US Open Flashback: Super Saturday 1984!

By Greg Hernandez on Aug 30, 2009 12:44 pm | Comments (0) |

Fifth of five parts

I remember it like it was yesterday. But it was nearly 25 years ago! I was in the TV room of my college dorm – for about eight hours! – watching each of the three classic matches played on this day and living and dying with every point. I was rooting for Pat Cash in match one, Chris Evert in match two, and Jimmy Connors in match three.

They all lost. But tennis win because it is still considered the greatest day in US Open history.

The year was 1984. Cash was defeated by Ivan Lendl who survived a match point to win in five delicious sets. Evert, a six-time US Open champion, was denied a seventh title by arch-rival Martina Navratilova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in one of the best matches of theit storied rivalry. And finally, two-time defending champion Connors was beaten by John McEnroe in five sets in the second of the men’s semifinals.