I really wish Tracy would’ve been around for the later 80s, she may have challenged the Evert-Navratilova rivalry. She was never going to overpower anyone, but she was a master at outsteadying players and playing perfect percentage tennis when it mattered. Had she kept healthy I really think she would have worked on her game to keep up with the new power that came on mostly from the graphite rackets. A lot of great matches lost due to her sciatica issues
tennis was shortchanged by Tracy's injuries that shortened her career - such a class act - beautiful on and off the court - she reminded me very much of Steffi Graf who would emerge just a few years later
People don't like to realize Tracy had Martina's number. She beat Martina on three other occasions in 1981 alone----at Canadian Open, at an indoor tournament in Germany and the year-end Toyota series final in N.J. Go figure.
Great comment and you are correct. I remember almost always rooting for Tracy. But in this match, I was rooting for Martina because I had started playing, at 14, and being a more aggressive serve and volley style player. Wow I was impressed by Austin's win here.
Unfortunately she used her lower back thighs and quads to hit deep and flat . The ball had little topspin so she was backing her shots with her lower back . I think Martina feared Tracy’s passing shots more than Chris because Chris had a little to to her shots snd the ball was in perfect spot for Martina to make her first volley, with Tracy the ball was j u s t over the net .
I love Virginia Wade's commentary (the 1977 Wimbledon champ). In fact, IMO, she may even be second best (behind Mary Carillo) in terms of female commentators. She definitely rises above Tony Trabert and especially Pat Summerall here. Good job, Virginia!!
+Pascoe Braun Not worse than Pat Summerall, who basically just repeats what the chair umpire says on changeovers and apparently thought we couldn't figure that out.
After this game, Borg beat Connors to advance to the final, where McEnroe beat him and ended Borg's tennis career. So this day marked Borg's last winning match in all the majors.
I always like how tracy hit the stuffing out of the ball and challenged martina and chris... Felt cheated with her injuries and felt like she could have really challenged martina greatly in the 80s...
I remember this when I was a kid, but goodness it's odd watching them hit the ball at that time--it looks like a leisurely game of tennis in the park, they hit it so softly compared to nowadays. It hardly even looks like they're competing. I know the raquets are part of the reason, but today's game is so much more intense.
all of you can say that martina choked or beat herself....but as i see.........tracy did everything she could to FORCE the error.....by keeping the return as low as she could...........my opinion
Navratilova had yet to win the US Open in 1981. Just like Evert got messed up (psychologically) by Austin after losing the 1979 title to Austin, so too did Navratilova after choking big time here. But I think was after this match that Martina began her transformation into a super athlete.
Actually Martina already started working with coach Renee Richards and trainer Nancy Lieberman during summer 1981. But it wasn't enuff time before U.S. Open, but enuff to upset Chris in the semis. You can see how Martina's forehand volley became a liability in the final. Also, Martina's negative mental attitude got to herself as well. Austin's never give up attitude won it for her.
Actually, these month of her 1981 season got messed by toxoplasmosis infection. Her extremely slow reflexes in the last games and in the final tiebreak, tell everything. Back then, toxo infection was commonly believed to be asymptomatic, and a danger just for pregnant women... now it's very clear that this not the case. It can impair the nervous system in several different ways. The extreme slowness of many reactions from Martina in this video, compared to her usually lightning-fast reflexes, says eveything.
Martina seems to choke and fall apart against Tracy in the big matches (this one here) and also the season-ending Toyota championships later that year where again Martina choked after winning the first set easily against Tracy. Meanwhile Martina thrived against Evert, beating her the previous day in the semis here and again in a 3-set thriller at the Australian Open final later that year. Evert would finish 1981 as the world's top-ranked player in a tight contest over Austin and Navratilova. It would be the last time Evert would end the year as the #1 player.
It would also be the last time Tracy was anywhere near contention for being #1 player or even a real threat again. I think it was her last slam semi final in fact. Never past the quarters again.
