The Wimbledon Collection - The Classic Match - Borg vs. McEnroe 1981 Final

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Starring: Bjorn Borg
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: Standing Room Only
Release Date: 2004-09-21
Running Time: 210 minutes
There have been numerous classic encounters during The Wimbledon Championships, none more so than the 1981 Men's Final between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. There could not have been two more contrasting characters, McEnroe renowned for his temper tantrums and Borg the ice-cool and reserved Swede. 202 minutes of gripping action and incredible tennis. Borg and McEnroe battled it out, pushing their levels of physical and mental endurance to the limit in this dramatic 4 set showdown.

Not a complete version of the match
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2WJCL6H37AQU6 This version of the match is described on the cover as "THE FULL LENGTH COVER VERSION", but a good deal of the match has been discretely cut out.

As best as I can tell, about 40 service faults have been cut out.

I pointed a digital camera at the video to produce this brief clip. You can see one ballboy stationed at each net post. After the brief close-up of Borg, we go back to the long shot of the court and the serve lands in. But now both ballboys are at the post underneath the umpire's chair - as if one of them had run across to pick up a serve that landed in the net.

You can see the same thing happening when McEnroe reaches 6-3 in the third-set tiebreak. One ballboy is stationed at each net post. This case is less obvious because the camera cuts away for more than three seconds; but when the long shot returns to show what is supposed to be McEnroe's first serve, the two ballboys have joined each other at the netpost on the left.

McEnroe actually hits that serve like a second serve, with less pace than all his other serves in the tiebreaks. The New York Times, the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated all reported that he missed one first serve in the two tiebreaks combined; the Times reports that he missed one in the third-set tiebreak.

In his press conference Borg noted the same thing, that McEnroe missed only one serve in two tiebreaks.

On this BBC version, he misses none of his serves. All of them are hit hard like first serves, except the funny one at 6-3, which must be the second serve reported in the press.

At 4-5 in the third set, McEnroe saved four set points. On the fourth, the Post reported that he hit a "gutsy deep second serve." On this BBC version it's a first serve; but it's hit like a second serve.

Also, you can see Borg standing far back to prepare to receive the first serve. The camera cuts away and returns, but then you can see Borg standing in closer as if to receive a second serve.

McEnroe stayed back on just one serve that I can remember, a few minutes later when he held game point for 5-all. On this BBC version it's a first serve; but again it's hit like a second serve.

And it borders on unbelievable, for McEnroe to stay back on a first serve on grass.

I used this version (the only one I have been able to find) to produce my own match statistics. I noticed that Borg was serve-and-volleying very little behind his first serves. But a lot of these were actually second serves.

I don't know exactly the number of faults that were cut out, but it's around 20 for each player. That's my estimate when I compare the service percentages I got using the BBC version, against the service percentages reported in the Post and the Times.

Using the BBC version, I have McEnroe serving at 74%, Borg at 69%. The New York Times has McEnroe at only 62% and Borg at 55% (closer to their figures in the 1980 final). The Washington Post has them at 61% and 57%, respectively.

It's interesting that the Times and the Post apparently did independent counts, because their figures disagree slightly with each other; yet they both report about 40 fewer successful first serves than I counted on this BBC version.

For one reporter to miss 40 service faults and call them first serves is hard to believe, in itself. But if this BBC version is complete, it means that two newspapers independently made the same mistakes(s) so that they ended up with more or less the same percentages.

The Post has McEnroe making 100 of 164 first serves (61%), while the Times has 104 of 167 (62%). Using this BBC version, I get 121 of 164 (74%).

The Post has Borg making 86 of 151 first serves (57%), while the Times simply reports 55%. With this BBC version, I get 104 of 150 (69%).

In the tiebreaks alone, the Post has Borg making 4 of 9 first serves. On the BBC version he made 5 of 9. The Times has him making 1 of 4 in the first tiebreak, while the BBC version has him at 2 of 4.

And as noted, the Post and the Times (independently!) saw McEnroe miss a serve in the tiebreaks, while on this version he makes all ten that he attempted.

At 1-2 in the first set (the game shown above in my brief clip), Borg appears to make 3 of 5 first serves. But at the end of the game the BBC announcer, Dan Maskell, says that Borg made only 1 of 5. And indeed Borg only hit one serve flat and hard; the rest look like second serves.

The BBC version gives me some weird figures for success on second serve. McEnroe is at 20% in the first set, 33% in the third, and he finished with just 42% for the match. Borg is at 85% in the second set, and 25% in the third. His overall success rate of 52% is believable; the only problem is that it's ten points higher than McEnroe's.

My figures coincide with the press pretty closely on the number of first serves attempted, ie, the total points played, and I see no indication that entire points were cut out. Only service faults appear to be missing.

The back cover of this DVD reads, "Approved by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England." The match takes up one disc and includes all the "down time" on changeovers, but it runs only 3 hours 11 minutes -- not including material on the disc before and after the match. The Centre Court clock, however, had 3 hours 22 minutes for the elapsed time at the end. The press reported 3 hours 22 minutes as the elapsed time.

And the promotional material on the back on the DVD case also mentions that the contest lasted 3 hours 22 minutes - but the entire disc runs only 3 hours 22 minutes, including the material before and after the match.

If 40 service faults were cut out, that would make the match about 10 minutes shorter.

That appears to be what happened.

This was one of the key matches of the Open Era, in which Borg's longtime title was taken from him. But in this version, both he and McEnroe appear often to be passively spinning their first serves in. So Borg looks like he gave up his title, and McEnroe looks like he took it, more passively than was actually the case.

I would recommend that any interested customer write to the All England Club or the BBC and request a full version of the match. Or, write to other networks that may have broadcast the match.

Still good tennis !
While not as compelling and not quite the caliber of the 1980 match - the '81 final is still worth watching. For me, more because historically this was really the changing of the guard - at the time. Though Borg would play the U.S. Open after this match, this was the one that brought him down (sadly). The DVD and the original film quality are excellent.

Classic Tennis Match
Although the 1980 Wimbledon Final between Borg and McEnroe is more famous, this match is a classic in its own right. Top quality tennis of contrasting styles, superb understated commentary, extremely clear, vivid picture. And since McEnroe always behaved himself when he played Borg out of respect for Borg, it's not the behavior but the beauty of McEnroes's tennis, that finally takes center stage. Experiencing Borg the iceman, and the volcanic yet controlled McEnroe at the top of their games, makes this match a pleasure to watch.

A Classic
As a tennis fan I'm always into classic matches, and they dont come much closer than this. An electrifying match showing the two men at their best. The DVD also comes with great extras which are also very entertaining. A terrific buy!