggshell. You had to buy a new one every few months, even if you never abused it.
@@musicmasterplayer4532I'd forgotten all about the Fort part of the name. It means strong in French.
@@Richard-g4u1r I have not played since 1982, when most players still used wood. The new large racquets have changed the style of the game. Longer rallies, baseline boredom.
wish there was more footage available from this era
Pancho was my coach in the early 70s . he was a very no nonsense person, taught me to hit a great one handed backhand Rest in peach my old Master😢
Rest in Peach.
Lew Hoad and Rod Laver were my tennis idols as a boy growing up. Really nice to see this footage of him playing.
Brilliant video. Many thanks. The courts were SO much faster, as was the time taken between points. Required a different set of skills to today. Only Federer of the recent big 3 would be able to cope with these conditions.
I'd never heard Hoad speak on video for any great length. He's very candid and engaging. He was a great spokesperson for the pro tour.
thanks Olaf, as a 50 year fan of this wonderful sport I really appreciate this moment in tennis history.
I was amazed to find this lengthy video as there are very few videos of Lew Hoad and Pancho Gonsales to watch. Besides the actual match the post interview of Lew Hoad was delightful. The early professionals did it very tough unlike the modern players who are paid huge sums to play on the very best courts. Thanks for making this video available to watch and it is very much appreciated.
like that teflon court ✈
Yep very rugged way of life. From all I've heard, many nights of constant travel, playing the best of the world over and over. No wonder Hoad never won them all, among other reasons. Heard when he wasn't in the mood he'd lose to anyone. But on his day would beat Anyone
@@Dman9fp❤😊ㆍ
@@Dman9fp Hoad won the official No. 1 pro ranking for 1959 with Gonzales second, Rosewall third.
This was a tournaments series points system which Kramer invented. The template for today's ATP points system.
Wow! Absolutely rare quality footage! Never seen these greats play before, only read about their epic pro challenge match series. Hard hitting wood racquets on a wood surface between two legends.
Thank you for posting - Kudos!
They had a carpet court. It rolled up and they brought it to every stop on the "tour".
@@carseye1219 In the 1958 and 1959 tours, Hoad and Gonzales started in Australia with best-of five set matches on grass surfaces in major stadiums, then switched to the portable canvas loose surface for best-of-three matches in America in local gyms.
That gymnasium floor for tennis, so slippery!
How in the world could they see? Also, the speed of that court! 😯
Night vision glasses.
Yes I played several times on wooden courts as a teenager, it was insane
What a rare find and a treat to watch.
Thanks for this brilliant upload 👍
This is amazing stuff thank you so much.
Nadal’s service return position would be back in the grandstand. Thanks for posting this fantastic footage.
always good to see semi-full length footage of gonzales
Yes, very interesting. Never saw any of these former great players. You can see the complete differerent technique of backhand and the serve without loading.... Nice ❤
When Laver turned pro, he had a nightmare first year, getting beaten frequently by Hoad. Courts, odd timings had a lot to do.
It's flawed logic when I hear people say Laver would have won many more Grand Slams if the pros were allowed to play in the Slams. If the pros (such as Hoad, Rosewall, Gonzales) were allowed to play in 1962, Laver would NOT have won the Grand Slam that year. The same with subsequent years. Not until something like 1967 when Laver began to dominate the field. Laver "won" the Pro Slam (US Pro, Wembly Pro, French Pro) in 1967 and then the open Slam in 1969. That would be it.
@@BangNguyen-ux4ie Didn't Laver win the pro slam several years, I saw him beat Rosewall in straight sets in the London leg in 1966, would have had a good chance of the slam in any of the years 1965 to 1970. Some events he could not play in because of contractual arrangements.
Pancho's serve was so big that at some tournaments they made him serve three feet behind the bass line and he still killed it!
lol...wut?
Hahahaha…no
I think they might be playing on a basketball court or a temporary wood court. Either way it’s lightning fast. I played on a wood court once in the early 90’s and returning serve was a demoralizing experience. I’d love to see Nadal or Djokovic try returning Gonzalez’s serve on a wood court.
I think djokovic would break 80% of his service games
@@kesun32145 with would racket for sure. djokovic abilities are not good on fast surface and wooden rackets he would have no chance.
