how great to see Sue Barker again. People forget just how good a player she was. A Wimbledon semi-finalist, Barker is known more for being a BBC commentator. She won the French Open in 1976. Glad to see her get her credits on UTUBE!
Although Sue presents the tennis on BBC television but she doesn't present the Wimbledon trophies - this is done by the Duke of Kent, who is the President of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).
I'd never really watched Barker, a bit before my time, although I was a HUGE fan of Evert, I only really remember the twilight of her career. You're right Barker did have an impressive forehand, considering they were wooden rackets.
Had Sue Barker developed an aggressive net game to complement her punishing groundstrokes, particularly her forehand, she might've had greater success. Here you can see she had Evert in all sorts of trouble, but stayed camped on the baseline instead of following into the net for easy putaways. She let Evert off the hook on so many points and Evert got off easily with high defensive lobs before Sue Barker whacked it into the net.
This was Chris at her best on her favourite surface...no way Sue Barker would've gotten any chance to come even near. But Sue wasn't even playing bad at all, but Chrissie was simply unbeatable...
Sue Barker has enjoyed greater success as a commentator for the BBC. If you watch the women's final at Wimbledon each year, the MC at courtside after the final is Sue Barker. She is witty, fast thinking, and very considerate when interviewing the players. I hope she will keep doing that for the BBC for years to come. Unfortunately Barker was overshadowed by Evert, Goolagong, and Navratilova during the 1970's and early '80s. She was smart to make the move to broadcasting.
Sue Barker completely descended into mediocrity following her 1977 Wimbledon semifinal loss to Betty Stove. Virginia Wade had earlier defeated Chris Evert in the other semifinal, and Barker had a dominant record over Wade. Her tissue thin loss to Stove permanently crushed her spirits, as she later admitted, and her game just went south after that.
There were some seriously dodgy calls there, how frustrating for the players. Thanks for posting, still love watching Chrissie after all these year, she was awesome, unbeatable from the baseline when she got into a rally.
Early 80's is the best Evert ever looked! Amazing fitness and signature ponytail! This is how everyone remembered her! Just like how everyone remembered McEnroe with red headband and curly hair or his great rival - Bjorn Borg with his Hippie Boy looks from the countryside, who is set to attend Woodstock festival in 70's! These days most tennis champions men or women look quite generic and forgetable! There are no more person defining outfits and looks like before! Frankly the most memorable Federer ever looked was his 2005's season appearance! Ever since then any look he had was inferrior to that one!
Sue Barker had the best forehand in the women's game until Steffi came along years later. The thing about Chris is that she always beat the players she was supposed to. You really measure a player by the number of times they were upset. Chris leads that measure by a wide margin.
Yeah she won the French in 76, pretty sure it was 76, anyway. I think she got to the semi's of Australian & Wimbledon, although most yrs at Wimbledon she reached 1st or 2nd round. I think she won about 11 majors (could be miles out,on that), but 1 Grand Slam in singles. I can't believe the 'Anti-British' vibe from the commentators, I know they're watching a USA match, but still, unprofessional. Considering Chrissie was married to a Brit at the time, LOL.
barker would go on later in the fall of 1981 to beat austin! in 3 sets indoors, just weeks after austin won the u.s. open.. barker for whatever reason always gave austin fits and yet evert could handily beat barker 99 % of the time throughout their career only losing once to barker early in 1979 during that whole getting ready for her marriage not trying/not caring phase and only going to 3 sets at the 77 virginia slims championship.
This is the thinnest I've ever seen Chris. She lost an amazing amt of weight b/w 1980 and 1981, making her movements faster on the court. Yes, this is the SAME Sue Barker we know today who MC's the Wimbledon finals post-match interviews on court. She's quite witty and funny. Here she looks like "Baby Spice" from the Spice Girls. She had a pretty good game, but still no match against the consistency / depth of Evert, especially on clay ! Evert's dress was designed by the famous Ted Tinling.
They played each other 24 times. Sue won a total of 4 sets in all those matches and Evert won 46 sets in those same 24 matches. The good news is that two of those 4 sets were in one match which Barker won in Boston on carpet 6-3,6-1.
Brian Turner even that 1 win is "suspect" as it was during the time in 1979 where chris was way more interested in her upcoming marriage and planning it then any tennis match, this was the avon championship round robin tournament and also the tournament where she lost to tracy austin for the first time AND in straight sets! so i wouldn't count this one barker win as anything much to hold on to... barker was a very good player so i'm not trying to slam her, i'm just saying...
