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The Best Tennis Stars Were In The 80s

John McEnroe

Jimmy Connors

Andre Gassiass

Bjorn Borg

Ivan Lendl

Boris Becker

Chris Evert

Martina Navratilova

Peggy Fleming

Zola Budd

Steffi Graf

by Anonymousreply 51January 19, 2018 1:20 PM

Zola Budd??

by Anonymousreply 1January 16, 2018 8:51 AM

[quote] Andre Gassiass

Who is that?

by Anonymousreply 2January 16, 2018 8:53 AM

Peggy Fleming was an ice-skater. OP is drinking again.

by Anonymousreply 3January 16, 2018 8:54 AM

Didn't really get the point of the thread anyway.

by Anonymousreply 4January 16, 2018 9:32 AM

The 70's was the tennis boom era. The 80's started out ok and then all the technology with rackets started ruining things. And the 2 handed backhand made the women's game in particular, ugly.

by Anonymousreply 5January 16, 2018 9:57 AM

The 70s more like, before these new technology racquets were invented that killed the volley.

Steffi Graf was stunning. I was amazed by her precocious talent.

by Anonymousreply 6January 16, 2018 11:25 AM

I feel like Pam Dawber never got her due, she was always in the shadow of Martina, but it takes two to make a doubles team.

by Anonymousreply 7January 16, 2018 11:41 AM

Serena Williams is the greatest tennis player (male or female) of all time, so no. Also Nadal and Federer are the two biggest male stars of all time so I think your premise is bogus.

by Anonymousreply 8January 16, 2018 11:48 AM

Stefanie Eggsberg was so pretty and I loved watching Doris Decker play. Still can’t believe she won Wibblelion at 17!!

by Anonymousreply 9January 16, 2018 12:02 PM

The 80s tennis stars had the most personality wise

And don't forget the black AIDS poster boy, who of course got it through non gay sex.

by Anonymousreply 10January 16, 2018 12:26 PM

What the fuck with this thread?

by Anonymousreply 11January 17, 2018 1:10 AM

R7

Shriver. Pam Shriver.

Pam Dawber did Mork & Mindy and then didn't do anything else until she stole Kris Nelson's goddamn kids.

by Anonymousreply 12January 17, 2018 1:14 AM

Don’t forget Lindsey Wagner. She was so tall and gangly, but played big babe tennis...

by Anonymousreply 13January 17, 2018 1:19 AM

[quote] Shriver. Pam Shriver.

Pam Shriver was Bond girl and likes the mens.

by Anonymousreply 14January 17, 2018 1:22 AM

Loved Mary Speers too

by Anonymousreply 15January 17, 2018 1:23 AM

The 70s and 80s were the height of lesbians turning ladies players into lesbians!

by Anonymousreply 16January 17, 2018 1:28 AM

Monica Seles might have been the best of all time...

by Anonymousreply 17January 17, 2018 1:32 AM

R8, you're fucking DELUSIONAL.

The 1980s, Navratilova, easy. If anything she ties R8's lover Williams for best of all time. That's based on skill for her time.

Men, probably Ivan Lendl. McEnroe was good until 1984, then tanked.

Monika Seles, LO-fucking-L

by Anonymousreply 18January 17, 2018 1:33 AM

[quote] Monica Seles might have been the best of all time...

She was a cut above.

by Anonymousreply 19January 17, 2018 1:36 AM

Monica pre-stabbing was incredible to watch. I remember getting annoyed with her back in '91 when she skipped Wimbledon, and made a big mysterious production about her withdrawal, but I always loved watching her intensity, the angles, the grunt. I was torn between not rooting for her, and enjoying watching her.

by Anonymousreply 20January 17, 2018 1:49 AM

"Zola Budd"

You shady bitch.

by Anonymousreply 21January 17, 2018 2:06 AM

Wimbledon and its Grunt-O-Meter we’re wicked to Monica, as was Navratilova that year. She played Steffi without grunting in the final and lost. But, minus that Wimbledon, she won 7 of 8 consecutive grand slams before being stabbed. Impressive....

