They still do. Or in plastic tubes. You could buy pressureless Tretorn balls by four in cardboard boxes too, I remember from when I started in the early 1980s - I was a competitor for 20 years, stopped when I turned 30 and changed regions - I was attached to my club and team, didn't feel like competing anymore then.
I was crazy about international chamionships in the late 70s, through the 80s and the mid-90s. I would stay awake till 4 in the morning to watch the McEnroe-Borg US Open finals on TV right from the age of 10. I was fond of the game, and the best players of that time, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Gerulaitis...
I followed the ladies too, Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Hana Mandlikova...
That sport was much more appealing back then IMO. Shots were much more varied and players were not as stereotyped as they are today.
Rackets and balls were slower, today's champions can sure play faster, but it's been getting more and more boring...
Here's the match point for McEnroe against Lendl, 1984 Dallas final - 7/6 in the 5th set, McEnroe won the tie-break 7/0.
Lendl won't accept his defeat after McEnroe concluded the (somptuous) final rallye with a shot that passed between the net and the net pole:
I was crazy about international chamionships in the late 70s, through the 80s and the mid-90s. I would stay awake till 4 in the morning to watch the McEnroe-Borg US Open finals on TV right from the age of 10. I was fond of the game, and the best players of that time, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Gerulaitis...
I followed the ladies too, Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Hana Mandlikova...
That sport was much more appealing back then IMO. Shots were much more varied and players were not as stereotyped as they are today.
Rackets and balls were slower, today's champions can sure play faster, but it's been getting more and more boring...
Here's the match point for McEnroe against Lendl, 1984 Dallas final - 7/6 in the 5th set, McEnroe won the tie-break 7/0.
Lendl won't accept his defeat after McEnroe concluded the (somptuous) final rallye with a shot that passed between the net and the net pole:
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