Never seen Sue Barker play before, but what a forehand she possessed. Poisoned chalice though, didn't it cause her elbow problems that ended her career?
why didn't sue at least develop a competent backhand slice (i.e. wade).... had she just done that she could have been near the top and for longer..interesting how barker gave austin fits, in fact would beat austin indoors later that year AFTER austin won the u.s. open, but evert handled barker 22-1 quite handily, losing only 1 time (during her preparations getting married to john lloyd and her mind and game were elsewhere) and rarely losing sets even...
I have no idea what the video starter means when they say Barker was not on the upswing of her career. Her career peaked in 1976 and 1977 and had been steadily on decline since. Chris always owned Barker even in her prime so it wouldnt matter, but she was far from the upswing of her career.
Sue Barker did not play badly at all, and some of these rallies were great….and yet Chris still won 2 and 1!! Sue was actually having her last good year in the top 20. She had just beaten Austin, Potter, and Jausovic to win Brighton, and earlier in this Fed Cup had beaten Wendy Turnbull to help take UK in to the Final. But as usual Chris was a step up too far.
Looks like there was a time clock between points on the scoreboard behind the players. This is much needed today and needs to be AGGRESSIVELY enforced.
how great to see Sue Barker again. People forget just how good a player she was. A Wimbledon semi-finalist, Barker is known more for being a BBC commentator. She won the French Open in 1976. Glad to see her get her credits on UTUBE!
Chris had so much control over her body, perfect balance. That’s why she doesn’t miss.
Chrissie with the flags on her dress! So awesome! Barker has an absolute cannon for a forehand. Wow!
Commentator didn't seem to know Sue Barker had won the French Open. Obviously a tennis expert lol.
This is a treat. Great to see Sue use power and speed. Underrated to say the least.
What a player Chrissie was. Her ground strokes are just so accurate. Barker was good too. Thank you for this video.
barker was pretty damn good. never heard of her before. she sure had a forehand.
Sue Barker presents the women's and men's winning trophy at Wimbledon now...she was talented but could not match Chris' groundstrokes.
Although Sue presents the tennis on BBC television but she doesn't present the Wimbledon trophies - this is done by the Duke of Kent, who is the President of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).
My favourite two players ever! THANKS SO much for posting! Please keep them coming Davidx
I'd never really watched Barker, a bit before my time, although I was a HUGE fan of Evert, I only really remember the twilight of her career.
You're right Barker did have an impressive forehand, considering they were wooden rackets.
According to to Tracy Austin barkers forehand was the best at the time both were competing.
Had Sue Barker developed an aggressive net game to complement her punishing groundstrokes, particularly her forehand, she might've had greater success. Here you can see she had Evert in all sorts of trouble, but stayed camped on the baseline instead of following into the net for easy putaways. She let Evert off the hook on so many points and Evert got off easily with high defensive lobs before Sue Barker whacked it into the net.
This was Chris at her best on her favourite surface...no way Sue Barker would've gotten any chance to come even near. But Sue wasn't even playing bad at all, but Chrissie was simply unbeatable...
Sue Barker has enjoyed greater success as a commentator for the BBC. If you watch the women's final at Wimbledon each year, the MC at courtside after the final is Sue Barker. She is witty, fast thinking, and very considerate when interviewing the players. I hope she will keep doing that for the BBC for years to come. Unfortunately Barker was overshadowed by Evert, Goolagong, and Navratilova during the 1970's and early '80s. She was smart to make the move to broadcasting.
actually both of them hit the balls very hard. its just the racquet that makes the difference with today tennis
Sue Barker completely descended into mediocrity following her 1977 Wimbledon semifinal loss to Betty Stove. Virginia Wade had earlier defeated Chris Evert in the other semifinal, and Barker had a dominant record over Wade. Her tissue thin loss to Stove permanently crushed her spirits, as she later admitted, and her game just went south after that.
There were some seriously dodgy calls there, how frustrating for the players. Thanks for posting, still love watching Chrissie after all these year, she was awesome, unbeatable from the baseline when she got into a rally.
Sue Barker was a great player! Love Chris too!
great forhand from sue
Early 80's is the best Evert ever looked! Amazing fitness and signature ponytail! This is how everyone remembered her! Just like how everyone remembered McEnroe with red headband and curly hair or his great rival - Bjorn Borg with his Hippie Boy looks from the countryside, who is set to attend Woodstock festival in 70's! These days most tennis champions men or women look quite generic and forgetable! There are no more person defining outfits and looks like before! Frankly the most memorable Federer ever looked was his 2005's season appearance! Ever since then any look he had was inferrior to that one!
not since 2005 when Rafa wore those Capri pirate pants
Sue Barker was a good looking woman back then. I would have been 1 year old 38 now.
