John McEnroe was by far the most entertaining tennis player I ever saw play. Alas, I didn't catch him until the end of his career. His career, as a whole, was also missing an important pierce: A championship at Roland Garros!
McEnroe had not won it by time his old pal Bjorn Borg played (and won) the 1981 French Open. It ended up being the last time Borg played at Roland Garros. The next year saw another Swede put his name on the map: Mats Wilander
So McEnroe had the task of trying to stop him from a repeat in 1983. And John came out smoking in their quarter final contest:
Pretty good stuff from Johhny Mac, eh? But the Swede then took over. Soon it was a set all. Then, here's where McEnroe lost his concentration, and the match. McEnroe took a 4-1 lead into the third set, and seemed primed for a 2-1 lead in sets. Do that, and all John had to do is win one of the two remaining sets. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.
McEnroe lost the lead. That was bad enough.
And then, at 4-4, a call went against him. McEnroe was soon fighting everyone in the stadium over that!
Things didn't get too pretty from there. If you can believe it, McEnroe did not win another game. Yep, Wilander won the last eleven games in the match, and McEnroe was out of Paris.
The next year, McEnroe was back in the finals, where he faced Ivan Lendl. The Czech had still not a slam to his name. He was 0-5 in Grand Slam finals. 0-3 at the US, 0-1 at Australia, and 0-1 at the French. And after two sets in '84 vs. McEnroe, all signs pointed to 0-6.
But Lendl wasn't having any of that. McEnroe, however, must take a little of the blame for what transpired. He was up 2-0 in sets, but his mind was wandering...And chances were slipping by...And Lendl was charging...Charging...
The Czech had his first slam! But let's face it. You just watched those youtube vids. What did you see? I see a guy (McEnroe) who wasn't focusing on the "Here and now," to tell you the truth. Even on the very last point, it was clear McEnroe should have had it!
That loss, of course, was not the last you would see of McEnroe. Lendl, McEnroe, Wilander and Jimmy Connors were the final four of the 1985 Roland Garros tournament. McEnroe stormed through the first four rounds without the loss of a set. Joakim Nystrom presented a challenge in the quarter finals, however. McEnroe needed five to take care of another Swedish pest (To him, at least). Nystrom had a pair of clay-court titles to his name in '85, and gave John all he could handle. But another Swede was waiting. "Swede Dreams", McEnroe!
Well, not really. Wilander took the first set, 6-1 (Quite the reverse of '83, eh?). McEnroe was not serving well. When the match was over, he'd made just 46% of his first serves. That was not the only problem (Yes, Mats was also playing well), as McEnroe wasn't behaving well.
The rest of the match was close (And very similar to the Men's Australian Open finals of 2016), but McEnroe wasn't close to playing in the present. By the third set, after Wilander edged him in the second, McEnroe had to make a match of it. Or lose, of course.
McEnroe built a 5-1 lead. Wilander even got a little frustrated.
McEnroe had not won it by time his old pal Bjorn Borg played (and won) the 1981 French Open. It ended up being the last time Borg played at Roland Garros. The next year saw another Swede put his name on the map: Mats Wilander
So McEnroe had the task of trying to stop him from a repeat in 1983. And John came out smoking in their quarter final contest:
Pretty good stuff from Johhny Mac, eh? But the Swede then took over. Soon it was a set all. Then, here's where McEnroe lost his concentration, and the match. McEnroe took a 4-1 lead into the third set, and seemed primed for a 2-1 lead in sets. Do that, and all John had to do is win one of the two remaining sets. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.
McEnroe lost the lead. That was bad enough.
And then, at 4-4, a call went against him. McEnroe was soon fighting everyone in the stadium over that!
Things didn't get too pretty from there. If you can believe it, McEnroe did not win another game. Yep, Wilander won the last eleven games in the match, and McEnroe was out of Paris.
The next year, McEnroe was back in the finals, where he faced Ivan Lendl. The Czech had still not a slam to his name. He was 0-5 in Grand Slam finals. 0-3 at the US, 0-1 at Australia, and 0-1 at the French. And after two sets in '84 vs. McEnroe, all signs pointed to 0-6.
But Lendl wasn't having any of that. McEnroe, however, must take a little of the blame for what transpired. He was up 2-0 in sets, but his mind was wandering...And chances were slipping by...And Lendl was charging...Charging...
The Czech had his first slam! But let's face it. You just watched those youtube vids. What did you see? I see a guy (McEnroe) who wasn't focusing on the "Here and now," to tell you the truth. Even on the very last point, it was clear McEnroe should have had it!
That loss, of course, was not the last you would see of McEnroe. Lendl, McEnroe, Wilander and Jimmy Connors were the final four of the 1985 Roland Garros tournament. McEnroe stormed through the first four rounds without the loss of a set. Joakim Nystrom presented a challenge in the quarter finals, however. McEnroe needed five to take care of another Swedish pest (To him, at least). Nystrom had a pair of clay-court titles to his name in '85, and gave John all he could handle. But another Swede was waiting. "Swede Dreams", McEnroe!
Well, not really. Wilander took the first set, 6-1 (Quite the reverse of '83, eh?). McEnroe was not serving well. When the match was over, he'd made just 46% of his first serves. That was not the only problem (Yes, Mats was also playing well), as McEnroe wasn't behaving well.
The rest of the match was close (And very similar to the Men's Australian Open finals of 2016), but McEnroe wasn't close to playing in the present. By the third set, after Wilander edged him in the second, McEnroe had to make a match of it. Or lose, of course.
McEnroe built a 5-1 lead. Wilander even got a little frustrated.
And then the wheels came off the chariot.
Well, that was a bad stretch of six games! Mats went on to beat Lendl (Who routed Connors) in four sets to win his second French (He'd lost in '83 to Yannick Noah in the finals). Mats added a third in 1988 after Lendl won it again in 1986 and '87.
The French Open eluded John McEnore. He'd come close. Tennis is (along with golf) the sport that requires the most concentration. The slightest lapse and the break and / or lead is gone. Johhny Mac was entertaining when he lost his cool, but here, but he could not afford to. Lendl and Wilander were formidable clay-court players, but McEnore had this aura about him in the early to mid-80s. With Borg out of the picture, he took over from Connors as the male tennis player. But while he may have had the talent, he didn't always have the cool head on the court. And yes, that proved to be fatal sometimes.
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