Hana Mandlikova battles Martina Navratilova - 1985 Madison Square Garden SF

A lot of people believe that players today are great athletes with great talent, and those of the past 'had it easy'...well judge for yourself if today's players have the kind of artistry, skills, strategy and flat out star power displayed here by Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova. Martina brought greatness but Hana brought magic in the 1985 Virginia Slims Season-ending Championships SF, and the clash of these forces was instant tennis gold.

We'll return to classic Evert footage next time, but this clip is part of our small contribution to the dialogue on whether contemporary rackets & strings have "made the sport too easy," as Navratilova & McEnroe have protested, an issue of the balance between man & machine, and where on that scale tennis best functions.

The Super Trinity of Bud Collins, Mary Carillo, & Steve Flink commentate this footage provided for this channel by chrisevert.net.