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Wimbledon 2010: Wimbledon Could Use a Dose of John McEnroe About Now
Published: June 21, 2010
I'm not sure why this longing is so acute at Wimbledon. I also feel it, to a slightly lesser extent, at the U.S. Open. But, it is at the All England Club that the nostalgia really creeps in and a little sadness overtakes me.
Four of McEnroe's major wins came at the U.S. Open, and three at Wimbledon.
Those are the two sites I associate the most with this tennis legend.
His single titles in England came in 1981, 1983, and 1984. All of McEnroe's major victories, in fact, came between that short window of 1979 to 1984.
His first taste of England and, maybe more to the point, England's first taste of McEnroe, was that of frustration and loss.
His first year in at Wimbledon, in 1977, he made the semi finals, but followed that up with a first round exit in 1978, and a fourth round exit in 1979. But it was 1980 that Mac made the big stage.
In the 1980 single's final, John played a classic match against Bjorn Borg. Borg won, but John had left his mark on Wimbledon. In the semi-final he won that year over Jimmy Connors, Mac was booed by the Wimbledon crowd as he walked off, in response to his heated exchanges he had with officials during the match. Oh, if they only knew!
A year later John got his revenge on Borg in the finals, winning his first Wimbledon title. It was during that 1981 tournament that John made famous a couple of phrases. One, "You cannot be serious," and another, "Pits of the world."
The All England Club faithful didn't warm up too quickly to John in those early years.
A loss in the 1982 finals to Connors and then, in 1983 and 1984, the love affair with Wimbledon began.
The 1983 win was over New Zealand's Chris Lewis, and in 1984 a quick destruction of rival Jimmy Connors.
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