Awesome tennis ... the 80s and 90s were a battle between baseline and net attack ... way better than the boring repetitive baseline slugfests of today. Thanks Mac
I'm "retired" now. Started picking up tennis three years ago. I play people in their twenties, thirties and forties. Everyday I watch and learn then play. These videos are sooo good because not only are they so instructual but just so fun to watch. Tennis is the best game ever invented. I sure can't put on my helmet and cleats anymore.
agree with you. they say tennis players live 6 years longer on avg than comparable sports. think its because its so fun that you keep playing till you can't anymore I guess.
So excited to watch Chang and McEnroe play in NY. Every point of both players were amazing with paced, depth, and precisely accurate. Add to the drama of Mac plus NY crowds are the toughest to win on any given day. These are the legend of our times.
My two favorite players during that era. Was about 2 years younger than MC and changed my game because of these two greats. Changed from a baseline player to serve n volley because of McEnroe (and I was a lefty too) and also practiced MC's top spin lob for hours until I could get it right. I could hit that shot better with the Prince Graphite 110 like MC used so I stuck with that racquet throughout high school. Brings back great memories, thanks for posting this USTA!
@@beorlingo cm 174 - they were playing early mid '90s and not in the 70s or in the 80s-Please check height and weight of the palyers who won GS slam tournaments from 1990 until now
Thank you for posting this. I forgot how much I used to love tennis. Damn that Chang had some wheels on him! Like a human backboard. And Mac, constantly attacking. You know he’s coming, they know he’s coming, everybody knows he’s coming. What are you going to do about it? This is classic puncher vs counter puncher. Amazing!
I remember watching this match live. Beautiful play with contrasting styles. You don't see this kind of matchup anymore. 1985 Hana Mandlikova vs Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova???
Some of these line calls were so bad. I'm glad we have hawkeye these days to prevent these kinds of situations. But Chang did a fantastic job of not letting it get to him.
I've often imagined if today's imaging tech was available back in the day. Of all the things one could say, it definitely would've taken alot of drama out of the game☺ For one thing, we never would have experienced our infamous McEnroe rank at Wimbledon -- " .... that ball was clearly on the line .... chalk flew up ... " Chalk vs. hawkeye ... hmmm ...
on the ace overrule i was saying 'no way!' before the ump even spoke up. even in this low res video i could tell it was clearly in. so of course johnny mac loses his shit over an overrule of an obvious error. the linesmen were really bad this match.
Now it's just a bunch of robots with little to no personalities slugging the ball back & forth as hard as they can until someone makes an error. Tennis is actually getting kind of boring compared to how exciting it used to be...
He needn’t have. McEnroe was prone to lobs in the oversized era. It wasn’t a great option with small wooden rackets where you can’t get that depth on them consistently right but he was toast with the advent of graphite oversized especially as his approach was not powerful and he wasn’t the tallest or athletic like Sampras.
Mac quite generously congratulated Chang at the net. He had played real good and acknowledged that Chang that day was even better. The last game with those Chang aces, I think Mac just felt he had done nothing wrong so imho he felt great respect for Michael's resilience.
The manipulation of the court surfaces to play slower to make rallies longer, rather than the dominance of the serve and volleyers we saw in the late 80s to early 90s
@@mundo101-e3d No, he wouldn't because he himself would be a product of the training and nutrition athletes today receive. We're not putting him in a time machine.
Having to describe modern tennis compared to that played by John Mc Enroe, an elegant classic with a brilliant and effective touch, we can say that it was like a steamroller and a press that destroyed the sport of tennis where now everything takes place with technical violence, speed control and precision in shots and this is due to the fact that the change in the materials used for rackets and tennis balls has revolutionized the way of playing tennis but every time I see John Mc Enroe on the court I am convinced that he is tennis itself and he has no equals in the history of this sport for his classy poise, elegance in the setting of shots and touch as demonstrated by the match reproduced here on TH-cam, thanks for uploading it online.
Great match by Chang. McEnroe is easily 6 years past his peak tennis years, but 14:00 is in my opinion, quintessential McEnroe. McEnroe at the net was deadly. For those to young to know, McEnroe is the only male player to be ranked N°1 in singles and doubles simultaneously. Edberg was also, but not simultaneously. And Chang....Goran Ivanisevic (Djokovic's current coach), once said that against Chang, you have to win the point three times just to win it once.
Offensive lobs are rarely a decisive most impactful shot in matches like this, but this is one of those matches where they were a huge factor. Chang really knew how to impart serious topspin, and his footwork was so exceptional he was always in perfect position and balance so disguise was easy.
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar It's my opinion, but I have to clarify exactly what I mean. Lobs as outright winners, definitely can win some crucial points, but normally don't win enough points outright because its hard to execute them once an opponent starts to defend by not closing in quite as far. If he is anticipating lobs, then the overhead gets grooved and the direct effectiveness is dramatically reduced . But the real value of the lob is indirect. If they are nervous about closing, then the passing shots get a lot easier. If its windy then that overhead may never get grooved and you end up inducing errors. Cumulatively the lob's impact can be huge even if the lob winner stat that they are mentioning here, is not so impressive as in this match. I am pro lob, but at this level it sets up points, more often than it soars out of reach.
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar its his opinion based on scant evidence and poor tennis training. he went to school with the dude above that claims Michael Chang didn't have top 4 ability, when in fact he was ranked #2. Don't get upset, there are so many bad tennis players with poor tennis knowledge. Very few make it at any pro level and very few have accurate things to say about tennis players or tennis in general. They come from basketball or some other sport and think tennis is easy, and their opinions come from the books they read, but certainly not from playing at any of the 3 levels of professional tennis that exist in reality.