by Anonymousreply 22January 17, 2018 2:36 AM

R22, I would call that compelling.

by Anonymousreply 23January 17, 2018 2:38 AM

Mats Wilander

Rosie Ruiz

Tracy Austin

by Anonymousreply 24January 17, 2018 2:46 AM

The 80s sucked.

by Anonymousreply 25January 17, 2018 2:51 AM

Chrissie Evert's truck stop hooker look, circa 1984

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 26January 17, 2018 5:12 AM

Martina Navratilova’s truck driver look, circa 1984.

by Anonymousreply 27January 17, 2018 8:09 AM

It’s curious to me how little Seles is referenced in today’s commentary. When Chrissy talks about playing young tennis phenoms, she mentions Tracy Austin rather than Monica, who beat her in the French Open at 16. It’s like there is a pact not to mention her....

by Anonymousreply 28January 17, 2018 2:14 PM

Chris and Monica only overlapped for a very brief time on the tour, the end of Chris' career and the beginning of Monica's. Neither were at the top of their game when they played together. They didn't have a rivalry. Chris had a very real, very intense rivalry with Tracy Austin and it was very much rooted in Tracy being the first teen phenom to threaten Chris' dominance of the sport. I don't think Chris (or Monica for that matter) would think that her matches against Monica have much to do with her overall legacy in the sport, however her rivalry with Tracy was second only to her iconic rivalry with Martina in terms of shaping her career.

by Anonymousreply 29January 17, 2018 3:06 PM

Guillermo Vilas....and his thighs...

by Anonymousreply 30January 17, 2018 4:03 PM

I thought Andrea Jaeger had a real purty mouth.

by Anonymousreply 31January 18, 2018 5:35 AM

Martina shows off her hedgehog hairdo.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 32January 18, 2018 6:00 AM

Didnt Andreas extra long pigtails get in the way? Any pics?

by Anonymousreply 33January 18, 2018 6:26 AM

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 34January 18, 2018 6:34 AM

Sure Jan.

by Anonymousreply 35January 18, 2018 7:45 AM

Roscoe Tanner’s beefy arse.

by Anonymousreply 36January 18, 2018 8:40 AM

70s and 80s tennis was the best . Good call .

by Anonymousreply 37January 18, 2018 8:52 AM

Tennis was never the same after Bonnie Gadusek retired!

by Anonymousreply 38January 18, 2018 10:37 AM

I worked in the WTA tour's London office in the 90s. Ive posted some old 80s/90s gossip before on here , will try and find it.

by Anonymousreply 39January 18, 2018 10:48 AM

R39 I heard Georgina Clark was a wonderful person and I assume you got to work with her. I recall a very snide Tracy Austin asking Steffi Graf hard nosed q's when Steffi's father was in prison. Austin tired to justify herself as a 'journalist' while Steffi just slammed her.

by Anonymousreply 40January 18, 2018 12:14 PM

Really, R40? I can't imagine that from Austin. One of the nicest, most supportive commentators (or players) out there.

by Anonymousreply 41January 18, 2018 12:21 PM

Sorry Serena Williams’ triple axel was no where nearly as graceful as Peggy Fleming’s. By the way Cheryl Ladd held her own.

by Anonymousreply 42January 18, 2018 12:28 PM

R40 I did work with Georgina and she was indeed wonderful. I have no doubt if it hadn't been for her illness and she was alive and well today she'd still be at the Australian Open now looking after everyone.

by Anonymousreply 43January 18, 2018 12:31 PM

[quote]Tennis was never the same after Bonnie Gadusek retired!

I started following tennis in the mid-80s when Bonnie was playing, but in those pre-internet days it was hard to get info on players not named Chris, Martina, John, or Jimmy. It seems like the story of Bonnie Gadusek would be an interesting one. The following results are from Tennis Abstract, so I'm not sure if they're complete.

Started her career in 1980, by '82 she reached the QF of the US Open as an 18-year-old. When I started following the sport in '84, she was a Top Ten player, with her ranking fluctuating between No. 8-No. 12.

