Almanac Tennis: Newk v Connors – 50 Years On From An Australian Open Classic
Aussie sports fans – fresh from savouring the gripping Border-Gavaskar Test Cricket Series – will in just under a fortnight turn their attention towards the annual tennis festival that is the Australian Open Championships at Melbourne Park.
With that in mind, this Footy Almanac pundit looks back at one of the greatest ever Australian Open Finals that took place 50 years ago this coming New Year’s Day.
From the 1971/72 summer, the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (the LTAA before it re-branded as Tennis Australia) made changes to their showcase Grand Slam tournament.
First, the rotation of playing the showpiece of the Australian summer program was moved permanently to Melbourne’s Kooyong courts after being played at other Australian capitals (Sydney in 1970 and 1971, Brisbane in 1969).
Second, the LTAA moved the Australian Open to the Christmas/New Year period culminating with both the Men’s AND Women’s Singles Finals on the same bill – either on or close to New Year’s Day itself.
The summer of 1974/75 was no different – with both singles Finals at Kooyong set for New Year’s Day, 1975.
The script had been set in the nearly 12 months lead up to that Australian Open Men’s Final.
On the one hand, you had the 22 year old brash American Jimmy Connors – in town defending the Men’s Singles Title he had won brilliantly over Phil Dent the previous New Year’s Day.
Connors was arguably the World Number 1 Men’s Player at that time. He won 98 of his 104 singles matches in 1974 – including the 3 Grand Slam Singles he was allowed to play in (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open).
The demolition of the evergreen Aussie hero Ken Rosewall in the Wimbledon and US Finals showed how devastating the young Connors was at his best.
He was barred from playing that year’s 1974 French Open by then French Tennis boss Phillipe Chatrier for playing the first season of the new World Team Tennis League started in the US – denying him a shot at a calendar Grand Slam.
On the other hand, the other Aussie Tennis hero of the time – 30 year old John Newcombe – was perhaps the only other player on tour that could still claim some bragging rights amongst the sport’s elite as the World Number 2 ranked Men’s player.
‘Newk’ had won 9 tournaments himself in 1974 – including the World Championship Tennis series run by leviathan US Businessman Lamar Hunt (whilst owning and running the Kansa City Cheifs in the NFL), and his partner Al Hill Junior.
But for various reasons, Newcombe’s power in Grand Slams was rapidly waning.
After winning the Australian and US Open titles in 1973, Newcombe was upset by Ross Case in the Aus Open Semi-Finals at Kooyong, and lost to Rosewall at both Wimbledon and the US Open later in 1974 (he did not play in Paris either thanks to his links to World Team Tennis).
But there was something about Connors at that time that stirred something in “Newk” – especially after he called Connors out for pulling out late from the end of season Grand Prix Masters Finals played at Kooyong a few weeks before the Australian Open.
Newcombe – already media savvy at this stage of his career – claimed that Connors was dodging him by not playing in the Masters.
Connors ‘returned serve’ by hitting a nerve. The American correctly pointed out that in the 3 Grand Slams that the pair entered in 1974, he made (and won) the Finals of all 3, “but each time Newcombe was not there and a different face played me in the Final”.
It was rumoured at the time that Newcombe was not even going to play the 1974/75 Australian Open – until hurriedly getting his entry to the LTAA when hearing that Connors was coming.
When play got under way in Christmas Week of 1974, both men took contrasting paths to the decider.
Connors cruised through to the Final – only dropping a single set to fellow American Raz Reid in the 3rd Round.
Newcombe, on the other hand, had to battle. After coming from 2 sets to 1 down to beat German Ralf Gehring in 5 sets in the 2nd Round, he stared down both barrels of defeat to fellow Aussies closer to the final.
First, ‘Newk’ needed 4 and a quarter hours to get past Geoff Masters 10-8 in the 5th set of their Quarter Final.
Then the next day – New Year’s Eve – Newcombe had to save 3 match points before seeing off doubles partner and good mate Tony Roche 11-9 in the 5th set of their Semi Final in 3 hours, 20 minutes.
Connors took just over an hour and a half to beat Dick Crealy in straight sets in the other New Year’s Eve Semi-Final played after Newcombe and Roche did battle.
So the stage was set for the showdown the Tennis World – and World Sport – at the time craved on New Year’s Day, 1975 at Kooyong.
The old bull versus the young bull. It was Newcombe’s first Grand Slam singles Final in nearly 18 months. It was Connors’ 4th straight singles Final in his last 4 Grand Slam appearances.
The traditional serve and volley aggression of Newcombe against one of the finest returners of serve in tennis history in Connors.
The pair had only met twice before that Kooyong Final – with Newcombe winning 2 tight best of 3 matches in straight sets. 3 of the 4 sets played were decided by tie breaks.
A full house of over 12,000 packed the old home of Australian Tennis – while millions watched on TV on both sides of the world (the final was televised live back to the US in the middle of the night for a unique way for American fans to see in the New Year).