Loved this match. High quality video too for 1991. Wish you would've overlaid the score every once in awhile though, perhaps even just once a set would've been nice.
Michael Chang had three opponents to defeat here: the unfair NY crowd, blind and deaf line and net judges (net touch not heard) and an extremely unsportsmanlike John McEnroe! Bravo Chang!
@@sevaraalimova4706 Because McEnroe is from NYC & was an aging legend in 1991. It wasn't really that the crowd was against Chang... it was much more about them rooting hard for their idol that they grew up watching
@@Locus-2865 Brilliance is subjective, Macca did more than Kyrgios but similar attitude. That die hard attitude of Chang is what Nadal has but with more height and reach which makes the difference in the modern game. Chang was a perfect all round player but shorter legs and arms could only do so much like Diego Schwartzman, Rochus and Ferrer have shown. Funny to see Chang's lawnmower celebrations which Rafael incorporated into his celebrations. Federer is like Macca but a little better work ethic, fairness towards opponents, patience and superior physical specimen with foot speed, jumping power and anticipation almost on par with Nadal.
@@Locus-2865 McEnroe is from NYC & was a huge crowd favorite & aging legend in 1991. Chang was the new kid just starting to make a name for himself while trying to take Mac out, At least 90% of the crowd was pulling hard for Mac, which is what happens when a hometown legend plays in front of fans that grew up watching them since they were kids...
@ Avalokitasimha. You very conveniently fail to mention (or are unaware of) that many years ago, Tennis Magazine printed a small news item in the front of an issue of that magazine (it may have been in the section of the magazine called "Passing Shots") that Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl and Jim Couriers' names came up during the federal investigation of the Balco Laboratory during the Major League Baseball/Barry Bonds steroid scandal, which was the laboratory that was providing illegal, performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids to pro athletes! Of course, John McEnroe in 2012 stated that the last 6 years of his pro tennis career he was being injected with horse steroid and laughably and absurdly claimed that he was unaware of what the trainers and/or doctors were putting into his body! In a "60 Minutes" interview many years ago of John McEnroe by Diane Sawyer, when she asked McEnroe if he had ever used any illegal substances, he denied it, but as the old expression goes, " the truth was written all over his face"! Undoubtedly, every pro athlete knows exactly what a trainor or doctor puts into him or her - if he or she denies such knowledge, then the odds are overwhelming that he or she is, as the old expression goes "lying through his or her teeth"! When McEnroe played against Chang in that night match at the 1991 U.S. Open, at one point after Chang hit an unreturnable, 120-130 mph serve, the TV camera showed a close-up of McEnroe standing at the baseline with an expression on his face that clearly indicated that he was thinking to himself, "This guy Chang is juiced"!
It's interesting that McEnroe lost his 3 last match at the US Open to Sampras, Chang and Courier while he lost his last match in WImbledon to Agassi, so basically all the best american players then
This was the only time Chang beat Mac. They had met 4 times before, twice when Michael was 16, and twice when he was 17, and Mac had one them all, dropping a set in the last match only. this was a five set match. Mac later complained, jokingly, about Michael's topspin lobs, and the fact that "he ran down every stinking ball!"
Johns serve is very side on and the ball toss is a disguise I noticed when he played Pete Sampras that is back swing is inline with is ankle and powerful swing. Johns serve is really good I have learned a lot Thanks for the upload.
I would have appreciated a Score Box at the bottom which is normal for matches. What happened to it ? Otherwise, it was impossible to determine the game score.
At the end, McEnroe didn't shake the hand of the chair ump, but he did give a warm handshake and a pat on the back to Chang, so kudos to John for that..
Wow being a tennis fan and watching these early 1990s highlights in 2024 makes me realize how far behind my home country was. I was still walking barefoot in those early 90s years until coming to canada in 92
I always liked Michael Chang. I hope he is doing well all these years later. The 1970's, 80's and early 90's were the best years for tennis. Racket technology hadnt taken over and ruined the game yet. There were no 140 MPH serves and no 40 ace matches back then. Longer points meant using strategy, angles and the entire court to earn points. Nowadays it's mostly about blazing serves, rocket forehands and backhands. Some guy at Wimbledon yesterday had a 137 MPH serve. Thats crazy. And there were many superstars in tennis back then. Legendary names and matches. I couldnt name 5 tennis players now. I will admit that I dont watch much anymore. The tennis isn't that good like it was back in the day. Borg, McEnroe, Chang, Connors, Edberg, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, Nastase, Lendl and thats just some of the men off the top of my head. The womens side had big stars also. Fun times back then.
"There were no 140 MPH serves" pretty sure Becker, Ivanisevic and Krajicek etc. were hitting huge serves in the early 90s (and Tanner before them). The radars were different and a 120mph serve back then probably equals a 130mph today.
@@hehehehehahahaha2025 I would agree with you. The early and mid 90's saw racket and string technology leap into a different realm. I dont know anything about radar but like everything else, Its probably better now also. Tanner hit a 150 MPH serve in 1978. Wonder what he could have hit today? 180 lol?
I think you are mistaken if you don't think there were huge serves in the 90's. As a matter of fact they began to slow the courts down in response to the huge serves. In the 80's and 90's you could still serve and volley and win but it's almost impossible to play that way now so you have to bash from the baseline because of not just the string and racket technology but because of the slower courts, even at Wimbledon!