Martina tested positive to toxoplasmosis earlier that year. It was common belief back then, that toxoplasmosis was a pretty much asymptomatic infection... but actually, is now very clear that it isn't, and it can impair nervous the nervous system in multiple ways (even leading to a much increased risk of onset of schizophrenia). In this video, Martina's slow reactions to many shots is really obvious in my opinion. Her reflexes, which are usually lightning fast, are untypically slow here, sometimes in a very weird way. In the final tiebreak, she even remains absurdly motionless, just watching a down the line forehand which, while beautifully placed, has not all that pace. Tipically, Martina always had mongoose-like reflexes, during all her career, even at a very old age for a pro player. This is absolutely not Martina.
Martina severely feeling sorry for herself, I guess the US being her new adopted homeland she wanted that first US title so much. A real choker that last double fault to give Tracy the match, but really all fight had gone a couple of points prior when the tears started.
It's not ony Martina feeling sorry for herself (one wonders what exactly is going on in her head at 40 seconds on in the clip and I have my thoughts but will keep them to myself) but I felt sorry for her, as you say away from family and friends in a strange country with thousands looking down from a distance rooting for the home girl.
@@kevincassidy7385jeager was fourth seeded player. Chris beat 5 th seeded Mandlikova in QF. The number one player should never have to play 5 seed. Why be ranked one if you play 5 th seed ? Chris had number 3 seeded player - Navratilova and 5 th seed Mandlikova in her half of the draw.. Austin was ranked 2 and had jeager in 4th seed, who lost early. Austin didn’t face a top seed until the final. For Chris to have won she would’ve had to beat Hana , Martina, Tracy. Had to be on her mind late in her 3 setter against Martina having to come back in less than 24 hrs to beat Tracy which she would’ve done. Martina had just started physical conditioning after losing to Evert 6-0,6-0 at Amelia island just 3.5 months earlier being 15 pounds heavier and basically Out of shape. She showed up at Open in better shape but endurance comes from months and months of being in top shape . Evert was nervous playing Martina seeing how stream lined her body was similar to 78 W final where Chris had taken first 3-4 months off and was at her heaviest because of that . If you see her in 78 W final she’s not obese but clearly not in shape look at Chris in 79 open final very trim but was mentally scarred never stepping into the ball , hitting everything too carefully to be steady that feed the ball right into Tracy’s wheelhouse. Tracy moved well left to right but not up and back which Evert realized in last two sets of her demolish job of Austin in 80:Sf. It too being down 4-0 to realize she’d better change her strategy and won 16 of the last 20 games to 4-6,6-1,6-1. Tracy never again challenged Everts year end ranking . Austin should have been ranked 3 here since Hana won two of the last 3 slams and a finalist at W. Her results at other tournaments were weak losing early in some of the indoor tournaments Tracy had won at Mahaw NJ Bergen, before the open which raised her ranking . No way Hana should’ve been ranked 5
Serena's had some beauts in total meltdowns at the Open. Of course the one everyone remembers is the blowup against Naomi Osaka just a few years ago. Two other big meltdowns, one against Kim Clijsters in 2009 where she was actually ejected on match point. And one against Capriati in the Quarters going further back.
I know people say Tracy hit harder than Chris but evert hit with more weight of shot , a heavier ball instead of a ball hit quickly . Martina was worn out from her semi final against Chris which led to her nerves getting the best of her , it wasn’t due to Tracy . Tracy did play bold tennis in third set tie break with forehands down the line - Martina was too tired to cover her own forehand out wide , her legs gave out . Tracy was smart to notice that .
It's called superstition, my friend. Bjorn Borg had superstitious tendencies at Wimbledon every year (same hotel, same room, slept naked, rackets sorted by string tension, etc.)
Martina was severely impaired by recent toxoplasmosis infection here. Her extreme slowness of reactions, her slowness in certain situations tell really eveything, in a player who has always been very renowned for her lightning-fast reflexes and for her sprinting capacity, the base over which she built her great serve and volley game, and her whole career. Back then, toxo was considered harmless and asymptomatic for non-pregnant people, so Martina was not worried about that... but now, recent research made it very notorious that this is not true at all. Toxoplasm can impair the nervous system in several ways, until the infection is completely over, which can take several months.
