Underrated Matches?

[brokenshoelace]

So last night I've finally had the time to go back and re-watch this year's Wimbledon final in full. I had seen the match live, but had friends over and it didn't get my undivided attention.

Inevitably, I made the comparison to the 2008 final and which was the better match. I thought 2008 was the "greater" match for drama, historical significance, stakes, and most importantly, climax... But this was better quality as far as sustained level goes. Though I do think sets 3, and especially, 4 and 5, in the 2008 final reached obscene levels that most matches don't, but we can't conveniently gloss over the relatively tame sets 1 and 2.

Regardless, I randomly thought of the 2007 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal -- a match that is generally "forgotten," mainly due to the following year's installment. Now, I wouldn't put that match quite in the same category with the aforementioned two because of the double break margin in the decider. But, I do think that for the first three sets, the level of tennis was just as good as the other two, if not better. It was certainly cleaner than the first three sets of the 2008 final, and on par with 2014.

As such, I believe the 2007 is an underrated match that gets lost in the shuffle due to subsequent classics.

Which made me curious: What other matches, throughout history (recent or otherwise) would you qualify as underrated, under-appreciated, or under-discussed?

 

[britbox]

A few that maybe flew under the radar a little:

Agassi/Blake 2005 USO

Roddick-el Aynaoui 2003

Probably about half a dozen Federer/Nalbandian matches

Is Federer/Sampras underrated? Not sure, but it was a good match for a variety of reasons.

Connors/Pernfors - Wimbledon 80s.

Connors / Krickstein - USO 1991

Borg/Connors - Wimbledon 81 semi

Just a few to start with - all underrated I believe. Of course, there are plenty of great matches that get regular kudos like the Federer/Safin SF at the AO, Nadal/Fed 08 etc.

 

[britbox]

Becker/Sampras 5 setter at the YEC in the 90s - can't remember the year offhand, was another underappreciated classic.

 

[Kieran]

Becker/Sampras 5 setter at the YEC in the 90s - can't remember the year offhand, was another underappreciated classic.

96, brother, and never under-appreciated in this household. In fairness, I think that most classic matches are acknowledged, but there are some sub-classics which tend to be under-appreciated, and the 2007 final is one. This matches just failed in its final two sets to deliver the high stakes drama that this years Wimbledon did, or 2008 did, in bucketloads.

Borg-Mac played a classic Wimbledon final in 1980, everyone knows this, but more neglected was their 1980 US Open final, which is still a great match. Again, it fails to register the great talking points of the masterworks, but even still, this one included a barnstorming beginning by Mac, where he threatened to blow the Swede down in straights, but then Bjorn regrouped and held his nerve through two tough sets to level it and go into a fifth - and then bottle it totally in the seventh game with two double faults - and hand the winning advantage to Mac.

People, we see players do amazing things to win classic matches and we rightly laud them and praise them to the rooftops, but this was Tennis Match as Greek Tragedy, and just as deserving of its place. Borg finally crumbling when his own personal Holy Grail was in reach. Mac had finished a gruelling semi with Connors less than 24 hours before this match started, and he was wilting visibly by game seven, but Borg cracked and handed it to him. The peek into Borg's well-concealed inner turmoil was tremendous and frightening, and for his fans (like my younger self), disastrous.

Had he held steady, he most likely would have won (I think this was his first fifth set loss since 1976) and then gone to Australia to attempt to complete the Calendar Year slam, which is always the highest achievement in the game. Like Mac in Paris in 1984, he cracked.

The Norse god in a Greek Tragedy. It doesn't get more classic than this...

 

[tented]

Connors / Krickstein - USO 1991

For those of us in the US, this match is far from under-discussed, under-appreciated, etc. For years, it was a tradition during USO rain delays to show it. They haven't done it the last few years (I don't think?), but it's probably the most televised match in the Open Era in the US.

 

[TsarMatt]

I'm honestly not sure if this match is discussed much amongst the tennis community, but Lleyton Hewitt vs. Roger Federer from the 2003 Davis Cup tournament. Federer is up 2 sets to love and Hewitt stages an epic comeback in front of his home crowd in Melbourne. This win got Australia into the 03' Davis Cup final.

It was a really emotional match, and the audience were simply electrifying.