Roscoe tanner hit into the 140s wayyyy back in the 70s. Rackets don't make the serve, the strings help with spin. Rackets help the return and groundstrokes in terms of larger center of percussion (sweet spot) for returning serves, groundstrokes and hitting passing shots. That's why volleying/ serve volleying has died. Returns are so accurate and have so much spin. Also they have slowed down most all hardcourts and grass, and that too has killed to volleying for most singles players. Radar tech isn't better than it was before, it's just in a smaller package today, maybe even on your phone. Blows me away the people who think radar in the 70s wasn't accurate. We broke the sound barrier and apparently went to the moon before the 70s. Stuff had to be pretty accurate to do that. Radar 'guns' are simple devices that are tested to be very accurate. It would take me a least a year to correct all the misunderstanding and outright errors in the comments expressed here.
John McEnroe was incredibly childish throughout this career, I'd be embarrassed. Michael Chang showed incredible resilience and thats the sign of a champion!
@@riverwalker2173 He retired in 2003. He started to decline in the late 90s due to injuries and probably because of how physical his game was. Also I think Chang's tennis became a little lightweight at the start of the 2000s with players like Safin, Roddick, Federer etc breaking through
@@jmiller05 Ah well, nevertheless he made his mark in a Euro dominated sport. He played with a thunderheart in his prime . A great warrior on the court ⚡️❤️
@@jmiller05 the game evolved beyond him. he was the first to really bring that superhuman foot speed and defense to pro tennis, but he still hit like an 80s player - lots of spin off both wings. never learned to really flatten out his ground strokes and blast clean winners like agassi and sampras brought to the top of the men's game.
Seems tennis hasn’t changed much over the years, but today tennis is a new game. The strength of these athletes if phenomenal, the shots are unbelievable.
Dovendo descrivere il tennis moderno rispetto a quello giocato da John Mc Enroe classico elegante di tocco geniale ed efficace potremo dire che è stato come un rullo compressore ed una pressa che ha distrutto lo sport del tennis dove adesso tutto si svolge con violenza tecnica controllo velocità e precisione nei colpi e questo è dovuto al fatto che il cambiamento dei materiali utilizzati per le racchette e le palline di tennis ha rivoluzionato il modo di fare tennis ma ogni volta che vedo John Mc Enroe in campo mi convinco che lui è il tennis in persona e non ha eguali nella storia di questo sport per portamento classe eleganza nel impostazione dei colpi e tocco come dimostra anche l'incontro qui riproposto su youtube grazie per averlo caricato in rete.
It weird to see match, 30 year later. McEnroe most exciting player, I ever seen. Chang exciting, too. Love the style of play from McEnroe. You know? The visual of it. The touch, especially. He show his emotion, but he also show 'competitive' mindset. If I a tennis player, with some talent, this the stuff to watch, cuz McEnroe, you can learn from watch his mental fitness, which more like term 'awareness' than 'focus.' He have it all, plus the entertainment side.
Still just so exciting to watch McEnroe play. It's Other-Worldly. I went to law school with Todd Martin's sister A___. All of us were up late AF that night watching this match we were 1L or 2L's and we all wanted Mac to win that so bad, no offense to Michael whatsoever. 18:26 Michael's approach clearly in.
McEnroe groundstrokes and passing shots suck. They only worked against generations of wooden or primitive metal racquets. Once new technology came into play passing shots and returns were too much for him to handle and he lost a lot more.
@@SpiderMan-qh6vz McEnroe actually started using a Dunlop graphite racquet in 1983. Mac had a record of 82-3 in 1984, which is a win percentage of 96.5%, which happens to be the greatest year ever for a tennis player. He also had a 42-match win streak in 1984, & won a record 75 straight matches on carpet between 1983 & 1985... you don't accomplish these great feats with poor groundstrokes & passing shots. No one can accomplish this with passing shots & groundstrokes that suck, because you don't just get to serve the entire match, you also have to return serve. If his passing shots & groundstrokes really sucked so bad, then how did he break his opponent's serve enough to have a record of 82-3??? You don't make much sense. Mac was already pretty old once your so-called "new technology" came into play. All new technology really is are giant oversized racquets with wide frames which allows players to just sit back at the baseline & crush the ball. Being able to play with a wooden racquet shows just how skilled & how much touch a player really has. Pete Sampras won 13 grand slams using a tiny 85sq inch Wison Pro staff racquet, & he blew his opponents right off the court that were mainly using wide-body racquets. That's how skilled he was. Stephan Edberg also used this same racquet & won 6 grand slams, while Jim Courier won 4 grand slams using the tiny original Pro Staff. The players now might hit the ball harder with their huge racquets, but they sure don't possess more overall skill, touch, & craftiness as the top players of the 80s & 90s. The top players of the 80s & 90s also had much more dominating serves than most of today's players who just mostly serve the ball in & then just have a slugfest of back & forth groundstrokes. Sampras, Becker, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Forget, Stich, Rafter, & Martin would all serve most of today's players right off the court, while McEnroe & Edberg would beat today's players with placement & high kick. Different eras are always hard to compare, but besides for the "big three" of Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic, the top players of the 80s & 90s are much more skilled in just about every facet of the game than the players of today that mainly just slug the ball back & forth until their opponent eventually makes an unforced error...
@@SpiderMan-qh6vz You just proved my point fool. They worked in his generation because they were good. AGAINST HIS PEERS. Did Jimmy's ground game suck too? th-cam.com/video/Y9LEoui1xJ4/w-d-xo.html Borg's strokes weren't shit when he tried to come back on the tour because GUESS WHAT? THE FUCKING GAME HAD CHANGED. Duh. I have some nice door prizes for you on the left LOL Dude.
At 23:50, that serve was almost INSIDE the line...not sure how that could have been called out. Some awful line judges...so much better for the players having Hawkeye now..