@@kevincassidy7385 I read her book, with all the detailed tale about how all this thing went... I'm rather sure it was in 1981 (but honestly not COMPLETELY sure😁) Edit: I googled for that... I was actually wrong 😁
My God! I actually remember watching this. You don't realize how long it's been until you actually see the date. Time passes so quickly
Yeah, no kidding. I remember seeing the very end of this match at a mall.
I really wish Tracy would’ve been around for the later 80s, she may have challenged the Evert-Navratilova rivalry. She was never going to overpower anyone, but she was a master at outsteadying players and playing perfect percentage tennis when it mattered. Had she kept healthy I really think she would have worked on her game to keep up with the new power that came on mostly from the graphite rackets. A lot of great matches lost due to her sciatica issues
Ya she was the one player who could have down right beat any body.
tennis was shortchanged by Tracy's injuries that shortened her career - such a class act - beautiful on and off the court - she reminded me very much of Steffi Graf who would emerge just a few years later
People don't like to realize Tracy had Martina's number.
She beat Martina on three other occasions in 1981 alone----at Canadian Open, at an indoor tournament in Germany and the year-end Toyota series final in N.J.
Go figure.
Great comment and you are correct. I remember almost always rooting for Tracy. But in this match, I was rooting for Martina because I had started playing, at 14, and being a more aggressive serve and volley style player. Wow I was impressed by Austin's win here.
Amazing how Tracy, with her relatively smaller frame, can drive that DTL forehand deep for a winner at 44:09!
It just goes to show that hitting a powerful tennis shot is as much, if not more, about timing and proper technique than it is about brute strength.
Too bad we could barely see it, though, with the bad TV angle by CBS.
Unfortunately she used her lower back thighs and quads to hit deep and flat . The ball had little topspin so she was backing her shots with her lower back . I think Martina feared Tracy’s passing shots more than Chris because Chris had a little to to her shots snd the ball was in perfect spot for Martina to make her first volley, with Tracy the ball was j u s t over the net .
Double fault on championship point. Ouch.
Tracy is one of the cutest players I've seen, just love the cool way she plays.
I love Virginia Wade's commentary (the 1977 Wimbledon champ). In fact, IMO, she may even be second best (behind Mary Carillo) in terms of female commentators. She definitely rises above Tony Trabert and especially Pat Summerall here. Good job, Virginia!!
+Fred Gonzales you have got to be kidding, she is the worst commentator in history and the worst Grand Slam champion
+Pascoe Braun Not worse than Pat Summerall, who basically just repeats what the chair umpire says on changeovers and apparently thought we couldn't figure that out.
+Fred Gonzales Pascoe Braun is a Wade hater. He puts bitchy comments on all her videos for some reason. A bit sad.
+Fred Gonzales Mary Manrillo's man ass is biased and horrible.
I think Billie Jean was the best...followed by Tracy
Great Upload..
Bravo Match..
After this game, Borg beat Connors to advance to the final, where McEnroe beat him and ended Borg's tennis career. So this day marked Borg's last winning match in all the majors.
I always like how tracy hit the stuffing out of the ball and challenged martina and chris... Felt cheated with her injuries and felt like she could have really challenged martina greatly in the 80s...
Great to see Tracy coming back to win in 81 after the crowds, media and basically whole world turned against her in 1980 in her game against Evert
I remember this when I was a kid, but goodness it's odd watching them hit the ball at that time--it looks like a leisurely game of tennis in the park, they hit it so softly compared to nowadays. It hardly even looks like they're competing. I know the raquets are part of the reason, but today's game is so much more intense.
all of you can say that martina choked or beat herself....but as i see.........tracy did everything she could to FORCE the error.....by keeping the return as low as she could...........my opinion
At 42:22 you can see Martina CLEARLY call Tracy an "asshole". Bahahaha
Martina was def calling herself an "asshole" there. She blew an easy (for her) shot.
@@10slover62 It looks like she's calling Tracy "asshole".
