1982 US Open

Hana Mandlikova saves her season by reaching final in 1982 US Open

Hana Mandlikova’s absence during the winter circuit and a host of inconsistent performances this summer made her odds in the 1982 US Open not too bright. Yet she showed patience and determination to cruise till the final versus Chris Evert-Lloyd.

Round 1 Hana Mandlikova vs Susan Leo in 1982 US Open

“Mandlikova Recovers from Slow Start to Overwhelm Leo at Australian Open”

Australia’s Sue Leo looked capable of toppling Hana Mandlikova when she won the first set 7-5 with steadiness and judicious aggression. Initially, Mandlikova was nervous and erratic, but found her range and streaked away with the next two sets 6-3 6-1

Round 2 Hana Mandlikova vs Anne White

“Mandlikova Battles Past White in Tight Opener, Finds Groove for Straight-Set Victory”

Hana Mandlikova still struggled to get into the match against Anne White who pushed her to the tiebreak in the first set. Hana comes out 7-4 then rolls out in the second set, having finally found back her game.

Round 3 Hana Mandlikova vs Manuela Maleeva in 1982 US Open

Mandlikova Finds Form in Night Victory

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova, defending champion Tracy Austin, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Hana Mandlikova advanced in straight sets, but two other seeds experienced some problems.

In night match on Stadium Court, , fifth-seeded Hana Mandlikova, suddenly improving after two unimpressive matches, routed Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-3,

Round Last 16 Hana Mandlikova vs Vicky Nelson

Mandlikova and Navratilova Ease Through to Next Round

For Jaeger it seemed too easy “Another “tat another day” she said

Which was about the way Mandlikova and Navratilova approached it Mandlikova seeded fifth beat Vicki Nelson 6-4 6-2 and will play Austin. Navratilova defeated Andrea Leand 6-1 6-2 moving into the next round against her doubles partner Pam Shriver.

Quarterfinal : Hana Mandlikova vs Tracy Austin in 1982 US Open

Mandlikova outlasts defending champion Tracy Austin in three sets to scramble women’s field.

It had been a trying match for Tracy Austin right from the start. When the match began on Tuesday, Hana Mandlikova battled her for nine games before the rain suspended play.

And then yesterday, in the continuation of the match, Austin had to fight hard to win the final game of the first set.

Later she would say she realized she would have to fight for everything : “She was hitting winners all the time” Austin said “I was waiting for her to make an error” .

Mandlikova hardly ever obliged. With a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory, she defeated Austin, the No 3 seed and defending champion.

And now any of the semifinalists has a reasonable chance to win. Chris Evert Lloyd can, Pam Shriver can, Andrea Jaeger can.

“I can,” said Hana Mandlikova.

Martina Navratilova, upset by Shriver 24 hours earlier, cannot and Austin cannot. Her backhand deserted her. Her serve fled. Her confidence bent under the weight of Mandlikova’s crisp overhead that won point after point.

And this was to be Austin’s finishing touch on her comeback after a year of pain in her right shoulder and soreness in her back. She again was to establish herself on the stadium court after failing to survive the quarterfinals in both the French Open -where she was beaten by Mandlikova- and Wimbledon -where she lost to Billie Jean King.

If the red ribbon in her golden hair was supposed to disguise Austin’s determination, it did not.

She pounded an overhead to win the first set after Mandlikova had saved one set point. But by late afternoon; her voice had the hint of a tremble and her eyes were moist.

“It hasn’t been a great year” Austin said. “It hasn’t. A lot of things have happened but I have no excuses. It hasn’t been good It just hasn’t”

It hadn’t even been much of a year for Mandlikova, the No 5 seed. She reached the semifinals of the French but was beaten in the second round at Wimbledon. She hadn’t even begun competing until March because of an assortment of back injuries.

Austin had reason to believe Mandlikova’s string of points would run its course. It never did.

Her resurgence began in the third game of the second set. Austin broke Mandlikova in the first game held service far a 2-0 lead and then had Mandlikova at break point in the third game.

Suddenly Mandlikova recovered her poise as easily as if retrieving a new racket. She volleyed for deuce and gained the advantage when Austin slammed a forehand into the net. At deuce once more, Mandlikova dumped a backhand volley for the advantage and then drove a forehand winner across court.

“Being behind like that I wasn’t even thinking about whether I would win or lose,” Mandlikova said. “I just started to play every point. Every point I began to win them”.

Austin held serve for a 3-1 lead but then Mandlikova ran off five of the next six games.

Maybe Austin didn’t panic, but she didn’t volley with authority either.