Besides this match, McEnroe always destroyed Chang. Mac's 1984 season might be the best season any player has ever had in tennis history!! His heart is still broken over blowing a 2-set lead against Lendl at the French
Tennis players back in the day just didn't take care of their bodies like tennis players do now. John was 32 at the time. 32 year old players now are in much better shape.
@@fearsomebunny From the moment he married his 1st wife (Tatum O'Neal) in 1984 who was a junkie -- he never won another Grand Slam. He just went downhill from that point on... Basically, she destroyed his career and what it could've been.
@@toddlesiak3837 That's true -- 1984 was the greatest year any player in open era has ever had. I think he only lost two matches the entire year -- one of them was to Lendl at the FO. But then he got married to the wrong woman at the end of the year -- and never won another GS for the rest of his career.
Enthralling; on an altogether higher plain to the present day monotony of two base-liners slugging it out, each trying to hit the ball harder than the other. A dedicated and highly skilled net player against an equally capable base-liner in the days before technology tipped the scales against the former.
This is so great and I remember it being so when I watched it, but god it’s infuriating how little the actual score is shown. In fact I still don’t know at the match’s end!
McEnroe really had to earn his points later in his career. The prime reason was his serve. In 83, 84, Macs first serve was hitting lines or just inside. By watching this video, his 1st serves are landing 12 inches from the lines. That enabled guys like Chang and Lendl to swing with intention. Just my observation.
Chang's lob winners are incredible. Simply outstanding.
@sandeepsep19 and McEnroe was too lazy to go toward that lob balls. 😅
Dennis Van Der Meer called that lob shot "the devastator."
@@mirrama9866 No. If you hit that shot right, you're wasting energy chasing it down.
Awesome tennis ... the 80s and 90s were a battle between baseline and net attack ... way better than the boring repetitive baseline slugfests of today. Thanks Mac
And all the American men in the mix!
Disagree and prefer the long-distance baseline slugfests. It's like watching a good jab vs a clutch in boxing.
I think that match deserves a full length version posting!
Totally agree
cant believe after 30 years , this is still so good to watch!
I'm "retired" now. Started picking up tennis three years ago. I play people in their twenties, thirties and forties. Everyday I watch and learn then play. These videos are sooo good because not only are they so instructual but just so fun to watch. Tennis is the best game ever invented. I sure can't put on my helmet and cleats anymore.
Tennis is the greatest. It's violent combat without physical contact.
@@tmst2199 Yep, and a chess match with a net.
agree with you. they say tennis players live 6 years longer on avg than comparable sports. think its because its so fun that you keep playing till you can't anymore I guess.
These guys served and volleyed more in one game than most pros do today in an entire season Well good, respect!
Only McEnroe, with that continental grip he could almost only serve, smash and volley
I prefer the baseline rallies and consider S&V cheating. That's why it was so satisfying to see Chang drop all those winning, long-distance bombs.
@@tmst2199 So aces are cheating as well, or hitting winners? Come on, you can not be serious.
@@tmst2199 LoL S&V is cheating. It's more entertaining than seeing pushers in today's baseline rallies.
@@johnl2613 pushers?
So excited to watch Chang and McEnroe play in NY. Every point of both players were amazing with paced, depth, and precisely accurate. Add to the drama of Mac plus NY crowds are the toughest to win on any given day. These are the legend of our times.
It was a legendary match.
My two favorite players during that era. Was about 2 years younger than MC and changed my game because of these two greats. Changed from a baseline player to serve n volley because of McEnroe (and I was a lefty too) and also practiced MC's top spin lob for hours until I could get it right. I could hit that shot better with the Prince Graphite 110 like MC used so I stuck with that racquet throughout high school. Brings back great memories, thanks for posting this USTA!
I love McEnroe the more I watch the replays on TH-cam... and Chang deserves more accolades for his consistency as a top player.
On the contrary, consistency was what he lacked. 1 major, right?
@@beorlingo IDK if that is a lack of consistency or the relative lack of top 4 ability. He was just slightly below upper-echolon in general.
@@beorlingo cm 174 - they were playing early mid '90s and not in the 70s or in the 80s-Please check height and weight of the palyers who won GS slam tournaments from 1990 until now
courier bruguera kuerten nadal sampras becker edberg stich federer djokovic murray wawrinka cilic
@@andreasmissiroli6915 Exactly. And Stefan had height and weight over Mac. Like 3". It's a Big Deal at that level.
Thank you for posting this. I forgot how much I used to love tennis. Damn that Chang had some wheels on him! Like a human backboard. And Mac, constantly attacking. You know he’s coming, they know he’s coming, everybody knows he’s coming. What are you going to do about it? This is classic puncher vs counter puncher. Amazing!
Watching Chang drop those lobs on his BS S&V game was really satisfying.
I remember watching this match live. Beautiful play with contrasting styles. You don't see this kind of matchup anymore. 1985 Hana Mandlikova vs Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova???
Can you characterize the superiority in the play of this era? Certainly audience participation was a factor imo.
I remember going to the us open and seeing chang when he was 16
I couldn’t believe how quick he was covering the court
Some of these line calls were so bad. I'm glad we have hawkeye these days to prevent these kinds of situations. But Chang did a fantastic job of not letting it get to him.
I've often imagined if today's imaging tech was available back in the day. Of all the things one could say, it definitely would've taken alot of drama out of the game☺ For one thing, we never would have experienced our infamous McEnroe rank at Wimbledon -- " .... that ball was clearly on the line .... chalk flew up ... " Chalk vs. hawkeye ... hmmm ...
on the ace overrule i was saying 'no way!' before the ump even spoke up. even in this low res video i could tell it was clearly in. so of course johnny mac loses his shit over an overrule of an obvious error. the linesmen were really bad this match.
