John McEnroe, the ultimate ‘rockstar’ of tennis, is one of the rare Americans who had a decent record on clay. While many American men’s singles players have not inspired much or played in clay tournaments over the years, it wasn’t the case with McEnroe. So they could look to take a leaf out of his book to take American tennis back to its glory days.
Some matches that John McEnroe played, were so incredible that they are remembered to date. And that is largely due to the rivalries he had with his fellow American players such as Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang as well as others like Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas. Here are some of McEnroe’s best matches on clay:
John McEnroe vs Guillermo Vilas, Boca Raton 1981
The Pepsi Grand Slam of tennis, as was the tournament called, was a men’s tennis tournament played from 1976 to 1981. In 1981, four players participated – John McEnroe, Guillermo Vilas, Vitas Gerulaitis, and Brian Teacher. Vilas and McEnroe won their respective semi-finals against Gerulaitis and Teacher.
In the final, McEnroe lost the first set 6-7 against Vilas. From a position to lose, McEnroe bounced back to clinch the next set 6-4, and after that inflicted a ‘bagel’ in the final set. It was one of the greatest comeback victories in McEnroe’s career on clay. After the match, McEnroe analyzed the game. He talked about his comeback from 1 set down to win the match.
“When I was down 3-1, he had a chance of maybe going up there, and then I got back in the match. I never felt like I was really out of it. This is an important tournament to win, obviously, because of the prize money involved. Anytime you can beat the top players on clay, it definitely helps you,” said McEnroe, according to The New York Times.
John McEnroe vs Ivan Lendl, Forest Hills WCT Open 1984
Although defunct now, the WCT Tournament of Champions was a men’s tennis tournament that took place for 14 years from 1977-1990. At the 1984 edition in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, John McEnroe played against Czech legend Ivan Lendl in the finals. While Lendl was coming off an emphatic win over Jimmy Connors in the semi-finals (6-0, 6-0), scoring ‘double bagels’, McEnroe too had a great win over Jimmy Arias i.e. 6-1, 6-2.
In the final, it wasn’t much of a contest as McEnroe beat Lendl 6-4, 6-2. It will go down as one of the greatest wins of McEnroe’s career in clay, especially because of the kind of form Ivan Lendl was in.
McEnroe and Lendl developed a rivalry like no other. John McEnroe even made outrageous statements towards Lendl, one of which became famous.
“I have more talent in my little finger than he has in his entire body,” McEnroe had said of Lendl, according to Scroll.
After the Forest Hills loss, Ivan Lendl had turned the rivalry around, defeating McEnroe 10 out of the last 11 times they played against each other. He also had a few words to say about McEnroe in 1986.
“I had to change my game, raise the level of play against someone like McEnroe. It was frustrating sometimes because you are working hard and it is not going well. I wished I could have as much success as McEnroe,” said Ivan Lendl to The New York Times.
John McEnroe vs Jimmy Connors, French Open 1984
The 1984 French Open remains the only edition of the tournament where John McEnroe reached the finals. McEnroe never won the Roland Garros, but it was his semi-final victory over Jimmy Connors that was the highlight of the tournament for the Americans.
McEnroe, who developed a longstanding rivalry with Jimmy Connors, defeated him 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the finals. If the first set was any close, McEnroe ensured there was no wiggle room for Connors to bounce back in the next two.
After the match, McEnroe spoke a few words about his opponent Jimmy Connors.
“I think Jimmy played a really good first set, as good as I have ever seen him play on clay. But I thought I was playing well, playing intelligent tennis and serving very well. But certainly the last two sets were easier than I thought they would be,” said McEnroe, according to UPI.
John McEnroe vs Michael Chang, French Open 1988
A year before Michael Chang created history by winning the 1989 French Open, he was a wildcard entry at the Grand Slam. He started the 1988 edition well by beating Robert Arthur Seguso and Tobias Svantesson in the first two rounds. But then faced against an in-form John McEnroe in the third round.
McEnroe didn’t let Chang take an advantage at any point in the match. He won 6-0, 6-3, 6-1 and moved to the next round.
Just before the match, in an attempt to intimidate a young Michael Chang, John McEnroe played a few mind games with his fellow American:
McEnroe said, “Hopefully he’ll be intimidated by my reputation.”
Michael Chang had said, “If he kicks my butt, I’ll learn from it,” according to The Guardian.
