Popular wisdom has it that we are living in the golden age of men’s tennis; we have never had it so good. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still chasing each other around the world in pursuit of Grand Slam titles – they have 56 between them already – and the ultimate bragging rights of ending their careers as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) among a host of candidates.
But more than 40 years ago, life wasn’t so bad, either. It was 1977 and Wimbledon was celebrating its centenary, Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her Silver Jubilee and tennis was changing.
Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe were still playing but there were new kids on the block. Some, like Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors, had already announced their arrival; some were still wet behind the ears. A certain John McEnroe reached the semi-finals that year – he lost to Connors – but it would not be until the following year that he turned professional (and he worked out quite well in the end, too).
Vitas was one of my best friends in tennis. We helped and made one another better players, and developed a great friendship. We connected and had so much fun. He was a funny guy. I rarely saw him in a bad mood. He had so much positive energy
And then there was Vitas Gerulaitis.
He may not have had the natural talents of Borg, McEnroe or Connors and he certainly did not have anywhere near the number of Grand Slam trophies in his collection (his one major victory came at the Australian Open at the end of 1977) but he was the thread that bound the four together.
A party animal with a tremendous work ethic, everyone loved Vitas. McEnroe and Connors never got along but they both adored the New Yorker; Borg was the unflappable 'Iceman' on court and yet he loved a night out with his best friend, Vitas. No one had a bad word to say about the blond bloke from Brooklyn who danced at the nightclub Studio 54, drove eye-wateringly expensive cars and was never short of female company.
But once the nightclubs were empty and it was time to get back to the grindstone, Gerulaitis worked hard to compete with the golden boys of his era. If he could not match McEnroe for touch, he would beat him on fitness. If he could not come close to Borg’s titanium-plated concentration, he would run himself into the ground to find a way to unsettle the Swedish winning machine. And if he couldn’t out-punch the street fighter that was Connors, he would bob and weave and try to outlast the slugger.
It seldom worked, mind you: in a lifetime of trying, he beat McEnroe three times and Connors four times. He never got the better of Borg. But there were moments when the stats counted for nothing – and the semi-finals of Wimbledon 1977 was one of those moments.
He could easily have left to fly home, but, incredibly, he told me ‘whenever you want to practise, I am ready'. I was stunned that a player would do such a thing. From that moment on, we always practised together
Borg was the defending champion and save for a scare in the second round against Mark Edmondson, he had not dropped a set as he scythed through the draw. Gerulaitis, too, had been in sensational form and had dropped only two sets on his way to the last four. And when the two of them met on Centre Court that afternoon, they produced five sets of some of the finest tennis the place had seen. Even now, it is regarded as one of the best matches played and while the end result was not exactly a surprise, watching the two getting to that final point had been spellbinding.
Borg won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 and went on to beat Connors in the final but no one would forget those five sets of magic in the semi-finals. Not that Gerulaitis was done with Wimbledon yet.
“After we played the 1977 semi-final, Vitas and one of his friends visited me at The Cumberland Club [in north London] the next day, where I trained between matches,” Borg told the ATP website. “He could easily have left to fly home, but, incredibly, he told me ‘whenever you want to practise, I am ready'. I was stunned that a player would do such a thing. From that moment on, we always practised together.
“Vitas was of my best friends in tennis. We helped and made one another better players, and developed a great friendship. We connected and had so much fun. He was a funny guy. I rarely saw him in a bad mood. He had so much positive energy.”
By the time Borg retired in 1981, he had become one of the legends of the game. Gerulaitis, who passed away aged just 40 in 1994, never reached those heights on a tennis court but to this day, he is the man that none of the legends will forget.
Despite the absence of a Championships this year, there are still plenty of ways you can get into the Wimbledon spirit…
#WimbledonRecreated
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