The athletes, the great clothes, the cool shoes and the atmosphere. the 90s were a great time!
Hell yeah lol. Brings back many good memories.
Now it's just a bunch of robots with little to no personalities slugging the ball back & forth as hard as they can until someone makes an error. Tennis is actually getting kind of boring compared to how exciting it used to be...
@@toddlesiak3837 Agreed 1000%
@@leotrevino5158 absolutely right!
The clothes were definitely a lot more cool
McEnroe said in his autobiography that Chang must have watched McEnroe's 1987 loss to Lendl at the US Open, where Lendl lobbed McEnroe to death.
Pretty sure Chang did, as he was always thorough prepared.
He needn’t have. McEnroe was prone to lobs in the oversized era. It wasn’t a great option with small wooden rackets where you can’t get that depth on them consistently right but he was toast with the advent of graphite oversized especially as his approach was not powerful and he wasn’t the tallest or athletic like Sampras.
Mac quite generously congratulated Chang at the net. He had played real good and acknowledged that Chang that day was even better. The last game with those Chang aces, I think Mac just felt he had done nothing wrong so imho he felt great respect for Michael's resilience.
Chang's topspin lob was lethal in this match!
Tennis is a completely different game today, the power, the speed and the size of the athletes
McEnroe would be cooked in any club tennis!
The manipulation of the court surfaces to play slower to make rallies longer, rather than the dominance of the serve and volleyers we saw in the late 80s to early 90s
@@mundo101-e3d No, he wouldn't because he himself would be a product of the training and nutrition athletes today receive. We're not putting him in a time machine.
Having to describe modern tennis compared to that played by John Mc Enroe, an elegant classic with a brilliant and effective touch, we can say that it was like a steamroller and a press that destroyed the sport of tennis where now everything takes place with technical violence, speed control and precision in shots and this is due to the fact that the change in the materials used for rackets and tennis balls has revolutionized the way of playing tennis but every time I see John Mc Enroe on the court I am convinced that he is tennis itself and he has no equals in the history of this sport for his classy poise, elegance in the setting of shots and touch as demonstrated by the match reproduced here on TH-cam, thanks for uploading it online.
I think if they forced players to use wood rackets . he would have lasted allot longer. game was way more entertaining then.
Ce match fut un régal : John McEnore... Le tennis d'attaque à son meilleur... Extraordinaire joueur... contre chang, le super grand défenseur !!!
Great match by Chang. McEnroe is easily 6 years past his peak tennis years, but 14:00 is in my opinion, quintessential McEnroe.
McEnroe at the net was deadly. For those to young to know, McEnroe is the only male player to be ranked N°1 in singles and doubles simultaneously. Edberg was also, but not simultaneously.
And Chang....Goran Ivanisevic (Djokovic's current coach), once said that against Chang, you have to win the point three times just to win it once.
Yeah, McEnroe had style on his side, but he's a bit older than Chang at this moment in time.
Offensive lobs are rarely a decisive most impactful shot in matches like this, but this is one of those matches where they were a huge factor. Chang really knew how to impart serious topspin, and his footwork was so exceptional he was always in perfect position and balance so disguise was easy.
Can you cite a source for your claim "Offensive lobs are rarely a decisive most impactful shot"?
OR is this your opinion based on scant evidence?
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar It's my opinion, but I have to clarify exactly what I mean. Lobs as outright winners, definitely can win some crucial points, but normally don't win enough points outright because its hard to execute them once an opponent starts to defend by not closing in quite as far. If he is anticipating lobs, then the overhead gets grooved and the direct effectiveness is dramatically reduced . But the real value of the lob is indirect. If they are nervous about closing, then the passing shots get a lot easier. If its windy then that overhead may never get grooved and you end up inducing errors. Cumulatively the lob's impact can be huge even if the lob winner stat that they are mentioning here, is not so impressive as in this match. I am pro lob, but at this level it sets up points, more often than it soars out of reach.
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar its his opinion based on scant evidence and poor tennis training. he went to school with the dude above that claims Michael Chang didn't have top 4 ability, when in fact he was ranked #2. Don't get upset, there are so many bad tennis players with poor tennis knowledge. Very few make it at any pro level and very few have accurate things to say about tennis players or tennis in general. They come from basketball or some other sport and think tennis is easy, and their opinions come from the books they read, but certainly not from playing at any of the 3 levels of professional tennis that exist in reality.
Loved this match. High quality video too for 1991. Wish you would've overlaid the score every once in awhile though, perhaps even just once a set would've been nice.
Would have been nice to know the score throughout this video
Michael Chang had three opponents to defeat here: the unfair NY crowd, blind and deaf line and net judges (net touch not heard) and an extremely unsportsmanlike John McEnroe! Bravo Chang!
I don’t understand why the crowd was so unfair, Chang is just a tennis player who is trying to play tennis. He isn’t hurt the NY crowd at all.
@@sevaraalimova4706 Because McEnroe is from NYC & was an aging legend in 1991. It wasn't really that the crowd was against Chang... it was much more about them rooting hard for their idol that they grew up watching
@@Locus-2865 Brilliance is subjective, Macca did more than Kyrgios but similar attitude. That die hard attitude of Chang is what Nadal has but with more height and reach which makes the difference in the modern game. Chang was a perfect all round player but shorter legs and arms could only do so much like Diego Schwartzman, Rochus and Ferrer have shown. Funny to see Chang's lawnmower celebrations which Rafael incorporated into his celebrations. Federer is like Macca but a little better work ethic, fairness towards opponents, patience and superior physical specimen with foot speed, jumping power and anticipation almost on par with Nadal.
