McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Eduardo Duran, Chicago, Illinois — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:09:41 GMT

First off, I would just like to say that I am a huge fan of tennis on NBC, and think that the commentators (Ted, John, and Mary) are simply fantastic, and they compliment each other so well. Yes, it does seem that tennis does not draw the audiences that it used to in the United States, and that is a shame, because America has such a rich history in tennis, including all of the fantastic examples described above. Although I was not around for the McEnroe-Borg rivalry, they have shown some clips, and it looked like the matched were incredibly intense. Hopefully, Nadal does get better, and can continue to play as well as he did last year, in order to have another great final. Well, thank you for reading, and looking forward to Wimbledon, can't wait!

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

RealTennisNut — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:05:50 GMT

It is very unlikely that Tennis will generate huge spectator interest in the US anytime soon. Even when it had a reasonable following, we would be fooling ourselves into thinking that it triumphed over baseball, basketball and football. Speaking of football, the real football (soccer), the world's leading sport is struggling in the US.

Given that background, it is really surprising that McEnroe and Connors generated so much interest. They were great players, no doubt, but the real attraction was their on court behavior.

Getting to the real issue, the Borg-McEnroe rivalry was over-hyped. They never met on clay and that is the reason why the H2H reflected 7-7. If you take clay out of the equation for Federer vs Nadal it is 5-4. Borg left after 1981 and that may be the reason why McEnroe never got to play him on clay. Still, I believe McEnroe would not have made to as many clay court finals to meet Borg is they were ranked 1 and 2. Federer and Nadal have played 11 of their 20 matches on clay. Really not bad considering that the clay season is short and there is more potential for hard court meetings through out the year. During Federer's stellar run, Nadal rarely made it to a hard court final to meet Federer whereas Federer was almost always there for a clay court final. That distinctly favors the best ever clay court player.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Hassan, Charlotte, NC — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:18:48 GMT

Federer and Nadal didn't have America and Borg and McEnroe didn't have Australia

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Chris, Chadds Ford PA — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:47:04 GMT

This is just dumb. I agree that if Roger Federer was from Long Island and not Basel the American media would have shoved him down our throats long ago. He is a much better player than McEnroe or Borg (who walked away when the going got tough instead of finding a new way to win). If Nadal can get these injuries behind him he will go down as a much better player than either McEnroe or Borg as well. As to who is better, Federer or Nadal, I don't care.

I'll admit, off court neither one of them is great theater. But the sport I have been following for the last 45 years is tennis and we have never seen anything like these two.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Michael rudder — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:05:23 GMT

John Mc is still the greatest embarassment to the sport and athletes everywhere.. What a insecure, self oriented idiot he is.. EVERY sentence is about "him", "I", "me"... taking Federer's trophy in an interview showed the ocean between the dignity of Roger and the assholishness of John McEnass

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Kirk, Seattle — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:59:38 GMT

Tennis is the 2nd most popular sport in the world; in the U.S. hobbies like golf and horse racing pass for sports and are more popular. So don't be ludicrous and suggest that The U.S. has to have something to do with a great tennis rivalry.
The two rivalries have one similar aspect: Borg, like Federer, was formidable on ALL surfaces. McEnroe no one feared on clay even though some American tennis t.v. announcers shamelessly proclaim him better than Borg; contrary to the opinion of experts from everywhere else. Similarly, no opponents fear Nadal on a true fast surface like the U.S. open.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Robert Fournier, Hopewell, VA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:19:07 GMT

Typical US-centric reporting. I am sorry but expanding the sport across Eastern and Southern Europe and opening huge markets in Asia and South America is at the VERY LEAST equivalent with a US market. If fans and writers in the US have tunnel vision requiring US born players to show interest then that is their own shortcoming not that of the sport or its dominant current rivalry.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

david D Belmont MA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:51:49 GMT

what does US and sports illustrated interest in tennis have to do with the greatest rivalry. Federer and Nadal have already been in many more slam and other finals together than Mac and borg both at the height of their games at the same time 1 and 2 in rankings together for years, contrasting styles, great sportsmanship. there is no comparison this is the greatest tennis rivalry whether or not anyone in the USA besides me is watching.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Jared, Wilmington, Delaware — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:56:42 GMT