By the fall of '85, she's a solid player. Just turned 22, she wins Chicago, loses to Graf in SF of Ft. Lauderdale, wins Indianapolis, and loses finals of Tokyo to Manuela Maleeva. Early '86, she reaches QF of Washington DC (l. to Navratilova), QF of New England (l. to Shriver), and SF of Key Biscayne (l. to Graf). By this point, she's No. 8 in the world, and qualifies for the WTA Championships in Madison Square Garden, known as the Virginia Slims Championships, and for some reason in those days held in March.

After that, she plays only two more events in 1986: Marco Island, where she loses in the SF to Evert, and the US Open, where - seeded 8th - she loses in the QF to Graf.

She plays four events in 1987, losing in the 1R in each, including her final match at the US Open, losing to the 16th seed Turnbull. That was it, and all before her 24th birthday.

Can anyone fill in the gaps? I'm guessing there's an injury angle to the story, but she really had some very strong results in a career that ended suddenly.

by Anonymousreply 44January 18, 2018 12:48 PM

Oops, noticed one screw-up in the Gadusek stats post 1986 US Open. She played only four more events but one of those was in Sept of 1986, the other three were in 1987. The Sept '86 result was a 1-6, 0-6 loss to Elise Burgin in Tampa, coming just a week or two after reaching the US Open quarters.

Really odd results.

by Anonymousreply 45January 18, 2018 12:56 PM

Gadusek was constantly injured and so her entire career was sporadic, you'll notice from her results list how infrequently she played in Grand Slams (particularly Wimbledon) which speaks to all the injuries she had. She officially announced her retirement in early '87 and cited her injuries as the reason. Back in the day, Tennis magazine ran a, supposedly, humorous photo of Bonnie sitting post-match in her tennis togs with pretty much every limb and muscle wrapped in gauze. Before she had been a tennis player she had been a gymnast, but broke her neck. She picked up tennis and entered her first tournament while still in a neck brace, or so the legend went...Chris Evert and Pam Shriver were on record as not being Bonnie's biggest fans, as Bonnie could tend to be a bit too competetive.

by Anonymousreply 46January 18, 2018 1:58 PM

[quote] Chris Evert and Pam Shriver were on record as not being Bonnie's biggest fans, as Bonnie could tend to be a bit too competetive.

She was too competitive chasing the men! Sheesh, she should have given the rest of us gals a chance.

by Anonymousreply 47January 18, 2018 2:12 PM

[R30] At last someone mentions Guga! What a sweetie (and an exciting player).

by Anonymousreply 48January 18, 2018 3:13 PM

R1 Love it!

by Anonymousreply 49January 18, 2018 4:30 PM

The 1980s was the last decade before it was obvious just how devastatingly wrong the McGovern Report's findings were.

by Anonymousreply 50January 18, 2018 4:34 PM

Thanks R46. I figured it was injury related. So many promising players and up and comers from the 80s seemed to get derailed by injuries, where they were either off the tour for years at a time (Jaeger, Austin, Jordan, Temesvari, Etc.) or just retired in their mid-20s, when they should have been in their prime (Gadusek, Potter, Bunge, Rehe, Bassett, Torres, Horvath, Bonder).

I think it was a very different era, where even if you were Top 10 or Top 20 for a couple of years, if you had chronic injuries you weren't earning anything, and what they earned earlier in their careers wasn't enough to sustain them. Which probably led to so many early retirements. I don't know how accurate the prize money stats are, but Wikipedia shows Jordan earned $1.6 M in her 13-year career. This is a woman with 3 singles titles, 42 doubles titles (including 5 Slams), an Australian Open Final, a Wimbledon SF, and made it to the Round of 16 in over half the majors she entered (15 of 29). She reached No. 5 in the world, and between 1979-1986, she finished no lower than No. 21 in the year-end rankings.

I think players probably needed constant, continued success to be able to afford to remain on tour.

by Anonymousreply 51January 19, 2018 1:20 PM
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