archi
06-10-2015, 10:30 AM
Mats Wilander surprised the tennis world at the 1982 French Open. As an unseeded player, he upset second seed Ivan Lendl in the fourth round, fifth seed Vitas Gerulaitis in the quarterfinals, fourth seed José Luis Clerc in the semifinals, and third seed Guillermo Vilas in the final 1–6, 7–6(6), 6–0, 6–4 in 4 hours and 42 minutes. At the end of the semifinal against Clerc , he requested replay of the match ball as he did not want to win the game due to a questionable referee decision. This was seen as an extraordinary display of fair play and garnered him the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy
It was in this semi-final that Wilander really set himself apart as not only an outstanding
sportsperson, but also an outstanding person. The fact that Wilander beat Clerc relatively easily in 4 sets is remarkable enough. However, it was his actions at the end of the 4th set that grabbed the most attention. With Wilander serving on match point, Clerc hit a winner down the line, that appeared to be in. However, the line judge saw it differently and called it out, handing the match to Wilander. The umpire called "Game, Set and Match" and awarded the match to Wilander. With both Wilander and Clerc convinced the ball was good, Wilander approached the umpire and said "The ball was good, that's not the way I want to win". The umpire, sensing the atmosphere climbed back up into his chair and ordered the point to be replayed. Wilander won the next point and thus the match, but it was still an iconic moment that really made people stand up and notice Mats Wilander.
http://www.ina.fr/video/I05276512
references : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mats_Wilander
http://community.tribesports.com/blog/monday-inspiration-mats-wilander-french-open-1982
It was in this semi-final that Wilander really set himself apart as not only an outstanding
sportsperson, but also an outstanding person. The fact that Wilander beat Clerc relatively easily in 4 sets is remarkable enough. However, it was his actions at the end of the 4th set that grabbed the most attention. With Wilander serving on match point, Clerc hit a winner down the line, that appeared to be in. However, the line judge saw it differently and called it out, handing the match to Wilander. The umpire called "Game, Set and Match" and awarded the match to Wilander. With both Wilander and Clerc convinced the ball was good, Wilander approached the umpire and said "The ball was good, that's not the way I want to win". The umpire, sensing the atmosphere climbed back up into his chair and ordered the point to be replayed. Wilander won the next point and thus the match, but it was still an iconic moment that really made people stand up and notice Mats Wilander.
http://www.ina.fr/video/I05276512
references : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mats_Wilander
http://community.tribesports.com/blog/monday-inspiration-mats-wilander-french-open-1982