[pinapin54]

http://www.tennis-channel.tv/tennis/...atid=-2&id=666

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by pinapin54

http://www.tennis-channel.tv/tennis/...atid=-2&id=666

Interesting, thanks for that!

[chrissiefan]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Sue was great copy- not just Cliff. But Greg Norman, Daley Thompson, Syd Ball, Johnnie Lloyd!!!!No wonder she and Chris are a bit tense with each other!!!!I am more interested in how she remembers the other great players of that time. What an era it was!!!!

Macky Daley Thompson and Lloydie, I never knew, tell me more! Our Sue has been about abit I've never noticed, any spark between her and Lloydie! Who the heck, is Syd Ball!

[chrissiefan]

Originally Posted by pinapin54

http://www.tennis-channel.tv/tennis/...atid=-2&id=666

Thanks Pinapin, I wish I had the Tennis Channel!

[daze11]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Daze. Like every true historian of the womens game knows Austin was finished at the top level as of Toyota finale of 81. Nobody can take the 0 and 0 seriously except to ponder on the sadness of it all.

thats not true macky, though i know you would enjoy if that could only be the case. but tracy had just beaten andrea jaeger inthe round prior in straight sets during jaeger's finest year ever. (in fact, the only year jaeger ever achieved any wins over chris!) and tracy was, after all, in the year end championships semifinal which is the event specific to the greatest players of the year. miss awesome was still pretty good and not too shabby. Tennis historians, and I know a fair portion of them!, take the match seriously indeed. It is called a beat down, and an historic beat down if you like!

martina doesnt deny chrissie beat HER 6-0 6-0 either. thats just sometimes what happens when a player of her stature is at her best.

the following year, tracy reached the finals against martina at hilton head in 1983 where she took a set from MN in nav's best year ever. really, historians would be just as likely to dismiss evert's drop in play 'may1979/feb80' to focus shifts due to her marriage commitments. she was the same age as henin when she took time out, and chris had already been #1 for 5 years. there was plenty on her plate to consider, besides playing tennis at the level she had been maintaining.

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by chrissiefan

Macky Daley Thompson and Lloydie, I never knew, tell me more! Our Sue has been about abit I've never noticed, any spark between her and Lloydie! Who the heck, is Syd Ball!

Norning Sue. Fit a sare heed I have this morning- hangover from drowning my Davis Cup sorrows!!!!!. Syd Ball was a good Australian player and Sue was engaged to him in 1978. Daley Thompson she had an affair with circa 79 and Lloydie when they were sweet sixteen!!!!!

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by daze11

thats not true macky, though i know you would enjoy if that could only be the case. but tracy had just beaten andrea jaeger inthe round prior in straight sets during jaeger's finest year ever. (in fact, the only year jaeger ever achieved any wins over chris!) and tracy was, after all, in the year end championships semifinal which is the event specific to the greatest players of the year. miss awesome was still pretty good and not too shabby. Tennis historians, and I know a fair portion of them!, take the match seriously indeed. It is called a beat down, and an historic beat down if you like!

martina doesnt deny chrissie beat HER 6-0 6-0 either. thats just sometimes what happens when a player of her stature is at her best.

the following year, tracy reached the finals against martina at hilton head in 1983 where she took a set from MN in nav's best year ever. really, historians would be just as likely to dismiss evert's drop in play 'may1979/feb80' to focus shifts due to her marriage commitments. she was the same age as henin when she took time out, and chris had already been #1 for 5 years. there was plenty on her plate to consider, besides playing tennis at the level she had been maintaining.

I respect your opinions Daze. And I am not denegrating from the Evert win. You know by now how much I respect her. And as you allude to if Austin put herself out there she was fit to play and take the consequences. Same with Evert in 79-80. However as you will know the nature of back injuries is such that there are good days and bad days. I cannot believe that she would have been in the same form that beat Jaeger in the quarters.. And as for the Navratilova final in 83, remember that only a few weeks later she could barely get a game of Durie in two of the three sets in their quarter final at the French. By end 81 Austin had lost for ever the fitness that made her such a great player.

[chrissiefan]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Norning Sue. Fit a sare heed I have this morning- hangover from drowning my Davis Cup sorrows!!!!!. Syd Ball was a good Australian player and Sue was engaged to him in 1978. Daley Thompson she had an affair with circa 79 and Lloydie when they were sweet sixteen!!!!!