I think a better title for this post would be, "McEnroe-Borg is Most Talked-About Rivalry in the United States." Or even better, "No One in America Gives a Damn About Tennis Anymore." Both would be very accurate and appropriate. Surely a rivalry should be judged on its merits, including level of play, records involved, longevity, interpersonal dynamics, etc. It seems ridiculously Americanist to disqualify a rivalry just because not enough Americans are excited about it.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Christophe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:22:15 GMT

I'm not surprised that the greatest rivalry in all of tennis is NOT even given a mention here: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova, who played an astounding 80 times and 14 of them in grand slam finals, with each winning 18 grand slam singles titles. Their rivalry defined women's tennis for the better part of 2 decades. I can't think of 2 men with numbers even close to that, Ted. So have another brewsky with the boys, write your article about the "greatest" rivalry and totally exclude the women, but some of us know that nothing can touch the rivalry Chris and Martina showed us over 2 decades, even if they happen not to be men.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

dick gross — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:56:00 GMT

hi ted, been following your career for a long time, i like your work....the best rivalry for the "here and now folks" has to be martina versus chris for two key reasons, first they were both number one for a long time and they clashed frequently in great finals on all four surfaces for a much much longer time than borg and mcenroe, but the greatest clash of all time is way way before your time senior robinson, the best of all time was between the greatest player of all time pancho gonzales and lew hoad of austrailia on their pro tour...i was fortunate to see pancho come out of retirement in his early forties in 1969 at the frontier hotel in las vegas and get a wild card in what was at that time the richest tennis tournament in history...remember rocket rod won the grand slam that year...anyhow pancho got thru his draw which was rough as it had the 2 and 3 rated players in the world and in the finals waiting for him was rod laver and pancho destroyed laver so bad that it looked like a lesson was given at center court, he would've won at least forty grand slams if he was allowed to play in them during the closed era of tennis...try to look up the lew hoad gonzales tour, it was out of this world, the hardest hitter in tennis history is lew hoad, and for the first third of their full year tennis pro head to head encounters he was dominating pancho until pancho began to get the edge after he adjusted to handle the incredible pace of hoad's strokes....if hoad didn't break his back he too would've had many many grand slam titles, he had to retire to spain to run a tennis club at a very early age...pancho was number one in the world for the longest time in tennis history

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

R. Alves San Francisco, Ca. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:37:36 GMT

Jimmy Conners was there before Borg & McEnroe and was there after [evidenced by his astounding run at the U.S.Open in 1991] them, as well. Jimmy was a real competitor who loved to battle and didn't quit as soon as victory wasn't all but assured.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

RZ, Los Angeles, CA — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:57:50 GMT

I think it's silly to imply that the McEnroe-Borg rivalry was greater than the Nadal-Federer rivalry simply because of the following in the U.S. First, tennis is an *international* sport, so it's wrong to place the U.S. ahead of all the other countries. Even if Nadal and Federer have only played twice in the U.S., they have met in 7 grand slam finals. Sure, the U.S. Open isn't one of those, but 3 of them were Wimbledon, which is considered the most important tournament. Second, the lack of popularity tennis has been and is facing in the U.S. for years now is not a reflection of the current rivalry. In fact, one could argue that the recent announcement of tennis as the fastest growing sport in the U.S. is partly due to Federer and Nadal's rivalry.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

BS — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:08:11 GMT

McEnroe / Borg provided for better theater than Nadal / Federer because of the immensely different styles of play. Both were artists in their own way. The contrast in styles made each approach and volley more interesting as each passing shot came back.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Ran, New York City, NY — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:45:36 GMT

Its plain and simple; the US currently doesn't have a #1 or #2 seeded tennis star. Although Nadal and Federer are fun to watch, Americans can only root for them to a certain degree since they represent other countries. If only Roddick could step it up, then maybe more Americans would be following tennis.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

TM — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:04:44 GMT

Jimmy Connors - Arthur Ashe. The Wimbledon match in 1975 summed up their entire rivalry.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Mark Spinrad, Phoenix, AZ — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:56:37 GMT