 

[Federberg]

So last night I've finally had the time to go back and re-watch this year's Wimbledon final in full. I had seen the match live, but had friends over and it didn't get my undivided attention.

Inevitably, I made the comparison to the 2008 final and which was the better match. I thought 2008 was the "greater" match for drama, historical significance, stakes, and most importantly, climax... But this was better quality as far as sustained level goes. Though I do think sets 3, and especially, 4 and 5, in the 2008 final reached obscene levels that most matches don't, but we can't conveniently gloss over the relatively tame sets 1 and 2.

Regardless, I randomly thought of the 2007 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal -- a match that is generally "forgotten," mainly due to the following year's installment. Now, I wouldn't put that match quite in the same category with the aforementioned two because of the double break margin in the decider. But, I do think that for the first three sets, the level of tennis was just as good as the other two, if not better. It was certainly cleaner than the first three sets of the 2008 final, and on par with 2014.

As such, I believe the 2007 is an underrated match that gets lost in the shuffle due to subsequent classics.

Which made me curious: What other matches, throughout history (recent or otherwise) would you qualify as underrated, under-appreciated, or under-discussed?

Totally agree about 2007. I might be biased because I was actually there. I think that was the first time I'd seen Rafa live, and I was struck by how aggressive he was. It seemed absurd that people accused him of being a defensive player. My abiding memory was walking up Church Road with my mate who watched it with me, and we only realised that long after the match was over, that at no point in the match was Rafa ever ahead. From where we were sitting it always seemed like Roger was just barely hanging on!

I think the 2011 US Open (Rafa vs Novak) is one of the best I've ever seen in terms of pure ball striking.

Other matches that are right up there for me include:

the 2 Rafter vs Agassi Wimbledon matches

Tsonga v Djokovic RG semifinal where Novak survived match points

Federer vs Djokovic US Open final

the problem is, I don't know whether these matches are underrated. I just feel that people don't talk about them enough. All of them are very high level matches in my opinion.

 

[Federberg]

A few that maybe flew under the radar a little:

Agassi/Blake 2005 USO

Roddick-el Aynaoui 2003

Probably about half a dozen Federer/Nalbandian matches

Is Federer/Sampras underrated? Not sure, but it was a good match for a variety of reasons.

Connors/Pernfors - Wimbledon 80s.

Connors / Krickstein - USO 1991

Borg/Connors - Wimbledon 81 semi

Just a few to start with - all underrated I believe. Of course, there are plenty of great matches that get regular kudos like the Federer/Safin SF at the AO, Nadal/Fed 08 etc.

Lol! I remember that Connors/ Penfors match. I was absolutely disgusted with Mikail. He just gave up, even when he was still a set up! Very impressed with Jimmy though, what a match

 

[DarthFed]

I think Nole-Murray in 2012 AO semi is one and a big reason it's overlooked is due to the 6 hour final. I thought the semi was the all around better match quality-wise and had tons of drama as well. It just wasn't as long.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I guess a lot of matches we find underrated are very personal , maybe because of the circumstances at the time we were watching them, or the players involved. Who knows, but for me, one of them was the Edberg-Mecir semi at Wimbledon 88.

Nadal-Verdasco semi in AO is another one that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of the later epics that took place down under, but has Nando ever played any better before or since?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I guess a lot of matches we find underrated are very personal , maybe because of the circumstances at the time we were watching them, or the players involved. Who knows, but for me, one of them was the Edberg-Mecir semi at Wimbledon 88.

Nadal-Verdasco semi in AO is another one that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of the later epics that took place down under, but has Nando ever played any better before or since?

I was going to mention that match as well,I was there live for that match.I have never seen Verdasco play so well,he really took his game to Rafa,the rallies were long,the quality of both their fhands had to be seen live to be appreciated,both men gave their all in that match.I was totally exhausted at the end of the match.For me it was one of the best matches I have witnessed live at the AO.In my opinion I havent seen Verdasco play that high quality in a match since 2009.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I think Nole-Murray in 2012 AO semi is one and a big reason it's overlooked is due to the 6 hour final. I thought the semi was the all around better match quality-wise and had tons of drama as well. It just wasn't as long.

The main problem I have with the Murray-Djokovic match you mentioned is that the first set and a half were A-T-R-O-C-I-O-U-S. I'm talking about all-time low WTA levels of bad. That match probably saw the biggest exponential level raises I've ever seen, because after that, I'm totally with you, it was gold, which is seldom the case for Murray-Djokovic matches. That whole tournament was fantastic to be honest.