@@Locus-2865 McEnroe is from NYC & was a huge crowd favorite & aging legend in 1991. Chang was the new kid just starting to make a name for himself while trying to take Mac out, At least 90% of the crowd was pulling hard for Mac, which is what happens when a hometown legend plays in front of fans that grew up watching them since they were kids...
@ Avalokitasimha. You very conveniently fail to mention (or are unaware of) that many years ago, Tennis Magazine printed a small news item in the front of an issue of that magazine (it may have been in the section of the magazine called "Passing Shots") that Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl and Jim Couriers' names came up during the federal investigation of the Balco Laboratory during the Major League Baseball/Barry Bonds steroid scandal, which was the laboratory that was providing illegal, performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids to pro athletes! Of course, John McEnroe in 2012 stated that the last 6 years of his pro tennis career he was being injected with horse steroid and laughably and absurdly claimed that he was unaware of what the trainers and/or doctors were putting into his body! In a "60 Minutes" interview many years ago of John McEnroe by Diane Sawyer, when she asked McEnroe if he had ever used any illegal substances, he denied it, but as the old expression goes, " the truth was written all over his face"! Undoubtedly, every pro athlete knows exactly what a trainor or doctor puts into him or her - if he or she denies such knowledge, then the odds are overwhelming that he or she is, as the old expression goes "lying through his or her teeth"! When McEnroe played against Chang in that night match at the 1991 U.S. Open, at one point after Chang hit an unreturnable, 120-130 mph serve, the TV camera showed a close-up of McEnroe standing at the baseline with an expression on his face that clearly indicated that he was thinking to himself, "This guy Chang is juiced"!
Not too many people can outplay McEnroe on the net, but Chang was on fire, today, with his offensive lops, both wings, amazing...
It's interesting that McEnroe lost his 3 last match at the US Open to Sampras, Chang and Courier while he lost his last match in WImbledon to Agassi, so basically all the best american players then
American tennis was phenomenal back then!
Love Chang's Reebok Pumps! I bought the exact same pair :)
One of these guys is a great tennis payer and the other is a friggin artist.
One is a consummate gentleman and the other is a flippin' a-hole.
This was the only time Chang beat Mac. They had met 4 times before, twice when Michael was 16, and twice when he was 17, and Mac had one them all, dropping a set in the last match only. this was a five set match. Mac later complained, jokingly, about Michael's topspin lobs, and the fact that "he ran down every stinking ball!"
Johns serve is very side on and the ball toss is a disguise I noticed when he played Pete Sampras that is back swing is inline with is ankle and powerful swing. Johns serve is really good I have learned a lot Thanks for the upload.
I would have appreciated a Score Box at the bottom which is normal for matches. What happened to it ? Otherwise, it was impossible to determine the game score.
At the end, McEnroe didn't shake the hand of the chair ump, but he did give a warm handshake and a pat on the back to Chang, so kudos to John for that..
That's cause did a poor job, & Chang was a likable fellow American that Mac respected
@@toddlesiak3837 It seems like they always did a poor job when umpiring McEnroe, right?
@@heinebohmann1566 Not always. They made lots of bad calls, but Mac was in the wrong sometimes too
@@heinebohmann1566😂 too right
Wow being a tennis fan and watching these early 1990s highlights in 2024 makes me realize how far behind my home country was. I was still walking barefoot in those early 90s years until coming to canada in 92
Chang's biggest weakness. Serves, consistent short returns and volley. He definitely has tenacity and never quit attitude.
Johnny Mac!!
The GREATEST PAIR OF HANDS IN TENNIS HISTORY!!!!
Aquí Jonh ya empezaba a jugar con tenistas de laboratorio y lo hacía muy bien.
This match was on until after midnight i remember watching it. Great match so close.
So that's what serve and volley looks like. Would be nice to see a little of that today.
You missed out, a serve & volleyer against a baseliner was absolutely beautiful tennis to watch
A true champion Chang !!congratulations 👏🏾! Although I was John fan …
Love The Generational Match Ups..
Chang wearing the Reebok Pumps and McEnroe wearing the Nike Air Trainer 1s
I always liked Michael Chang. I hope he is doing well all these years later. The 1970's, 80's and early 90's were the best years for tennis. Racket technology hadnt taken over and ruined the game yet. There were no 140 MPH serves and no 40 ace matches back then. Longer points meant using strategy, angles and the entire court to earn points. Nowadays it's mostly about blazing serves, rocket forehands and backhands. Some guy at Wimbledon yesterday had a 137 MPH serve. Thats crazy. And there were many superstars in tennis back then. Legendary names and matches. I couldnt name 5 tennis players now. I will admit that I dont watch much anymore. The tennis isn't that good like it was back in the day. Borg, McEnroe, Chang, Connors, Edberg, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, Nastase, Lendl and thats just some of the men off the top of my head. The womens side had big stars also. Fun times back then.
"There were no 140 MPH serves"
pretty sure Becker, Ivanisevic and Krajicek etc. were hitting huge serves in the early 90s (and Tanner before them). The radars were different and a 120mph serve back then probably equals a 130mph today.
@@hehehehehahahaha2025 I would agree with you. The early and mid 90's saw racket and string technology leap into a different realm. I dont know anything about radar but like everything else, Its probably better now also. Tanner hit a 150 MPH serve in 1978. Wonder what he could have hit today? 180 lol?
