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Ashe Explains 1975 Wimbledon Win vs Connors
7 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Arthur Ashe was a guest on The Dick Cavett Show in the 1980s and explained in detail how and why he beat Jimmy Connors in their famous 1975 Wimbledon final showdown.
“That particular day, Wimbledon finals on grass, Slazenger balls, about 65 degrees, no sun. That morning I was praying for cloudy weather. Because at 2 o’clock the sun is murder at that latitude. Jimmy Connors only has one weak spot and that’s his low forehand passing shot and approach shot. And that, coupled with the harder you hit the ball, the better he likes it. I tried to play upon those two things. You want to hit the ball with a pace, And secondly, you want the ball to take as funny a bounce as possible when it hits the grass. So you don’t want to hit anything flat.”
Ashe did his scouting on Connors in the semis. “Roscoe (Tanner) had played Jimmy in the semifinal and I watched that after my match (a five set win vs Tony Roche 57 64 75 89 64). I had never seen Roscoe serve better. He got about 60 percent of his first serves in and he lost in about an hour and twenty minutes (64 61 64). And he had not lost a set up to that semifinal. So I said, whatever I do, don’t hit the ball hard. So I hit the ball down the middle, a lot of underspin, and I served wide on both sides. He has a two-handed backhand – make him really stretch, to take him off the court. Rest of the time hit down the middle, not to give him any angles… If it was on clay I probably wouldn’t have played that way and won the match.”
6 seed Ashe defeated tops seed Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon final 61 61 57 64 to become the first black man to win the singles at AELTC.
Arthur Ashe · Jimmy Connors · Wimbledon
7 comments
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Sam · October 21, 2023 at 9:53 pm
Because at 2 o’clock the sun is murder at that latitude.
The sun is murder in London? Really??? Never heard that before. 🤔
Scoop Malinowski · October 22, 2023 at 8:59 am
Sam, Ashe said the sun was murder for righties, not lefties, I should have added that detail.
Sam · October 24, 2023 at 8:24 pm
Scoop, I don’t quite get that. Why would it depend on what your dominant hand is? 🤔
And speaking of London, what happened to your British commenter Catherine? Is she doing okay, I hope?
Scoop Malinowski · October 24, 2023 at 9:43 pm
Sam, the way the sum is sometimes and time of day, it can be bad for lefties at certain times and righties at certain times. On Wimbledon center court at 2 it’s murder for rights because it’s on that side facing into the eyes, while as the lefty serves, he’s facing the other way. I play at a court where now this time of year the sun goes down west and when righties serve and sundown the sun is blinding into our eyes. But for lefties, they face east and no problem. Hope that explains it? Catherine has vanished, yes I hope she’s okay and returns soon.
Sam · October 28, 2023 at 1:18 am
Hope that explains it?
Okay, I get it now, Scoop. It’s all about the eyes—at first, I thought he was referring to the heat from the sun, which would be very strange in a cool place like Britain.
That’s weird about Catherine. Hope it’s nothing serious.
Scoop Malinowski · October 28, 2023 at 8:44 am
Sam, Ashe said it was 65 degrees the day of that final. I don’t know if you play tennis and have ever played a match when the sun is bad on the one side in your eyes, it’s brutal.
Sam · October 31, 2023 at 8:22 pm
I don’t know if you play tennis
I was only a casual player, although I did really enjoy it. My parents didn’t emphasize athletics, so I never really had tennis lessons (to speak of). If I’d been given lessons starting when I was young, I think I could’ve been decent at least.
when the sun is bad on the one side in your eyes, it’s brutal.
I can certainly imagine. 👻