The reason the Borg McEnroe rivalry was so rich was that they were total opposites - opposite type of tennis game, opposite type of personality, even opposite type of hair color - and yet they were both great tennis players. The tennis is surely better with the Nadal Federer rivalry but the humand angle is just not as compelling.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Sam, Los Angeles, CA — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:39:54 GMT

The Federer-Nadal rivalry surpasses McEnroe-Borg by virtue of their French Open battles. McEnroe only reached the French final once, after Borg retired I believe, and the two never met in Paris. Nadal, at worst the most intimidating clay-courter in history, standing in Federer's way all those years until now is simply an outstanding storyline. Stylistic differences are equal. The incendiary American vs. the stoic Swede; the Swiss with nonpareil ballstriking and elegance vs. the mesomorphic, martial-like Spaniard. Both rivalries were transcendent.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

kat67 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:43:41 GMT

If we're talking men, then yes, it's McEnroe/Borg, hands down. The extremely different styles of play, the tension, that topspin v. that serve! Ah, glorious. And I loved it just as much when Borg or McEnroe played Connors...but women, yes, Martina and Chris Evert. As a young girl, I remember being cognizant of the fact that this was the ONLY women's pairing that ever gave me that FEELING when I watched; the 'ohmygoodnesswhoisgonnawinit'ssonervewracking' feeling.

Maybe if Nadal can stay healthy the Fed/Nadal pairing will evolve into the greatest rivalry.

As for the comments above made by Michael Rudder: "John Mc is still the greatest embarassment to the sport and athletes everywhere..." You should really let it go...are you sure the guy who colluded with the Russian mob and agreed to fix matches isn't the greatest embarrassment to the sport? "...to athletes everywhere..."--are you kidding? Football has thieves, murderers, wife-beaters, animalbeaters, and all out cheaters. Baseball? Same thing. If you think the antics of McEnroe are more of an embarrassment to 'athletes everywhere', then I think you're a nut. You CAN'T be SERIOUS!

I think the years passing and the mountains of cash he raises for charity have more than made up for the fact that he was occasionally a jackass on the court. AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE FIVE DAVIS CUP TITLES HE LED US TO while he was participating in that great rivalry.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Jeff, Peoria, AZ — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:01:22 GMT

Now with a roof on centre court at Wimbeldon, does a moon ball count if it hits the roof and lands in the other court?

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Robert Oliver — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:54:27 GMT

Ted:

Federer does not have America......so what?

For some reason that I fail to understand, individual sports in America need to be wrapped around with a flag. This is why I never watch Davis Cup...the emphasis is not on the tennis but in something else which distracts from the shear beauty of the sport.

I frankly do not care if Federer is from Mars or Venus...you get my point.

A very pronvincial mentality for sure.....where are you from?

Southbend.........well I guess that explains it.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Tim O, Vancouver — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:01:34 GMT

As much as I occasionally like John McEnroe's commentary, why is it that the pair of you have to yack yack yack all through the tennis match with utter drivel? The only person I can think of who is worse is Mary Cerillo. I'm sure I am not alone in being put off watching with the constant barrage of yacking. Do you think the audience turned on the TV to listen to you or watch the match? Do you think the audience can't appreciate the play without treating us to your explanation of the obvious at every opportunity?

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Lenore Moskowitz, Silver Spring, MD — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:32:42 GMT

Hi Ted
Love all your commentary on tennis matches with Mary and John. My comment is a little off subject but having no other place to send it, Im sending to you in the hope that you will pass it on.
I love tennis, watch it and appreciate all great players. But after federer's and Roddick's match when Mac had the honor of interviewing Sampras, Laver, and Borg, he stuck the mike in Pete's face and challenged him to say Fed was the best. Pete deferred, saying that was hard to say with two time grand slam winner Laver standing there.

What is Mac's story - he is smart to know comparing eras and greats is very iffy and putting Pete on the spot??? Mac is convinced its Fed that holds the greatest crown - I certainly do not agree given, for one thing, his LOSING record vs. Nadal and Murray. But not nice putting Pete on the spot - he deserves better than that.

McEnroe-Borg greatest rivalry

Tom Alan, Lake Worth, Florida — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:30:21 GMT

For me, Borg/McEnroe was the best rivalry.