I think you are mistaken if you don't think there were huge serves in the 90's. As a matter of fact they began to slow the courts down in response to the huge serves. In the 80's and 90's you could still serve and volley and win but it's almost impossible to play that way now so you have to bash from the baseline because of not just the string and racket technology but because of the slower courts, even at Wimbledon!
Roscoe tanner hit into the 140s wayyyy back in the 70s. Rackets don't make the serve, the strings help with spin. Rackets help the return and groundstrokes in terms of larger center of percussion (sweet spot) for returning serves, groundstrokes and hitting passing shots. That's why volleying/ serve volleying has died. Returns are so accurate and have so much spin. Also they have slowed down most all hardcourts and grass, and that too has killed to volleying for most singles players.
Radar tech isn't better than it was before, it's just in a smaller package today, maybe even on your phone. Blows me away the people who think radar in the 70s wasn't accurate. We broke the sound barrier and apparently went to the moon before the 70s. Stuff had to be pretty accurate to do that. Radar 'guns' are simple devices that are tested to be very accurate.
It would take me a least a year to correct all the misunderstanding and outright errors in the comments expressed here.
John McEnroe was incredibly childish throughout this career, I'd be embarrassed. Michael Chang showed incredible resilience and thats the sign of a champion!
Chang was definitely one of the quickest players of all time. His footspeed and anticipation were uncanny
Wonder what ever happened to Chang? He was a bright light that seems to have vanished
@@riverwalker2173 He retired in 2003. He started to decline in the late 90s due to injuries and probably because of how physical his game was. Also I think Chang's tennis became a little lightweight at the start of the 2000s with players like Safin, Roddick, Federer etc breaking through
@@jmiller05 Ah well, nevertheless he made his mark in a Euro dominated sport. He played with a thunderheart in his prime . A great warrior on the court ⚡️❤️
@@jmiller05 the game evolved beyond him. he was the first to really bring that superhuman foot speed and defense to pro tennis, but he still hit like an 80s player - lots of spin off both wings. never learned to really flatten out his ground strokes and blast clean winners like agassi and sampras brought to the top of the men's game.
@@riverwalker2173Euro dominated? You never heard of Sampras, Agassi or Courier? That was the greatest era ever for American men's tennis.
The top spin lob is my weapon of choice. Leaves my opponents frustrated and defeated.
Seems tennis hasn’t changed much over the years, but today tennis is a new game. The strength of these athletes if phenomenal, the shots are unbelievable.
Todays tennis is painfully boring and unwatchable. LOL
It’s also the racquets. It’s totally unfair to compare eras it’s so so much easier now
@@bellazoe1 Completely agree. I would love to see current players play with the Yonex R-22 that I played with. LOL.
Now im understand why mc enroe is a legendary player...❤❤
Dovendo descrivere il tennis moderno rispetto a quello giocato da John Mc Enroe classico elegante di tocco geniale ed efficace potremo dire che è stato come un rullo compressore ed una pressa che ha distrutto lo sport del tennis dove adesso tutto si svolge con violenza tecnica controllo velocità e precisione nei colpi e questo è dovuto al fatto che il cambiamento dei materiali utilizzati per le racchette e le palline di tennis ha rivoluzionato il modo di fare tennis ma ogni volta che vedo John Mc Enroe in campo mi convinco che lui è il tennis in persona e non ha eguali nella storia di questo sport per portamento classe eleganza nel impostazione dei colpi e tocco come dimostra anche l'incontro qui riproposto su youtube grazie per averlo caricato in rete.
So incredible!!
Gianni Clerici a great italian journalist, hall of fame, called McEnroe McJesus...
He was so talented!🤗
Chang has a genius for topspin lob
3:55 I can watch this again and again 👏
Best net player in history
I enjoy watching Johnny Mac playing in those Nike Xtrainers 💯
Omg how does TH-cam know? I was there. This was so much fun.
Tennis was so much more interesting then.
Not only a dynamite tennis player, Chang is a kickass PB player now too. :)
Great match. Why only summary and not complete ?
It weird to see match, 30 year later. McEnroe most exciting player, I ever seen. Chang exciting, too. Love the style of play from McEnroe. You know? The visual of it. The touch, especially. He show his emotion, but he also show 'competitive' mindset. If I a tennis player, with some talent, this the stuff to watch, cuz McEnroe, you can learn from watch his mental fitness, which more like term 'awareness' than 'focus.' He have it all, plus the entertainment side.
McEnroe's net play was just on another level. Only the persistent lobbing could beat him.
Persistent & perfect lobbing...
Another level??? Chang destroys mcenroe with lob!!!
Love this match
Chang was supremely underated.
This is the tennis i wanted to play when i was a kid, i couldn't recognize tennis after Sampras started winning everything
Chang make mc almost cry
I should played on 90s
But now high definition so much more camera work looks amazing in 2020
M. Chang ein großer Kämpfer. John McEnroe ein Ball Künstler. 🇩🇪👍👍👍👍🇩🇪
You cannot play tennis like McEnroe. But he could.
Both are great👍
Kinda hard to follow this without the score line at any given point
Seems like a great match. Where's the full length version?
Still just so exciting to watch McEnroe play. It's Other-Worldly. I went to law school with Todd Martin's sister A___. All of us were up late AF that night watching this match we were 1L or 2L's and we all wanted Mac to win that so bad, no offense to Michael whatsoever. 18:26 Michael's approach clearly in.
Best hands at the net ever!!!
@@toddlesiak3837 It was just incredible. And people underestimate his ground game too. He loved to hit that FH DTL not quite inside out :)
McEnroe groundstrokes and passing shots suck. They only worked against generations of wooden or primitive metal racquets. Once new technology came into play passing shots and returns were too much for him to handle and he lost a lot more.