Hahaha..I saw that too. She was looking at Tracy when she said it. Tracy's forehand down the line winners really upset Martina.
Navratilova had yet to win the US Open in 1981. Just like Evert got messed up (psychologically) by Austin after losing the 1979 title to Austin, so too did Navratilova after choking big time here. But I think was after this match that Martina began her transformation into a super athlete.
Martina also choked to Tracy in their 79 semi here as well.
Footage seems to exist, but not made its way to YT yet.
@@shihlin1 It is on TH-cam..I watched that match earlier.
Actually Martina already started working with coach Renee Richards and trainer Nancy Lieberman during summer 1981.
But it wasn't enuff time before U.S. Open, but enuff to upset Chris in the semis.
You can see how Martina's forehand volley became a liability in the final.
Also, Martina's negative mental attitude got to herself as well.
Austin's never give up attitude won it for her.
Actually, these month of her 1981 season got messed by toxoplasmosis infection. Her extremely slow reflexes in the last games and in the final tiebreak, tell everything.
Back then, toxo infection was commonly believed to be asymptomatic, and a danger just for pregnant women... now it's very clear that this not the case. It can impair the nervous system in several different ways. The extreme slowness of many reactions from Martina in this video, compared to her usually lightning-fast reflexes, says eveything.
The commentators implying the men are irritated having to wait for the woman to finish speaks volumes about the era of inequality.
What a match remember this well. Does anyone have the match between Tracy and Martina at the US Open in 1979?
It's on TH-cam now in case you don't know.
Interesting how Tracy ran around her backhand. Chris Evert did not do that.
Tracy didnt beat Martina here, Martina beat herself
Tracy's down the line forehand winners in the 3rd set tiebreaker won her the match.
I agree Martina made a lot of unforced errors as well.
Absolutely...Martina choked
Tracy was mentally much better. She hang in there, fighting point after point. Martina complaint a lot, putting herself down.
Wrong you low IQ.
Tracy beat her.
You are a low IQ
Martina seems to choke and fall apart against Tracy in the big matches (this one here) and also the season-ending Toyota championships later that year where again Martina choked after winning the first set easily against Tracy. Meanwhile Martina thrived against Evert, beating her the previous day in the semis here and again in a 3-set thriller at the Australian Open final later that year. Evert would finish 1981 as the world's top-ranked player in a tight contest over Austin and Navratilova. It would be the last time Evert would end the year as the #1 player.
It would also be the last time Tracy was anywhere near contention for being #1 player or even a real threat again. I think it was her last slam semi final in fact. Never past the quarters again.
Martina tested positive to toxoplasmosis earlier that year. It was common belief back then, that toxoplasmosis was a pretty much asymptomatic infection... but actually, is now very clear that it isn't, and it can impair nervous the nervous system in multiple ways (even leading to a much increased risk of onset of schizophrenia). In this video, Martina's slow reactions to many shots is really obvious in my opinion. Her reflexes, which are usually lightning fast, are untypically slow here, sometimes in a very weird way. In the final tiebreak, she even remains absurdly motionless, just watching a down the line forehand which, while beautifully placed, has not all that pace. Tipically, Martina always had mongoose-like reflexes, during all her career, even at a very old age for a pro player. This is absolutely not Martina.
流石ナブラチロワ。上手いし、若い頃は美人だったのですね🤗✨✨
were the line judges on strike? lol
Martina severely feeling sorry for herself, I guess the US being her new adopted homeland she wanted that first US title so much. A real choker that last double fault to give Tracy the match, but really all fight had gone a couple of points prior when the tears started.
It's not ony Martina feeling sorry for herself (one wonders what exactly is going on in her head at 40 seconds on in the clip and I have my thoughts but will keep them to myself) but I felt sorry for her, as you say away from family and friends in a strange country with thousands looking down from a distance rooting for the home girl.
who was the 2nd seed? If Austin was 3rd and Martina was 4, Evert would had been number 1, who was number 2 seed?
