There weren’t many tennis tickets better than the second Saturday of the US Open. The 1973 schedule opened with the women’s final and was followed by the two men’s semi-finals. New Yorkers might have wished for a better American showing, but no fan could complain about the chance to see Margaret Court versus Evonne Goolagong, John Newcombe against Ken Rosewall, and Jan Kodeš versus Stan Smith.
The term “Super Saturday” wasn’t yet in common circulation, at least not for tennis. That year, though, sports pages around the country deemed September 8th “Super Saturday” for its marquee college football event: a nationally televised game between Nebraska and UCLA.
The action at Forest Hills put that one measly football game to shame.
Goolagong began the day on a tear, winning four of the first five games and reaching triple break point for 5-1. But Court shook off her fatigue from the previous day’s match against Chris Evert and saved the break points. Margaret seized on her opponent’s weak second serves to break back. At 6-all at the US Open, players faced a “sudden death” tiebreak: first to five points, no need to win by two. Goolagong deprived the shootout of its drama, double-faulting and missing an easy smash to hand the set to Court.
From there, the match followed a script that was easy to follow but impossible to predict. When Evonne landed her first serve, she came in behind it and usually won the point. When she didn’t, Margaret pounced and won the race to the net. Goolagong was perhaps the game’s best shotmaker, one of the few women who could leave the 5-foot, 11-inch Court helpless in the forecourt. She could also lose focus, as she did at the tail end of the first set. As she put it, she sometimes went walkabout.
One of those lapses brought Margaret within a point of a 5-2 lead in the second set. But both ladies played better from behind, and Goolagong chose that moment to switch back on.
“I really enjoy playing Margaret, she’s such a fine player,” Evonne said. “She brings me up to a higher level.”
The underdog charged back, winning five of six games to secure the second set. But then it was Court’s turn. The veteran won the first three games of the decider and never let up. She lost only four points on her own serve, and she continued to treat Goolagong’s seconds as batting practice. Margaret claimed her 24th major singles title by the score of 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2.
The rewards were overwhelming. She was handed a new wristwatch and the keys to a Ford Mustang. And, lest we forget, she received a winner’s check for $25,000, the first time at a major that the women’s champion earned the same amount as the men’s titlist.
“I’m not a women’s libber. I’ve never believed we should get prize money equal to the men,” said Court. “But…”
The 31-year-old “Mighty Mama” had earned that check, battling through three-setters with Evert and Goolagong. “I’m exhausted,” she said. “I won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
She would have to do more than that: She was on the schedule to play both the women’s doubles final (with Virginia Wade) and the mixed final (with Marty Riessen), starting at 1:00 the next day.
On Sunday, while the football teams from Nebraska and UCLA nursed their injuries, Court would drag herself through six more sets of championship tennis. She always claimed she wasn’t motivated by prize money, but at $154,000 and counting in 1973 alone, she sure found her way to win a lot of it.
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Strong as the women’s final was, it didn’t even stand up as the match of the day. After Newcombe straight-setted Rosewall, Kodeš took on Smith in what–for him at least–was the ultimate grudge match.
Kodeš, a smallish 27-year-old from Czechoslovakia, had ridden the chip on his shoulder to a second US Open final. He wasn’t considered one of the big guns of men’s tennis, and not just because he stood only five-feet, nine-inches tall. He had won the French in 1970 and 1971 and Wimbledon this year, yet he was seeded only sixth at Forest Hills.
The Wimbledon title carried as much of an asterisk then as it does now. The player boycott wiped out most of the field, and Kodeš beat three lucky losers en route to the quarters. His last two victims were Roger Taylor and Alex Metreveli, good players but not great ones. Newcombe and Smith, champions in 1971 and 1972, were generally considered to be the men to beat on grass.
Kodeš could hardly ask for a better chance to prove himself. With Newk already in the final, he could beat both men and grab a US Open title in the process.
The match was a barnburner from the first point. Both men returned well, and many points turned into races to the net–often turning into thrilling exchanges of volleys once they got there. Kodeš grabbed the first set, 7-5. He so neutralized the booming Smith serve that he broke twice to earn a 4-0 lead in the second.
But the tall American charged back, evening the score and forcing a tiebreak. At 4-all–sudden death set point–Kodeš thought Smith missed his first serve and left it unplayed. The line judge disagreed. The Czech couldn’t believe it. He kicked a hole in a chair and “clapped” the line judge on the head. The set was lost, and the chip on his shoulder grew to unwieldy proportions.
Smith nearly rode that call to victory. Kodeš couldn’t get back into it, losing the third set, 6-1. But he eventually remembered the stakes and returned the favor, forcing a decider with a 6-1 frame of his own.
By then, night was falling. “We couldn’t see much,” Kodeš said, “but neither of us wanted to quit.” At last, both men peaked again. They hit their shots at full power, and nearly every point was won, not lost. Bud Collins wrote that “they were just slugging away at each other like two fighters in the 15th round.”
At 5-all, Kodeš finally broke through. He reached 15-40 on the Smith serve, watching Stan save both with cannonballs. When Smith got to game point, it was the Czech’s turn. He kept the serve in play and landed three groundstroke winners to reach 6-5. Four points later, it was over.
Kodeš wouldn’t be well rested for the final, but his desire to prove himself was undimmed. The 1973 Wimbledon champion was one match away from making it two majors in a row–and picking up a $25,000 check to equal Margaret’s.
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This post is part of my series about the 1973 season, Battles, Boycotts, and Breakouts. Keep up with the project by checking the TennisAbstract.com front page, which shows an up-to-date Table of Contents after I post each installment.
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