"Consider from 1974 through 1984, a southpaw triumphed in every one of those 11 years at the US Open; Connors in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983; Manuel Orantes in 1975, Guillermo Vilas in 1977 and John McEnroe in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984. Further, in 1979 four of the top-six ranked men were lefties Connors, McEnroe, Vilas and Roscoe Tanner."
"In the 41 years since McEnroe's last US Open title only two male lefties (Nadal and Goran Ivanisevic) have won the US Open or Wimbledon singles title and only three other lefties have claimed any slam: Andres Gomez (1990 French Open), Thomas Muster (1995 French Open) and Petr Korda, who won his one and only slam in Australia in 1998. And Nadal isn't even a natural lefty as he does nearly all other tasks right-handed."
From 2008 to 2020 Federer, Djokovic and Nadal formed a dominant trio whose matchups often determined Grand Slam trajectories, making semifinals sometimes more compelling than finals. A similar concentration of top talent occurred with Connors, Borg and McEnroe in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1974 and 1984 a left-handed player won the US Open every year, with Connors, Orantes, Vilas and McEnroe among the champions. In 1979 four of the top six ranked men were left-handers. Left-handed Rod Laver had earlier been the dominant player at the start of the Open Era. Lefty Grand Slam wins became much rarer afterward.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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