Mandlikova who had won 2 of the last three majors and RU at Wimbledon
@@kevincassidy7385jeager was fourth seeded player. Chris beat 5 th seeded Mandlikova in QF. The number one player should never have to play 5 seed. Why be ranked one if you play 5 th seed ? Chris had number 3 seeded player - Navratilova and 5 th seed Mandlikova in her half of the draw.. Austin was ranked 2 and had jeager in 4th seed, who lost early. Austin didn’t face a top seed until the final. For Chris to have won she would’ve had to beat Hana , Martina, Tracy. Had to be on her mind late in her 3 setter against Martina having to come back in less than 24 hrs to beat Tracy which she would’ve done. Martina had just started physical conditioning after losing to Evert 6-0,6-0 at Amelia island just 3.5 months earlier being 15 pounds heavier and basically Out of shape. She showed up at Open in better shape but endurance comes from months and months of being in top shape . Evert was nervous playing Martina seeing how stream lined her body was similar to 78 W final where Chris had taken first 3-4 months off and was at her heaviest because of that . If you see her in 78 W final she’s not obese but clearly not in shape look at Chris in 79 open final very trim but was mentally scarred never stepping into the ball , hitting everything too carefully to be steady that feed the ball right into Tracy’s wheelhouse. Tracy moved well left to right but not up and back which Evert realized in last two sets of her demolish job of Austin in 80:Sf. It too being down 4-0 to realize she’d better change her strategy and won 16 of the last 20 games to 4-6,6-1,6-1. Tracy never again challenged Everts year end ranking . Austin should have been ranked 3 here since Hana won two of the last 3 slams and a finalist at W. Her results at other tournaments were weak losing early in some of the indoor tournaments Tracy had won at Mahaw NJ Bergen, before the open which raised her ranking . No way Hana should’ve been ranked 5
What a gorgeous, elegant lady TA was/is, unlike the grunting masculine Williams sisters et al of today.
Got some issues huh?
That's true.
😆
Serena's had some beauts in total meltdowns at the Open.
Of course the one everyone remembers is the blowup against Naomi Osaka just a few years ago.
Two other big meltdowns, one against Kim Clijsters in 2009 where she was actually ejected on match point.
And one against Capriati in the Quarters going further back.
I know people say Tracy hit harder than Chris but evert hit with more weight of shot , a heavier ball instead of a ball hit quickly . Martina was worn out from her semi final against Chris which led to her nerves getting the best of her , it wasn’t due to Tracy . Tracy did play bold tennis in third set tie break with forehands down the line - Martina was too tired to cover her own forehand out wide , her legs gave out . Tracy was smart to notice that .
You have to play the draw you are given. No excuses.
martina did win more games...total....but lost the match
Martina is not playing the score in this match
Martina choked here.
Tracy is almost (ALMOST!) as twitchy as Nadal.
It's called superstition, my friend. Bjorn Borg had superstitious tendencies at Wimbledon every year (same hotel, same room, slept naked, rackets sorted by string tension, etc.)
This was before Martina up the game and started playing like the guy she is!
This is one of those matches where the looser won a lot more games than the winner.
Martina won 18 games, and Tracy won 15 (including 2 tiebreakers)
I was never impressed with Austin's game. Still isn't. She was very lucky to have won the US Open.
Martina was severely impaired by recent toxoplasmosis infection here. Her extreme slowness of reactions, her slowness in certain situations tell really eveything, in a player who has always been very renowned for her lightning-fast reflexes and for her sprinting capacity, the base over which she built her great serve and volley game, and her whole career.
Back then, toxo was considered harmless and asymptomatic for non-pregnant people, so Martina was not worried about that... but now, recent research made it very notorious that this is not true at all. Toxoplasm can impair the nervous system in several ways, until the infection is completely over, which can take several months.
The toxoplasmosis was in 1982, a year later. She lost to Shriver in the QF.
@@kevincassidy7385 I read her book, with all the detailed tale about how all this thing went... I'm rather sure it was in 1981 (but honestly not COMPLETELY sure😁)
Edit: I googled for that... I was actually wrong
😁