Epic

Matthew Cronin

Description

A top tennis writer tells the story of the greatest Wimbledon, the greatest U.S. Open, and the greatest rivalry in the history of the game

The epic 1980 Wimbledon final that ended with John McEnroe's defeat by his idol, Bjorn Borg, is considered the greatest tennis match ever. The U.S. Open final later that year, when McEnroe got his revenge, is considered the greatest U.S. Open ever. These two matches marked McEnroe's transformation from tennis player into an American icon, the high point of tennis's gigantic leap into the national consciousness, and the beginning of Borg's rapid and surprising decline. This book takes you back to that amazing summer at the height of the golden age of tennis.

• Includes fascinating details about John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg both on and off the court, from grueling practice sessions to late-night partying
• Packed with stories and anecdotes of top tennis players and coaches, including Vitas Gerulaitis, Mary Carillo, Lennart Bergelin, and others
• Highlights a pivotal moment in the evolution of the game?from quiet to loud, from wood to metal racquets, and from European to American dominance
• Written by veteran tennis writer and analyst Matthew Cronin

Whether you're a longtime tennis fan or a recent convert, Epic will give you a deeper understanding of the game and of two of the most amazing players ever to have played it.
Acknowledgments.

Foreword (Tracy Austin).

Introduction: July 5, 1980.

Part One: WIMBLEDON.

1 Taming a Passionate Spirit.

2 A Losing Set Is Not So Much after All.

3 "A Little Boy or a Midget in Disguise?"

4 Better Call a Cab.

5 Th e Sport's First Rock Star.

6 "I Can Do Anything with a Tennis Ball".

7 France to Stanford.

8 A Four-Hour Match.

9 "Borg Is Borg".

10 The Battle Begins.

11 To the Ends of the Earth.

12 Both Still Alive.

13 In Search of the True Genius.

14 The War of 18-16.

15 "A Notch above Son of Sam".

16 Love and Sets.

17 Th e Genius Tested in London.

18 True Nature.

19 "Something in Me Wilted".

20 Living the Moments.

Part Two: THE U.S. OPEN.

21 Rock of Gibraltar.

22 The Cowboy Bucks Up.

23 "I Didn't Know What Was Happening".

24 The North Star of Vitas.

25 Willing and Able.

26 Among the Bad Actors.

27 Frozen in Time.

28 "You Are Not Going to See a Tougher One".

29 "Poetry Written on Water".

Epilogue: Th e End of a Great Rivalry.

Bibliography.

Index.

Sujets

• Racket Sports
• Sports
• Recreation
• Tennis

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 10 mars 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781118015957
• Langue: English

Extrait

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
Part One: Wimbledon
1: Taming a Passionate Spirit
2: A Losing Set Is Not So Much after All
3: “A Little Boy or a Midget in Disguise?”
4: Better Call a Cab
5: The Sport’s First Rock Star
6: “I Can Do Anything with a Tennis Ball”
7: France to Stanford
8: A Four-Hour Match
9: “Borg Is Borg”
10: The Battle Begins
11: To the Ends of the Earth
12: Both Still Alive
13: In Search of the True Genius
14: The War of 18–16
15: “A Notch above Son of Sam”
16: Love and Sets
17: The Genius Tested in London
18: True Nature
19: “Something in Me Wilted”
20: Living the Moments
Part Two: The U.S. Open
21: Rock of Gibraltar
22: The Cowboy Bucks Up
23: “I Didn’t Know What Was Happening”
24: The North Star of Vitas
25: Willing and Able
26: Among the Bad Actors
27: Frozen in Time
28: “You Are Not Going to See a Tougher One”
29: “Poetry Written on Water”
Epilogue: The End of a Great Rivalry
Bibliography
Index