Wow I never knew Sue was a tennis player. I always thought she was tennis sports reporter? lol
Sue Barker had the best forehand in the women's game until Steffi came along years later. The thing about Chris is that she always beat the players she was supposed to. You really measure a player by the number of times they were upset. Chris leads that measure by a wide margin.
Yeah she won the French in 76, pretty sure it was 76, anyway. I think she got to the semi's of Australian & Wimbledon, although most yrs at Wimbledon she reached 1st or 2nd round. I think she won about 11 majors (could be miles out,on that), but 1 Grand Slam in singles.
I can't believe the 'Anti-British' vibe from the commentators, I know they're watching a USA match, but still, unprofessional. Considering Chrissie was married to a Brit at the time, LOL.
Evert is lovely here. And unbeatable. Who else was on the team?
Chris certainly didn't need any coaching here.
Very lovely match...Barker's forehand remember Graf
barker would go on later in the fall of 1981 to beat austin! in 3 sets indoors, just weeks after austin won the u.s. open.. barker for whatever reason always gave austin fits and yet evert could handily beat barker 99 % of the time throughout their career only losing once to barker early in 1979 during that whole getting ready for her marriage not trying/not caring phase and only going to 3 sets at the 77 virginia slims championship.
30 years, Go Chris.
This is the thinnest I've ever seen Chris. She lost an amazing amt of weight b/w 1980 and 1981, making her movements faster on the court. Yes, this is the SAME Sue Barker we know today who MC's the Wimbledon finals post-match interviews on court. She's quite witty and funny. Here she looks like "Baby Spice" from the Spice Girls. She had a pretty good game, but still no match against the consistency / depth of Evert, especially on clay ! Evert's dress was designed by the famous Ted Tinling.
@johnblacklovesmar Chris & Andrea Jaeger played singles, Kathy Jordan & Rosie Casals doubles.
They played each other 24 times. Sue won a total of 4 sets in all those matches and Evert won 46 sets in those same 24 matches. The good news is that two of those 4 sets were in one match which Barker won in Boston on carpet 6-3,6-1.
Brian Turner even that 1 win is "suspect" as it was during the time in 1979 where chris was way more interested in her upcoming marriage and planning it then any tennis match, this was the avon championship round robin tournament and also the tournament where she lost to tracy austin for the first time AND in straight sets! so i wouldn't count this one barker win as anything much to hold on to... barker was a very good player so i'm not trying to slam her, i'm just saying...
Never seen Sue Barker play before, but what a forehand she possessed. Poisoned chalice though, didn't it cause her elbow problems that ended her career?
Peter Northwood I thought it was ligament damage in the lower leg
@@tonyalder probably a combination of everything
Great match for Evert
why didn't sue at least develop a competent backhand slice (i.e. wade).... had she just done that she could have been near the top and for longer..interesting how barker gave austin fits, in fact would beat austin indoors later that year AFTER austin won the u.s. open, but evert handled barker 22-1 quite handily, losing only 1 time (during her preparations getting married to john lloyd and her mind and game were elsewhere) and rarely losing sets even...
Yes, the French open in '76.
I have no idea what the video starter means when they say Barker was not on the upswing of her career. Her career peaked in 1976 and 1977 and had been steadily on decline since. Chris always owned Barker even in her prime so it wouldnt matter, but she was far from the upswing of her career.
Sue Barker did not play badly at all, and some of these rallies were great….and yet Chris still won 2 and 1!!
Sue was actually having her last good year in the top 20. She had just beaten Austin, Potter, and Jausovic to win Brighton, and earlier in this Fed Cup had beaten Wendy Turnbull to help take UK in to the Final.
But as usual Chris was a step up too far.
Looks like there was a time clock between points on the scoreboard behind the players. This is much needed today and needs to be AGGRESSIVELY enforced.
Sorry I meant when the video starter says Barker was on the upswing of her career. She definitely wasnt at this point.
chrisevertdotnet do you know who the commentators are.
Did Sue Barker ever win a Slam singles title?
kljMN2 French Open 1976
Expectations for a close match ? On clay ? Are you serious ?
Har tru courts in japan....hmmm.