Morning MackyAny excuse to go out on the lash If you had a drink, everytime we lost at tennis, you'd be flat on your back, most of the time Hope you feel better soon! Still can't get my head around Sue and Daley! I used to really like him back in the day. He was such a cheeky chap, I bet he knew how to give a girl a good time!

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by chrissiefan

Morning MackyAny excuse to go out on the lash If you had a drink, everytime we lost at tennis, you'd be flat on your back, most of the time Hope you feel better soon! Still can't get my head around Sue and Daley! I used to really like him back in the day. He was such a cheeky chap, I bet he knew how to give a girl a good time!

Hi Sue. No I am a lot better now thankyou. And your right it would be a dangerous road to go down to go on the lash every time British tennis faltered!!!!Daley ah a good looking big man. I dont know how close they got to developing a more serious relationship but an affair for sure took place. Evert and Barker sure both attracted a lot of famous men- must have been the allure of those great groundstrokes.

[chrissiefan]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Hi Sue. No I am a lot better now thankyou. And your right it would be a dangerous road to go down to go on the lash every time British tennis faltered!!!!Daley ah a good looking big man. I dont know how close they got to developing a more serious relationship but an affair for sure took place. Evert and Barker sure both attracted a lot of famous men- must have been the allure of those great groundstrokes.

Hi Macky Glad you are feeling better Chrissie and Sue, seemed to have had their share of famous men, but I doubt it was there groundstrokes, that were the attraction Everyone seems to know about Chrissie's old boyfriend's, but Sue seems to be a bit of a dark horse! It's always the quiet ones,that you have to watch, as my old mum ,would say

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by chrissiefan

Hi Macky Glad you are feeling better Chrissie and Sue, seemed to have had their share of famous men, but I doubt it was there groundstrokes, that were the attraction Everyone seems to know about Chrissie's old boyfriend's, but Sue seems to be a bit of a dark horse! It's always the quiet ones,that you have to watch, as my old mum ,would say

Hi Sue. Maybe now Miss Barkers past has been forgotten but in the British press in the late 70s and early 80s there was so much coverage of her private life. Far more intrusion than Evert and Lloydie had. In fact I can remember both Navratilova and Evert stating that they could not have been able to focus with the degree of intrusion that the British tabloids gave Barker!!!

[chrissiefan]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Hi Sue. Maybe now Miss Barkers past has been forgotten but in the British press in the late 70s and early 80s there was so much coverage of her private life. Far more intrusion than Evert and Lloydie had. In fact I can remember both Navratilova and Evert stating that they could not have been able to focus with the degree of intrusion that the British tabloids gave Barker!!!

Macky Really! I don't remember reading any scandel about Sue! These days, she seems so prim and proper, but then she does work for the BBC.

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by chrissiefan

Macky Really! I don't remember reading any scandel about Sue! These days, she seems so prim and proper, but then she does work for the BBC.

Im not being cheeky but I think she is probably a more faithful person than some of the other players we talk about. So since she got married I guess there has been no gossip. She seems to enjoy her own husband- eh rather than other womens!!

[daze11]

Originally Posted by iainmac

Daze. I wonder what your perspective is on the way that Evert undersells herself and her legendary achievements? Is it that she dosent really want to talk about her amazing achievements or is that she is genuinely unconfident about herself? You know it does make me think that she never did have great belief in her attractiveness, could she really be doubting her game?

she is entirely aware of her place in the game but chooses not to push that. while, to some degree, it is false modesty, it is nevertheless calculated modesty. she generally feels it is her role to be selling the sport in the here and now rather than selling herself in the past. It makes today's players look good to have her praise. and she feels zero competition with them, which is what we're seeing when she takes herself out of the equation. I personally enjoy her conquests of the sport, so I would 'coach her' toward a different tact. but thats not who she is.

[iainmac]

Originally Posted by daze11

she is entirely aware of her place in the game but chooses not to push that. while, to some degree, it is false modesty, it is nevertheless calculated modesty. she generally feels it is her role to be selling the sport in the here and now rather than selling herself in the past. It makes today's players look good to have her praise. and she feels zero competition with them, which is what we're seeing when she takes herself out of the equation. I personally enjoy her conquests of the sport, so I would 'coach her' toward a different tact. but thats not who she is.

My admiration for her grows with time. Yes I did think there was a large component that she wants to concentrate the game on the here and now. She is aware that the game is in some crisis too I would imagine. If Henin comes back and the tour really takes off again maybe Evert would feel more free to talk about her own game and her place in its history.