@@SpiderMan-qh6vz McEnroe actually started using a Dunlop graphite racquet in 1983. Mac had a record of 82-3 in 1984, which is a win percentage of 96.5%, which happens to be the greatest year ever for a tennis player. He also had a 42-match win streak in 1984, & won a record 75 straight matches on carpet between 1983 & 1985... you don't accomplish these great feats with poor groundstrokes & passing shots. No one can accomplish this with passing shots & groundstrokes that suck, because you don't just get to serve the entire match, you also have to return serve. If his passing shots & groundstrokes really sucked so bad, then how did he break his opponent's serve enough to have a record of 82-3??? You don't make much sense. Mac was already pretty old once your so-called "new technology" came into play. All new technology really is are giant oversized racquets with wide frames which allows players to just sit back at the baseline & crush the ball. Being able to play with a wooden racquet shows just how skilled & how much touch a player really has. Pete Sampras won 13 grand slams using a tiny 85sq inch Wison Pro staff racquet, & he blew his opponents right off the court that were mainly using wide-body racquets. That's how skilled he was. Stephan Edberg also used this same racquet & won 6 grand slams, while Jim Courier won 4 grand slams using the tiny original Pro Staff. The players now might hit the ball harder with their huge racquets, but they sure don't possess more overall skill, touch, & craftiness as the top players of the 80s & 90s. The top players of the 80s & 90s also had much more dominating serves than most of today's players who just mostly serve the ball in & then just have a slugfest of back & forth groundstrokes. Sampras, Becker, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Forget, Stich, Rafter, & Martin would all serve most of today's players right off the court, while McEnroe & Edberg would beat today's players with placement & high kick. Different eras are always hard to compare, but besides for the "big three" of Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic, the top players of the 80s & 90s are much more skilled in just about every facet of the game than the players of today that mainly just slug the ball back & forth until their opponent eventually makes an unforced error...
@@SpiderMan-qh6vz You just proved my point fool. They worked in his generation because they were good. AGAINST HIS PEERS. Did Jimmy's ground game suck too?
th-cam.com/video/Y9LEoui1xJ4/w-d-xo.html
Borg's strokes weren't shit when he tried to come back on the tour because GUESS WHAT? THE FUCKING GAME HAD CHANGED. Duh.
I have some nice door prizes for you on the left LOL Dude.
At 23:50, that serve was almost INSIDE the line...not sure how that could have been called out. Some awful line judges...so much better for the players having Hawkeye now..
It was corrected by the chair umpire though. Linesmen make mistakes all the time: this wasn't even a bad case since the umpire saw it.
The level of volleying by Mac is still higher than anyone today.
Man, the lobs are deadly accurate
1991 John was 10% the player he was in 1984. Still made 2 GS semis with that sub par version in 1992
Besides this match, McEnroe always destroyed Chang. Mac's 1984 season might be the best season any player has ever had in tennis history!! His heart is still broken over blowing a 2-set lead against Lendl at the French
That's what you get for marrying a junkie!
Tennis players back in the day just didn't take care of their bodies like tennis players do now. John was 32 at the time. 32 year old players now are in much better shape.
@@fearsomebunny From the moment he married his 1st wife (Tatum O'Neal) in 1984 who was a junkie -- he never won another Grand Slam. He just went downhill from that point on... Basically, she destroyed his career and what it could've been.
@@toddlesiak3837 That's true -- 1984 was the greatest year any player in open era has ever had. I think he only lost two matches the entire year -- one of them was to Lendl at the FO. But then he got married to the wrong woman at the end of the year -- and never won another GS for the rest of his career.
Enthralling; on an altogether higher plain to the present day monotony of two base-liners slugging it out, each trying to hit the ball harder than the other. A dedicated and highly skilled net player against an equally capable base-liner in the days before technology tipped the scales against the former.
bullshit of a non expert commentator
Great 👍
I just wanted to know the score.
6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 6-3.
@@adamclevenger8142 Thank you!
Dear USTA..
Please enlighten us is it a taboo to show the scores on these highlights or something?
Greatest talent ever.
Remember when tennis was awesome great ? 32 years ago.
McEnroe ... pure magic to watch.
Ti voglio bene Mac sei un maledetto genio!!
The whole chinese diaspora was cheering for Michael Chang.
Flushing after all!
I love how Mac showed the chair what he thought about him at the end. 😅
these 2 are good !
Today you get the 30 story view of the courts. Let's get back to televising the court like this. It's much better for the tennis fan.
This is so great and I remember it being so when I watched it, but god it’s infuriating how little the actual score is shown. In fact I still don’t know at the match’s end!
Cheng had legs of STEEL. Looks like Rafa’s legs wow
both were very good
Excéntrico si pero un verdadero artista con la raqueta jonh
A man of winning touch: McEnroe!❤
Chang made John look like a fool with all those LOBS. RIP serve and volley.
McEnroe was the best because he was no 1 in both doubles and singles..no other player has managed that with any level of consistency!!
Good to watch Chang with the solid baseline shots. No comments to McEnroe, who is better commenting than playing tennis...
Back in the day I always expected somebody to take a swing at McEnroe
Chang didn't have a blazing serve, but he could really get one up the T when he needed a quick point
So good!!
any opinions on Macs Forehand?
McEnroe really had to earn his points later in his career. The prime reason was his serve. In 83, 84, Macs first serve was hitting lines or just inside. By watching this video, his 1st serves are landing 12 inches from the lines. That enabled guys like Chang and Lendl to swing with intention. Just my observation.