Superb classic match. What a spectacle to watch such good humor, energy and sportsmanship from both the players. Stumbled upon it but definitely worth watching every point. Wish could have seen Kriek hold the trophy. Remember to have only read in newspaper about this victory.
Denton epitomizes pure class. You try your best but result never threatens your dignity by realizing this match is about life. Winning doesn’t make one more than mortal. He’s able to see this as a game and not life or death.
It was the time of year it was held, beginning Xmas eve with the final on 3 January, 1982. Not many leading players wanted to leave home over the festive season. The organisers stubbornly held onto the xmas-new year schedule for years, much to their detriment.
Man what a cool handshake moment! Kriek kneeling in respect; I knew he won this match but had never seen that before. It's so cool to watch these old matches and how different tennis was. My dad introduced me to tennis in 1975 so I learned with wood racquets. Volleying consistently for me was very difficult with a 65sq in racquet...I'm always amazed at the skill these guys had.
The Australian Open was very much the poor relation of the grand slams back then and often had very weak fields. There were some very lowly ranked champions. There was only a 64 player draw in 1981, instead of the usual 128.
The hot Australian summers and the foot traffic at the baselines in particular are very difficult on the grass. Marking out three different courts enables tournament officials to rotate matches from one court to another so that by the time the final comes around, a relatively fresh court is available.
Kriek looks like the wedding cake partner of Chris Evert in coloring. Stature,and representation of the masculine ( Kriek) and the feminine ideal (Evert). Kriek took first tweets in Sf open vs Borg losing three remaining sets 6-1 just like Evert beat Austin by same score but best of 3 sets instead of 5. 4-6,4-6,6-1,6-1,6-1 for Borg and 4-6, 6-1,6-1 for Evert.
No player in history has been quicker than Kriek. Quite a few as quick: Monfils, Chang, De Minaur, Alcaraz, Edberg - but none actually quicker. He's probably got the highest thigh muscle ratio ever! He probably held some of that back on this dusty grass - running flat out surely asking for trouble.....
Borg must be there as well or quicker. Considering strength, when Borg did time off from tennis in 82 they tested his strength and he had stronger legs than many heavy weight lifters of that time. "He put them into shadow" as the physician said, and then he was not even in peak shape.
Lendl played here on grass 4 times. Lost in 83 to Wilander in the final. Lost in 2 semi's and a 4th round. It wasn't till 89 and 90, and the tournament had moved to hard court that Lendl won the tournament. 👍
This should have stayed on grass. Todays guys would be crap on faster surfaces so the tours decided to make every court play like a hard court to accommodate the players who were crap at volleying. Net volleying died and drive volleys became the norm. In my opinion the only skill in modern tennis is getting to the ball and applying brute force and hitting until someone misses.
Superb classic match. What a spectacle to watch such good humor, energy and sportsmanship from both the players. Stumbled upon it but definitely worth watching every point. Wish could have seen Kriek hold the trophy. Remember to have only read in newspaper about this victory.
Sooo good, thanks for adding. Love these matches from the 1980`s
Denton epitomizes pure class. You try your best but result never threatens your dignity by realizing this match is about life. Winning doesn’t make one more than mortal. He’s able to see this as a game and not life or death.
The fact we see this final in 81 reveals what the top players still sadly thougth of this tournament in 81.. Great match to see though.
It was the time of year it was held, beginning Xmas eve with the final on 3 January, 1982. Not many leading players wanted to leave home over the festive season. The organisers stubbornly held onto the xmas-new year schedule for years, much to their detriment.
Man what a cool handshake moment! Kriek kneeling in respect; I knew he won this match but had never seen that before. It's so cool to watch these old matches and how different tennis was. My dad introduced me to tennis in 1975 so I learned with wood racquets. Volleying consistently for me was very difficult with a 65sq in racquet...I'm always amazed at the skill these guys had.
three things you would not see today: small headsized metalrackets, sexy shorts in mens tennis and Marlboro ads
Those aren’t shorts, they’re hotpants;)
The Australian Open was very much the poor relation of the grand slams back then and often had very weak fields. There were some very lowly ranked champions. There was only a 64 player draw in 1981, instead of the usual 128.
So it was the Marlboro Australian Open? Goddamn....
...can SOMEONE please tell me, why i see 3 courts on 1?
Did they play (in the first rounds) on 3 courts side by side???
The hot Australian summers and the foot traffic at the baselines in particular are very difficult on the grass. Marking out three different courts enables tournament officials to rotate matches from one court to another so that by the time the final comes around, a relatively fresh court is available.
It used to be the same at the US Open when they played on grass at Forest Hills
Kriek was awesome
Kriek looks like the wedding cake partner of Chris Evert in coloring. Stature,and representation of the masculine ( Kriek) and the feminine ideal (Evert). Kriek took first tweets in Sf open vs Borg losing three remaining sets 6-1 just like Evert beat Austin by same score but best of 3 sets instead of 5. 4-6,4-6,6-1,6-1,6-1 for Borg and 4-6, 6-1,6-1 for Evert.
Johan was fine. 🎂 🎂
Kriek: huge legs, great hair
No player in history has been quicker than Kriek. Quite a few as quick: Monfils, Chang, De Minaur, Alcaraz, Edberg - but none actually quicker. He's probably got the highest thigh muscle ratio ever!
He probably held some of that back on this dusty grass - running flat out surely asking for trouble.....
Borg must be there as well or quicker. Considering strength, when Borg did time off from tennis in 82 they tested his strength and he had stronger legs than many heavy weight lifters of that time. "He put them into shadow" as the physician said, and then he was not even in peak shape.
Borg
"Malboro"
Did Lendl play there back then? I fell he could have won an easy grand slam. Of course that holds for McEnroe or Borg even more.
Lendl needed 6 attempts to win here
Lendl played here on grass 4 times. Lost in 83 to Wilander in the final. Lost in 2 semi's and a 4th round. It wasn't till 89 and 90, and the tournament had moved to hard court that Lendl won the tournament. 👍
This should have stayed on grass. Todays guys would be crap on faster surfaces so the tours decided to make every court play like a hard court to accommodate the players who were crap at volleying. Net volleying died and drive volleys became the norm. In my opinion the only skill in modern tennis is getting to the ball and applying brute force and hitting until someone misses.