Copyright © 2011 by Matthew Cronin. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Cronin, Matthew. Epic : John McEnroe, Björn Borg, and the greatest tennis season ever / Matthew Cronin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-19062-3 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-01595-7; ISBN 978-1-118-01596-4; ISBN 978-1-118-01597-1 1. McEnroe, John, 1959– 2. Borg, Björn, 1956– 3. Tennis players—United States—Biography. 4. Tennis players—Sweden—Biography. 5. Wimbledon Championships (1980) 6. U.S. Open (Tennis tournament) (1980) I. Title. GV994.A1C76 2011 796.3420922—dc22 [B] 2010048272
To my father, Dr. William T. Cronin, 1933–1999, who taught me the value of serve and volleying and chip and charging, both on court and in life. Without his and my mother Joan’s love of the sport, I would never have gotten as hooked on tennis as I did in 1980.
Acknowledgments
Writing this book has been a long and interesting process, as it’s not only the first time that I’ve written one, but also the first time that I’ve had to write a long tome about a sport that I’ve been covering for the past eighteen years and not actually been in the press rooms at tournaments around the globe with my pen poised. What was most pleasurable was going back to 1980, a summer that I recall very well—the season I graduated from high school and visited Europe for the first time. I was as deeply enchanted with tennis then as I am now, but then I was merely a wild junior player who would come off the courts dripping thick New England sweat ready to discuss the era’s greatest rivalry, Borg versus McEnroe.
I clearly recall that my Connecticut hometown, filled with tennis players as it was immersed in the tennis boom, literally stopped so that everyone could sit in front of their TVs and cheer during the Borg-McEnroe Wimbledon final. I also recall returning from Europe in late August, making my annual trek as a fan to the U.S. Open, and getting a look at the superintense McEnroe and the cool-handed Borg and literally praying that they would reach another Grand Slam final that summer. They did and put on a spectacle that is nearly equal in quality and drama to that of their more historically noted Wimbledon clash.
Some thirty years later as I write this, I’m thinking about how many people of my generation have come up to me to ask whether I miss tennis’s old days, when great rivalries were compelling and you could really relate to the personalities. While I understand this train of thought, I’m so involved with the modern game and with its often thrilling personalities and various styles that I’m usually a bit taken aback by that perspective. But what I will say—and I’ve covered plenty of amazing summers of tennis since 1992—is that no two men have ever offered such a stark and invigorating contrast as McEnroe and Borg, which is why, to so many folks who lived through that brilliant summer, those two stand alone. When it comes to conjuring up memories of what made tennis so inviting to people who grew up in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, it’s the classic clashes of the New Yorker and the Swede that first come to mind.
I spoke to so many people for and about this book that it would be too long a list to mention them all. I’d like to thank everyone who spoke to me on the record or on background, and, of course, everyone who helped me with the actual process. Many friends in the tennis world have offered support in one way or another, and first off, I would like to thank all my colleagues in the International Tennis Writers Association, who, more than the players, have kept me loving the game with their wit and wisdom.
Some special thanks must go out to writers Richard Deitsch, Scott Price, Joel Drucker, Andrew Friedman, Sandy Harwitt, Ron Cioffi, Jon Wertheim, Chris Clarey, Pete Bodo, Steve Tignor, Bud Collins, Alix Ramsey, Eleanor Preston, Cindy Schmerler, Richard Osborn, Bill Simons, Bonnie Ford, Richard Evans, Brad Falkner, Steve Flink, Howard Fendrich, Doug Robson, Chris Bowers, and Lisa Dillman. I also want to thank my great buddies Tim Corridon and John Nielsen, who listened to me gripe again and again in my down hours.
This book would be nowhere without the patience and always jolly support of my agent Bob Shuman, who could teach more than a few tennis players about the importance of staying positive, as well as Peter Rubie of FinePrint Literary Management.
Stephen Power, my editor at John Wiley & Sons, Inc., exhibited a huge amount of patience with the project and had the concept nailed down from the get-go.
Two men helped close this project out and spent a huge amount of time on it: the accomplished author Paul Robert Walker gave this book a hard, appropriate, and excellent edit; and my friend Tom Tebbutt, the longtime tennis correspondent for the Globe and Mail , picked out many unforced tennis writing errors.
Not everyone can say that they come from a fabulous nuclear family of tennis lovers, but I can, and my mom, Joan Rezzonico Cronin; my brothers, Mark and Paul; and sisters, Tami and Megan, have always lent me their ears.
I’ve been quite fortunate to have been married to Patti Orozco since 1991 and to consider her side of the family to be my own. Patti and our kids, Cassandra, Connor, and Chiara, had to watch me toil writing this book while working full time on other things, and they were simply heroic in putting up with my cursing in the wee hours of the morning or on alleged holidays. It was worth it to me and I hope to everyone else.
Foreword
by Tracy Austin
When players are floating in their tennis bubbles, as John McEnroe and Björn Borg were doing back in 1980, they don’t realize how popular they are. However, there’s no question that the two men were larger than life.
Their rivalry was such a great clash of personalities and styles that it captured the world’s attention, perhaps more than any other rivalry in tennis history. I knew both guys from the time I was a teenager, and although we laced up our tennis shoes in different locker rooms, I had a good sense of how intense they were, how serious they were about their craft, and how much they wanted to beat the other guy down on the world’s biggest stages.
Björn was quieter than John, but he oozed self-confidence. John was more colorful than Björn, and his sensitive side could come out both on court and off. With his long blond hair and fathomless eyes, Björn had the look of an old-style Nordic warrior, while McEnroe’s frizzy dark hair and contorted facial expressions might have cast him as a child musical prodigy.
John had the best hands I’ve ever seen, and due to his remarkable touch he could get away with a lack of technique. Björn amazed me with his ability to track down one ball after another, his consummate calm,