@@Brauzeuge1516 Novak's abilities are not good on fast surfaces?! Where did you get this theory? Novak won Miami 6 times, Paris 6 times, and the Masters Cup 7 times. They are all fast surfaces, not to mention that he won Wimbledon 7 times
@@MalekAhmed-kz3zu we are speaking from fast. today everything is slow down, surfaces, balls...he is not the player for really fast courts or u wanna debate that
@@Brauzeuge1516 I don't need to waste my time debating your nonsense
Unreal video, awesome serve
Priceless video of possibly the two greatest players ever to swing a racquet. In those days, the serve was a point winner, unlike the automatic returns of serve today with the larger racquet heads.
Nice find!
This is gold!
It's interesting to know that back then, players did not have chairs to sit down during game breaks, even at the Slams like Wimbledon.
And they didn't need long breaks between games or have to bounce the ball two dozen times before serving.
@@robertwebb3546 You're not referring to a particular player? lol
I played several times on wood floors tennis courts...it was ridiculously fast
I've played on basketball indoor courts before. You feel like the ball actually gains speed after it bounces. Crazy faster than grass or cement.
The sanded wood has multiple coats of paint, so there's really no texture taking speed off the ball. It probably does actually accelerate the ball depending on the type of spin with which the shot was struck, but you'd need a physicist to tell you the details on that. 🙂
Absolute tennis titans even if it does look like it here (both past their peaks, especially Hoad who had serious back issues (apparently surgeries, change of diet, stretches, excercises didnt really fix it) and allegedly drank heavily in large part to help with the pain
Gonzales, himself claimed by many to be the greatest of all time in the 20th century, said Hoad was his strongest opposition and vice versa (& keep in mind a 40+ year old Gonzales had beaten in or near their peak Laver, Rosewall, Newcombe, etc in the 70s)
In Hoad's wife's memoir mostly about her late husband, in it is an excerpt where Gonzales had said:
"Lew was such a strong son-of-a-b***h. On his day, when he tried, you just couldn't beat him. He was probably the best and toughest player when he wanted to be. He hit the ball harder than anyone I ever played. He would take the ball low inside the court and whip it at your head, and you knew the damn thing would drop six inches inside the baseline if you let it go but it was coming so fast, egg-shaped with top-spin that sometimes you couldnt even get a racquet on it. He was the only guy, if I was playing my best tennis, who could still beat me. The series we played was ball-busting, every day fraught with drauma. I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead were enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique"
This book isnt perfect but has some good insights like that. & especially Id be very eager to see their match at the dawn of the open era at wimbledon in 1967, both well past their peaks and out of shape but apparently played a very entertaining match in which Hoad won 3-6, 11-9, 8-6
Excerpts exist of that 1967 Wimbledon match. See the Wiki bio of Hoad.
Did you see Lew Hoad slam the ball at the backcourt at 1:35? He did it after losing a point. He would have been disqualified nowadays.
Many thanks!!
Le court en bois,c’est le plus rapide au monde,et à l’époque les joueurs n’avaient pas le droit de sauter au service,le top de l’époque 👍
What are they playing on, greased wood, in the dark?
sounds like they playing on a solid wood floor lol
Not sure if these are covered by canvas or are bare wood. At any rate, it would be next to impossible to have any rally over 3 shots. I can remember playing on gymnasium wood before we had an indoor court. The ball would just shoot off the surface.
This has the feel of a Twilight Zone episode.
Thanks ❤
It's amazing to think that during Laver's peak years 63-67, he couldn't play any Slams cos he was on the rival pro circuit. Just think how much he'd have won if he'd been playing Slams during that period
fantastic thx
Wow, and they complained about serve festivals in the 1990s.
They're playing on a wood floor court - a really fast surface no one uses anymore. Faster than grass, which is the fastest surface in use today.
Love this video
what's the court surface - glass?
Both guys were struggling to even put a service return in play.
It's made out of wood. An absolutely miserable way to play tennis.