That was particularly evident in the third game of the third set. It was 1-1 when Mandlikova slipped at the net after punching a volley across court. She was still on her knees when Austin reached for the ball and made a gentle return. Mandlikova raised herself up, lunged and backhanded the volley to win the game.

When Mandlikova broke Austin in the next game on an Austin backhand error it was 3-1.

Still Austin pressed on.

“When she’s making those winners you just have to kind of hang on,” Austin said. “But then I had to go after her a little bit more. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose”

Austin broke back, lost the next two games, and then challenged again holding serve and then breaking with a chopping return that Mandlikova pushed into the net. It was 5-4 and Austin was thinking she still had a chance.

“I thought if she was going to win the big points at least I was going to make her work for them” Austin said. “I wasn’t just going to stand there and watch her”

And with Austin serving, there seemed every reason to think she could win again to force the set to an 11th game and then she could take her chances in the 12th.

That was the blueprint. Instead the match slipped away so quickly, even Austin had trouble understanding it. She netted a backhand to lose the first point, fell behind 15-30, and then suddenly Mandlikova was at match point. Austin served and faulted. Austin served again and the ball landed in the net.

“I think she must have been nervous” Mandlikova said “You don’t expect Tracy to double fault at match point”

That put Mandlikova in the semifinals against Shriver tomorrow

In the other semifinal, Jaeger will meet Evert

Upset of the year : Pam Shriver, wasn’t expected to trouble her doubles partner, Martina Navratilova in the quarterfinals though she created the upset of the year, beating Martina 1-6 7-6 6-2. Martina was leading 6-1, 5-4 30-15 on her serve, and suddenly the match turned around.

Shriver held for 6-5, won the tiebreaker and from 1-2 in the third, broke twice in reeling off the last five games against an increasingly tired opponent.

Semifinal Hana Mandlikova vs Pam Shriver in 1982 US Open

“Resilient Mandlikova Outlasts Shriver in Semifinal Showdown”

Hana Mandlikova claimed the fourth game of the third set and all but ended Shriver’s chances in a 6-4 2-6 6-2 semifinal victory yesterday.

Many of the 18,477 who paid their way into the National Tennis Center had pleaded, “Pam Pam”, and Shriver couldn’t help but hear them. She simply could not satisfy them.

Handling Mandlikova on the stadium court would have represented a big victory after a big victory and Shriver knew that better than anyone.

She broke Mandlikova three times in the second set, reversing the early flow Mandlikova had gained, and charged into the third set.

She was broken in the first game then trailed 2-1 when she had Mandlikova at break point in the fourth game. But Mandlikova twice came back to deuce and began unleashing powerful serves.

Shriver had hoped Mandlikova’s serve would be her weakness but Shriver netted a backhand return and Mandlikova had the advantage. Mandlikova served again, faulted, and than slammed a second serve that Shriver reached but could not control. It sailed wide, taking more than just the game with it.

“Usually I just kind of pops that second serve over” Shriver said “When I came back to the locker after the match Billie Jean King told me I couldn’t believe that second serve! Neither could I”

Mandlikova had a 3-1 lead and went on to break an exhausted discouraged Shriver the next game leaving her to squeeze the ball in frustration or occasionally boot it away.

Final Hana Mandlikova vs Chris Evert-Lloyd

“Evert’s Mental Fortitude Prevails Against Mandlikova in US Open Final Rematch”

“For sure” Mandlikova said “Chris’ strength is mental. Yes Chris is more tough than others”

Mandlikova’s 6-4 2-6 6-2 victory over Pam Shriver the day before was better spectator tenuis than Evert-Jaeger

“I watched some of Hana’s match” Evert said “And she was just so brilliant for a while. She has all the shots let’s face it. But it’s a matter of her picking the right shots at the right times. Maybe it’s because if s almost too easy for her ”

The final was a repeat of the 1980 confrontation at Flushing Meadows. Chris, with concentration in full gear, again managed to edge Hana for the title. Each woman held her serve easily for the first three games. Then Lloyd withstood a break point to even the score at 2-2. Hana wasn’t as lucky in the seventh game when three forehand winners by Chris marked the first break of serve. Mandlikova could have tied the set during the following sixteen-point game, which see-sawed back and forth until Hana hit a backhand wide. The match was essentially decided then, as Hana began to make more errors and Chris played even better. Evert-Lloyd hit five unforced forehand errors and only one backhand error throughout the match compared with Mandlikova’s 18 backhand errors and eight forehand errors.

Hana didn’t believe that she gave the match away:

“I don’t think anything affected my concentration because I was concentrating very well and she played very well; it was very difficult to do something. Chris plays very long, deep balls, so it’s difficult to come to the net that often…she was running well. I tried to play a couple of drop shots but she just got them.”