Speaking of which, here's another underrated gem:

Djokovic vs. Murray -- 2011 Rome Semi finals. An absolutely phenomenal clay court display.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal-Verdasco semi in AO is another one that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of the later epics that took place down under, but has Nando ever played any better before or since?

I wouldn't call that one underrated because everyone raved around it for years (and rightly so). Now that you mentioned it however, it does seem a bit forgotten these days, and it's worth reminding people. That match was an all-time classic, and god knows the AO has produced plenty of them.

I think my all-time favorite AO matches are: Fed-Safin 05, Nadal-Verdasco 09, Djokovic-Wawrinka 2013.

PS: For anyone who honestly thinks Nadal still moves as well as he used to, check out the highlights of that Verdasco match.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nWyXdk-dU[/video]

For my money, Nadal's greatest ever defensive display, and perhaps THE greatest ever defensive display, period. Some of those gets are inhuman.

PPS: Please tented do your think and embed the video since I can't do it for some reason. Thanks. [I fixed it.]

 

[calitennis127]

PS: For anyone who honestly thinks Nadal still moves as well as he used to, check out the highlights of that Verdasco match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nWyXdk-dU

For my money, Nadal's greatest ever defensive display, and perhaps THE greatest ever defensive display, period. Some of those gets are inhuman.

You can very easily dig through his 2014 matches and find the same kinds of gets.

 

[calitennis127]

Totally agree about 2007. I might be biased because I was actually there. I think that was the first time I'd seen Rafa live, and I was struck by how aggressive he was. It seemed absurd that people accused him of being a defensive player.

And that is all the more reason to frown upon his shotmaking for significant portions of his career. He wanted to be offensive much of the time but couldn't because he was somewhat challenged in that regard.

Tsonga v Djokovic RG semifinal where Novak survived match points

Yes, absolutely a great match, but I believe it was a quarterfinal.

 

[calitennis127]

This was just a second-round match because of bad luck with the draw, but Nalbandian-Safin at the 2006 US Open was an excellent match. Nalbandian would have won in straights if it were not for the first-serve percentage/double fault plague, but nonetheless, Safin's talent is to be admired as well. Nalbandian would've beaten anyone else that day.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrBQrOABarw[/video]

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

^ Beautiful tennis .

 

[brokenshoelace]

PS: For anyone who honestly thinks Nadal still moves as well as he used to, check out the highlights of that Verdasco match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nWyXdk-dU

For my money, Nadal's greatest ever defensive display, and perhaps THE greatest ever defensive display, period. Some of those gets are inhuman.

You can very easily dig through his 2014 matches and find the same kinds of gets.

Not in the same match, which happens to last over a 5 hours, no. That's the main difference. See the FO final for reference.

 

[calitennis127]

PS: For anyone who honestly thinks Nadal still moves as well as he used to, check out the highlights of that Verdasco match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nWyXdk-dU

For my money, Nadal's greatest ever defensive display, and perhaps THE greatest ever defensive display, period. Some of those gets are inhuman.

You can very easily dig through his 2014 matches and find the same kinds of gets.

Not in the same match, which happens to last over a 5 hours, no. That's the main difference. See the FO final for reference.

After losing the first set to Novak, Nadal was a backboard the rest of the match and Djokovic did not pick up his level. Nadal's movement in the French Open final was youthful - anything but old.

 

[brokenshoelace]

You can very easily dig through his 2014 matches and find the same kinds of gets.

Not in the same match, which happens to last over a 5 hours, no. That's the main difference. See the FO final for reference.

After losing the first set to Novak, Nadal was a backboard the rest of the match and Djokovic did not pick up his level. Nadal's movement in the French Open final was youthful - anything but old.

Press Ctrl+F then type "old." It will lead you to your post. At no point did I claim his movement looks old. He still moves great. And no, Nadal didn't win the FO by becoming a backboard. He became more aggressive and was helped by Novak's level dropping then ranging from mediocre to occasionally good throughout the match.

Of course Nadal can still be a backboard, but the type of 5 hour long defensive marathons he put on against Verdasco are a thing of the past. He's no longer as physical, and not quite as quick (he was pretty tired in the FO final and that's not disputable).