This is certainly not a wood surface, looks more like a rubberized sheet on top of a solid undersurface, perhaps wood or concrete. The soft rubber surface gives good footing. Hoad's legendary volleying technique on good display here, players today could learn something from this video. This venue in St. Austell was used for celebrity tournaments in the 1930s, the Royal Family played here. The bounces look fairly true and hittable, the style of the day was serve and volley. A delight to see and hear Gonzales exchange comments with a guy in the audience.
Portable canvas
Super fast court!!! Wood!! ATP should bring back that surface....
Lew Hoad had a tennis center in Spain...I believe it was Mijas
Big serves wow
Tennis in a bowling alley
The court looks like an ice skating ring
The days where the players did not have powerful rackets that ended the point quickly. Everyone had to run a lot.
Some notes to self:
7:37, 8:37, 9:12, 10:38, 11:23, 12:05, 13:20, 13:41, 16:51
Their playing on my grandma's hutch
Nice but i can't even ask which pixel is the ball, because the ball has not even a pixel....
There's no backcourt room at all on this court and the surface is lightning fast. No way can you have any rallies. I'm sure these guys were not thrilled playing on that court.
The court is too much fast , it is impossible to play , therefore the match results utmost boring . However, this video is very important.
I say underrated because people just look & c he won 2 US Opens & that’s all they know not that he was the World’s top professional player for 8 years & therefore the No 1 player in the world all the public talk about is Grand Slam titles & he was banned from playing them just like Ken Rosewell would of won 15-20 Slams
Yep there was a Rule back then- they must have 1 foot on the ground while serving. Seems fair, hard enough to return fast serves with those minimal sweetspot rackets
Edit: & I'm sure this film footage seems like anything except a dime a dozen. But media was All physical back then, probably more abundant than we think, just hiding away in basements, libraries or something
That rule was changed in 1959, and this is 1964, but both players had learnt and played most of their careers under the old rule and probably didn't see a need to change anything. Looking at this I have to agree ;-)
@@EJP286CRSKW Hoad experimented with the jump serve in 1959. I guess he did not like it and went back to foot on ground, which gave him an easier motion toward the net.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 Thank you. I guess they must all have given it a go when it became legal, but changing something that ingrained is pretty difficult.
What a ludicrous surface that was. Each match was a serve-fest. Dull in the extreme......
Any idea what year this match took place?
1964
With the power of today' s player on such a surface, we would witness a duel of serves only!😂
Not much footage of Hoad and this is the longest that I’ve seen. I am unable to find anything that to me supports the legend that he is among the best ever. I’m not knocking him but I just haven’t seen that. He missed slams playing as a pro a shortened career due to a bad back so there’s not much footage to go on and impossible to judge him as an all-time great based on what there is available. His peers spoke highly of his peak performance.
That court is beyond awful. I played on indoor wood during winter practice in college. It was slick and fast. I liked playing on it. I think the court here is wood covered in canvas. It looks like craters everywhere so it would not only be fast but would give bad bounces. And that stairwell in the corner could be a hazard. Wouldn’t want to run into that. The audience is all dressed up in their Sunday best.
I think either Pancho Segura or Jack Kramer wrote that on his best days, nobody could beat Lew Hoad. That is not saying he's the best ever. You can have a player who can beat anybody when he's "on", but not consistent enough to put together a successful career. We cannot say that such a player is the best ever.
What is your take on Gonzales here? The game was different then, serve and volley. Cannot happen today with the jumbo racquet heads. The current players would be hopeless with wood racquets.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 The cratered surface of wood covered in canvas is so god-awful that it’s hard to judge. I’ve seen Gonzalez and see him as a great in sort of the big man Tilden mode. Pancho was old when pros were allowed back to the slams, so am era already made had to judge with the pro/amateur divide is made harder in the case of pancho. I’ve watched video of Roy Emerson that impressed me more than either of these guys and nobody talks about Emerson. He was a beast with a powerful game, won 12 slams. I recommend checking him out. In ‘96 I had a chance to hit with him at a charity event. Rosewall too. Emerson was a lot more fun but exchanging my BH with Rosewall’s legendary underspun BH was the highlight for sure. I never got to hit with Connors, but his BH is sort of a 2-handed Rosewall if you think about it.