A tight first set went to Newcombe 7-5, before Connors broke the Newcombe serve in a key moment in the 2nd set to win 6-3 and level the match at a set each.
Many tennis fans still argue to this day about the turning point of the match in the 3rd set with Connors serving at 2-3 down with games on serve.
Connors – leading 40-15 as questionable line calls on both sides took place (as this was the pre Hawk-Eye era) – served what some still believe to be a deliberate double fault to placate the crowd for those calls.
Then at 40-30, a heckler (crowds got involved in those days too) called out ‘double fault’ as Connors rolled the arm over for his second serve. Despite the Chair Umpire calling out the heckler, Connors lost rhythm and his serve to go down 2-4.
The American broke back, but still lost the 3rd set 6-4 to give “Newk” the advantage,
The 4th – and what turned out to be final – set was a ripper. Connors came from 3-5 down to force a tie break after Newcombe could not serve the match out.
Connors then came from 1-3 down in the tie break to have a set point on his serve at 7-6. 2 superbly rifled Newcombe returns then gave Newcombe a 2nd match point.
A classic Newcombe serve and volley saw Connors’ forehand pass hit the net taping. Newcombe triumphed over 3 and a half hours in 4 sets – famously leaping over the net to meet Connors and shake his hand in what is now iconic vision.
He had spent 11 hours on court on 3 straight days to win his 7th – and last – Grand Slam singles title.
It was the end of an era at the Australian Open for both men. Newcombe did not play the other Grand Slams at all in 1975, and would only make one more Grand Slam singles final – back at Kooyong 12 months later.
Connors gracefully said at the post match presentation that he was looking forward to coming back to Australia the following year.
While he would win 4 more Grand Slam singles titles against the likes of Borg and McEnroe, Jimmy Connors never played at the Australian Open again.
More from Tony Dosen can be read Here
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Some memories there Tony.
I’ve not heard Dick Crealy’s name for a long time, and Raz Reid? I best remember him as the husband of Australia’s Kerry Reid, nee Melville.
I recall watching this at my grandparents in Corowa, this being only a short time after my father died. As well as the tennis, of course there was the Ashes test at the MCG on around the same time. In a hot Corowa, the coolest place in the house was in the lounge watching sport on the old black and white television.
Yep Jimmy Connors never returned to the Australian Open: though it was always one of the four Grand Slam events its time of the year, it’s geographical location, meant the fields it attracted was always inferior to the other Grand Slam events. From the early 1980’s it started to develop to a level it could be taken as a legitimate Grand Slam event, then when Melbourne Park opened, it ticked all the boxes for the top players to attend.
So as well as Jimmy Connors not returning, many of his contemporaries also bypassed it. Bjorn Borg only played the once, John McEnroe only later in his career, Ilie Nastase, Stan Smith, also were not known for attending. It was Guillermo Vilas, and Vitas Geuralitis, who were the big name top players who made the long journey ‘down under’.
Coming up to the 50th anniversary of the last Australian male victory, when an unheralded Mark Edmondson beat John Newcombe. What’s happened to Aussie men at the Australian Open the last half century?
Glen!
It was also a great memory for me watching Newcombe beating Connors in the Australian Open singles final 50 years ago.
I recall it being a hot day and I was only 9, nearly 10 years old. After having a swim in the newly built swimming pool at home, I watched the last part of the match on television with guests we had over.
There was a loud cheer coming from our family room when Newcombe won. Bewdy Newk!
I never liked Connors for his brashness and his general demeanour, so the win was extra sweet!
A few years later, I was at Kooyong watching Rosewall for the first time in the semi finals of the Australian Open. He recently turned 90.
Kooyong itself gave me fond memories, as I would go there most years before the Australian Open shifted to Melbourne Park. I was there in 1986 when Australia beat Sweden in the Davis Cup final. As my mother was a Davis Cup foundation member, I could get good seats and could see the players close up in the club house.
I attended some of the Australian Open finals in the early 1980s and on some occasions, together with a friend and like others, we would go to Kooyong Station and climb over the fence to get in and then sneak into Centre Court when the usher wasn’t looking and find a vacant seat.
My favourite match at Kooyong in the flesh was watching an entertaining outside court match between Henri Leconte and John McEnroe in the 1980s.
Yes, watching matches at Kooyong were the good old days!
As far as what’s happened to Aussie men at the Australian Open in the last half century, it hasn’t been all that bad. After Mark Edmondson won the Australian Open in 1976, John Marks, Kim Warwick, Pat Cash and Lleyton Hewitt have all made the Australian Open singles Final. It’s just that the game has become more professional with many more countries competing. Since the Australian Open was shifted to Melbourne Park in 1988, and now being played on hardcourt instead of grass, all the top players have come to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open, which has made it harder for the Australian men.
Also, the pressure of winning your home Grand Slam singles title in Australia makes it harder. There’s less pressure or expectations to win a Grand Slam singles title overseas with the likes of Rafter and Hewitt winning US Opens and Wimbledon, the former for Rafter and the former and latter for Hewitt.