Mats Wilander v Pat Cash – Legends at the Royal Albert Hall

Written by: Staff on 5th December 2012

Mats Wilander v Pat Cash – Legends at the Royal Albert Hall

epa02443289 Sweden's Mats Wilander plays a shot in his match against Wayne Ferreira of South Africa at the Champions Downunder tennis tournament in Sydney; Australia, on 12 November 2010. Wilander defeated Ferreira 6-1, 4-6, 10-6. EPA/PAUL MILLER AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Legends in the true sense of the word – tennis idols and icons. Wilander won 7 grand slam titles – along with Rafa Nadal he’s one of only two players to win two slam titles on different surface (Federer has only won one on clay – and two of Wilander’s Aussie Open titles were at Kooyong on grass), Pat Cash has only the one to his name, that famous Wimbledon title 25 years ago when he climbed the stands to reach his family in the box. Those wins were many years ago though, age takes its toll… I believe Pat now leads Mats in terms of knee surgeries – he’s onto his fifth on his right leg alone. Both players had strapped knees, but there were no calls for trainers or breakdowns during the match.

In terms of impact on tennis, Pat Cash is probably the biggest one-slam name in the sport alongside Goran Ivanisevic perhaps, whereas with seven titles, including three in 1988 alone Mats Wilander’s impact on the sport is if anything underrated. He’s won more than Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg – he’s won more than Don Budge! Yet if anyone is asked to name a Swedish tennis player, 99 out of 100 will name Stefan Edberg. Maybe that’s the Wimbledon factor – none of Wilander’s titles were at the All England club.

With Cash now 47, and Wilander a year older, this is never going to be high-intensity tennis, but the legends field isn’t about that, it’s about entertainment, and strangely the regression from sport to a game makes it excellent viewing. Points are played in a good spirit, the crowds are given what they want – if that’s wolf-whistling a man nearly into his fifties whilst he changes his shirt, then so be it.

Cash won the first set 6-4, but Wilander came back at him to force a Champions tiebreak after clinching the second set 6-3.

Wilander took an early lead in the tiebreak for the match, advancing quickly to 8-3 up – just two points short of victory. Cash staged a comeback, winning a few on the bounce, but in truth he was caught between a rock and a hard place – Wilander getting the better of the baseline duels, and Cash sometimes forced to search for a quick finish when it wasn’t really there for the taking. A brave serve and volley by Cash at match point down was in vain; Game, Set and Match Mats Wilander, he beat Pat Cash 6-4, 3-6, 1-0.

After the match, both were interviewed on court – reminiscing about their pro-careers, “reliving the rivalries” as promised on the tournament program. Except, Pat Cash swore he could not remember a thing about the 1988 Australian Open final – Mats Wilander could, he beat Cash then too!

Topics: All England Club, Australian Open, British tennis news, Goran Ivanisevic, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Royal Albert Hall

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GameSetNash says:

December 5, 2012 at 10:03 am

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