The marathon final between Fed and Nadal has been likened to the historic epic match between the tennis legends Borg and Mcenroe. But I wouldn’t quite agree that this macth merits such a comparison. Thanks to the rain interruption, the match between Borg and Mcenroe was aired during the break.
Having had the chance to watch both the matches almost alongside, I could see a stark difference between the two.Borg and Mcenroe were so aggressive , literally making one another run all around the court. The way each one would come to volley immediately after serving was simply superb to watch. Both the players were so agile on court and seemed to be bubbling with energy.
The Fed match, on the other hand was a lackluster one vis a vis the 80’s match, with the players looking pretty exhausted and playing base line games. It simply lacked the energy and verve that the other displayed.The match was surely a dramatic one but Borg-Mcenroe match was one of a totally different genre
The conditions are totally different. For one they used wooden racquets, heavier balls(the white ones)and also the grass hadn’t slowed down. This made serve and volley a good choice. With the retirement of Tim Henman the last of the serve and volley players has gone. I don’t think we will ever see a serve and volley player again. The last of the great serve and volley champions was perhaps Stefan Edberg
True . The conditions were different. However as you rightly pointed out the era of serve and volley is gone and thats why I think that the 2 matches dont merit comparison. Also, Fed was not at his best and thats probably why the match became an epic.