1980 Wimbledon

June 19, 2024
1980, Home, Wimbledon

Wimbledon 1980: A Turning Point for Hana Mandlikova

Wimbledon marked a turning point in Hana Mandlikova‘s career. She lost to the eventual winner, Evonne Goolagong, inexplicably despite having the match in hand. It was then that she realized the importance of being supported and chose to start working with Betty Stove as her coach.

2D Round : Hana Mandlikova vs Wendy White

Mandlikova Overcomes Erratic Play to Advance at Wimbledon

Hana Mandlikova, the 9th seed at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, survived a second-round scare against unseeded Wendy White. The Czechoslovakian rising star, known for her powerful game, faced significant resistance from White before clinching the match.

The match began with Mandlikova taking control, leveraging her superior baseline play to secure the first set. However, White capitalized on Mandlikova’s erratic form, pushing the second set into a tiebreaker. Despite Mandlikova’s higher ranking and expectations to close the match in straight sets, White’s resilience saw her through to win the tiebreaker, much to the delight of the spectators.

The final set saw Mandlikova regain her composure,. She ultimately overpowered White, securing her place in the 3rd round.

Reflecting on the match, Mandlikova acknowledged her struggle to find rhythm early on but expressed relief at advancing.

“I should have finished it in two sets,” she admitted, “but Wendy played very well, and I had to dig deep to get the win.”

3r round / Hana Mandlikova vs Rosalyn Fairbank

Mandlikova Advances to Fourth Round with Straight-Sets Win

Ninth seed Hana Mandlikova continued her impressive Wimbledon campaign by defeating Rosalyn Fairbank in straight sets in the third round. Mandlikova, leading their head-to-head 2-1, replicated her recent victory over Fairbank from Roland Garros.

Mandlikova‘s serve-and-volley, attacking style, perfectly suited to the Wimbledon grass courts, proved too much for Fairbank. With this victory, Mandlikova moves confidently into the fourth round,

“I felt confident going into the match, having recently beaten Rosalyn at Roland Garros. Today, I was able to execute my game plan effectively and am pleased to move forward.”

Round of 16 : Hana Mandlikova vs Evonne Goolagong

Goolagong Triumphs Over Mandlikova in Thrilling Fourth Round at Wimbledon

The most crucial meeting of the fourth round took place on the Centre Court and again it involved some testing moments for Goolagong.

Standing in her way was the rapidly improving Czech Hana Mandlikova who had been getting big leads all Spring against the top players (Navratilova at Amelia, Evert at the Italian and French Opens and most recently Austin at Eastbourne), failing to close the match out each time.

Goolagong broke twice in the first set to lead 2-0 and 4-2. Then from 2-5 down, Mandlikova won three in row and always had the edge in the tiebreaker.

She took eight of nine games, breaking in the fourth game of the second set to lead 3-1.

At this stage Mandlikova was revealing her talent, hitting a full forehand and serving and volleying crisply.

When Hana had 40-15 on her own serve for 4-1, Goolagong’s title aspirations looked slim indeed, but two missed Czech forehands allowed the Australian back into the match.

Given a second chance, Evonne won 10 games in a row as Mandlikova suffered a similar collapse to Eastbourne (where she led Austin 6-1 3-0 only to lose 12 of the last 14 games).

A critical test had been passed and the 1971 champion was through 6-7(6-8) 6-3 6-1 in 92 minutes.

“The path to the final wasn’t easy but I couldn’t have picked the draw any better myself. The three-setters (against Stove and Mandlikova) tested my endurance and sharpened my confidence for the latter rounds,” admitted Evonne later.

Latter stages : Goolagong’s journey

Goolagong Clinches Second Wimbledon Title in Thrilling Final

Goolagong then overcame Tracy Austin in a tense semifinal, while Evert staged a comeback to defeat Martina Navratilova.

Evonne Goolagong secured her second Wimbledon title in a gripping final against Chris Evert. After dominating the first set 6-1, Goolagong faced a challenge as Evert rallied to lead 4-3 in the second set. Goolagong‘s resilient play, including crucial volleys and a tiebreaker victory, sealed her victory with a 6-1 7-6(4) scoreline after 93 minutes of intense tennis. The win marked Wimbledon‘s first singles championship decided by a tiebreaker and earned Goolagong £18,000 ($42,000 USD), making it a poignant highlight in her tennis career as a wife and mother.

Article compiled from : The Guardian, John Dolan’s Women’s Tennis 1968-1984

Extract from the book : “HANA”‘

At Wimbledon that year I was ninth seed and lost to Evonne Cawley (née Goolagong) 7-6, 3-6, 1-6. I was leading 7-6, 3-1, forty-fifteen and I missed an easy forehand down the line. That shot remained a bad memory for many years – but not for Evonne. She went on to capture her second Wimbledon championship.

Evonne was a player of great unpredictability, capable of great artistry on the court, while being susceptible to unexpected losses of concentration. She could go ‘walkabout’ as the press used to say.

“Hana by Hana Mandlikova with Malcolm Folley, Ed. Arthur Barker, London, 1989”