@@BangNguyen-ux4ie I’ve heard those comments. I just don’t see it. Regardless, I agree with your thinking in this.
@@robertjones8598 Did you hit with Hoad? The players themselves rated Hoad as the greatest.
What year please?
1964
Ridiculously fast wooden court, how could the pros play on these courts back then? What a travesty
He looks a lot like Daniel Craig of 007 fame.
Looks like a wooden basketball court
I guess they didn't do rallies back then.
What year is this?
1964.
From which year?
September 1964, at the Riviera Club in Cornwall, England
Lew Hoad ha giocato poco ma quando ha giocato forse è stato il migliore!!!!
The most underrated great in Tennis History Pancho Gonzalez won 2 US Opens then turned Pro Straight away was ranked the top Pro 8 years in a row couldn’t play the Slams for like 12-14 years just like Rosewell probably would’ve won 15-20 Slams look at that Service Action just like Roger Federers when Tennis went Open & he was allowed to play the Slams he was past his peak those 8-10 years at his peak him & Rosewell would of won all 4 of the Slams every year not the guys that did the Amateurs were way inferior as Laver found out when he turned Pro & Rosewell destroyed him & he was the Grand Slam winner 1962 at this point
Pancho was not underated. He was the biggest tennis star of the 50s. How many tennis fans know who Bill Tilden or Don Budge are. It is simply the passage if time.
About as exciting as a funeral.
Whose funeral?
I understand Hoad was beating Gonzalez consistantly until he hurt his back, badly, then the roles reversed.
Back then it was all serve, they had hardly any groundstrokes
Was this in the 1950s?
September 1964, at the Riviera Club in Cornwall, England
Hoad owned Pancho until he got injured.
Seemed split/ slightly in Pancho's favor from what I've read. Memory and big moments can be biasing... idk whose to say who the greatest of the Mid or so 20th century is/ was. Many contenders
In the famous 1958 series, Hoad led 18-9 over Gonzales when Hoad's back injury flared up, then Hoad had a thigh muscle injury which lasted for two months. Final score was 51-36 for Gonzales.
In 1959 Hoad took a 13-5 lead on Gonzales in the pro championship tour, but Hoad's back again acted up and the final score was 15-13 (Hoad led 15-12 near the end). For the full year of 1959 Hoad led 24-23. They also played a ten match series in 1961 in Britain with Hoad winning 6-4.
@@musicmasterplayer4532 So I've heard. Even with those facts, I wouldn't say he overall "Owned" Gonzales. Reminds me in a way-- Andy Roddick has said before than Murray is by far the greater grass player- because on paper he's Actually Won 2 wimbledons. 2>0. That's one of even more egregious case of "what if Federer wasn't there"/ very arguably Roddick Was the better grass court player in his Peak. But like Roddick essential said-- opinions/ speculations are like buttholes, and Results are Results. Tennis is a Result-oriented Sport... altho no doubt it's Fun to Speculate say-- would Connors have won the slam in 1974 if allowed to compete in all slams that year, or would Peak Gonzales, Laver, Djokovic, Nadal, Sampras, or Federer, or maybe Hoad end up on top in a tournament of champs all things being equal... but it's still just fun speculation & never meant to be cutthroat arguments based on numbers- at least it's not as fun as other things more worthwhile things to do in this relatively privileged short life-time
@@Dman9fp Agree, I would not say that Hoad "owned" Gonzales, but Hoad seems to have had the edge when not having trouble with his back or thigh injuries. Lifetime in all matches Gonzales had the overall edge on Hoad by 104-78, but on grass Hoad was 21-14 lifetime over Gonzales. The grass matches were in important tournaments or stadiums. Hoad had an edge on Gonzales in important tournaments,, but in marathon head-to-head series Hoad's back prevented him from prevailing.
Malo el tenis de esa época, no paletean 2 pelotas
Read a Jack Kramer book saying some venues were so hot that opponents would agree that whoever won the first set won the match and the loser would tank the 2nd set.
That's not what he said. He said that in the _doubles_ there was such an agreement, but if the guys got competitive they would ignore it and beat each others' brains out until after midnight. And if you watch this through to the interview with Lew you will find that he puts any suggestion of fixing to bed.