Winning Wimbledon with Pat Cash

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Daniel Kiernan  00:08

Welcome to Episode 227 of Control the Controllables. And we're bringing to you today a podcast short with someone who 37 years ago, pretty much to the day was the men's Wimbledon singles champion. And if you don't know who it is yet, he used to wear a checkered headband. And he used to have the girls screaming at him from the side of the court. And it is, of course, at cache. And it's quite an update actually, because I bring this introduction to you from Wimbledon where players that I am coaching in Gabby dobrowski and Aaron route live, were preparing for a lady's semifinal doubles match today, and also a mixed doubles semi final match here at Wimbledon. And in this episode, Pat talks about his 1987 triumph for the Ivan Lendl and how he prepared for that match and how that match went. And so we've got some little bits of advice that we're certainly going to take on board. Today as we move into these very special matches, you know, anybody that's had the opportunity to be added grand slam on the last few days, the finals and semifinals weekends, it really is a special place to be. And for 37 years, it makes us all feel very old because I remember Pat winning and as he won the match he got up in and he was the first player to climb up into the players box to a Ian Barkley and Ian Barkley. Anyone in the tennis world that knows Barker's? I do because I was lucky. He was my coach for a few years and many of us British players. And he climbed up into that box and give Barker's a big hug. And that was a special journey because Ian Barkley had been coaching art from the age of 11. And then this week, I was with Barkers, who was now 86 years old, doing incredibly well looks exactly like he did back in 1987. And art came up onto the lawn at the players area. And I had this amazing 20 minutes with Pat Andy and as they reminisced, you know, Pat came up and gave me a big hug and said it's 37 years Barker's. And for me to just be that little fly on the wall. And that conversation, as they talked about the different experiences that they'd had together is just really incredible and isn't sport just the best. The best thing ever had to be doing it at the highest level and having these experiences. So we're gonna get eight minutes nine minutes of Pat Cash talking about his 1987 Wimbledon. I'm going to pass you over to the brilliant pack cash. But anyway, let's get to the real thing. Pat that bastard Lendl beat your seven six and the third in 84. You beat you five out of six times going into Wimbledon. You know that that period? That year? I believe you made as your final and last Edberg. Yeah, you'd come through Edberg in the semis of 87 to find yourself against lentil he would never win Wimbledon and still hasn't to this day. But there was a little bit of heat as well in that relationship you know you you guys would go out each other. I spoke to Barker's so much about this. You know like I love talking to him about get you love getting my part stories. And I used to love getting the girls stories, but also also the Wimbledon stories. And I remember he said you'll correct me if I'm wrong on this. But he said the morning of is two things I told Part one was if he serves at 70% first serves, he wins the match today. And two, we're gonna give we're gonna give Lendl a sore neck with the lob. And I don't remember the exact numbers but he said something like you served at 70.8% or what you just basically hit the target and obviously won the match 766275 Take Take us back to 1987 Wimbledon champion. Well, yeah, I

Pat Cash  04:16

lost I played Lindell a few times when I was younger includes including that the US Open semifinal played him on Grassman I think might have been the same year maybe the year before. But I beat him in the Australian Open semifinal on the grass and so I was going into the final pretty confident beat Jimmy Connors he'd beat here surprise and surprise me by beating Edberg, though wasn't focused necessarily on who was winning. I was just whoever won won. But I gotta say I was reasonably happy that that Lendl beat Edberg there. The court was the courts were fast you couldn't stay back. You just couldn't stay back not against the server. The server rolling and attacking players of that era The quality was just too good they'd been in there would have been in the net con state backup A little bit of cuts away, you did hit the ball, this service, just skimmed over the net and hit the ball so flat. They can sort of get away with it. But I think Lendl realized that if they'd been in a final before that, you know, that serving and volleying was it was and he was a very good surveyor. I mean he wasn't awesome volume but he was he was good but you need I needed to make just enough volleys foresee need enough volume that we'd make a mistake and then we'll hit so it was all about really was about the returning ironically and obviously keeping the server's percentage up serving in the volume I could I could do the unknown was how well Linda would serve yet a big surf big second serve as well as it kicked and it was a matter of making plaintiff volleys and you know, I was able to do that he for some reason I don't know why are still expecting that I expect him to serve a lot more than my forehand he just kept serving to the backhand I think my forehand has hit was hit and miss a little hit and miss I think he was worried that I would hit the flashing few winners and least he knew that he could get with my backhand he would probably get more volleys. I don't know I'd have to really ask him about it be honest what the tactics were but I was pretty happy with that. Yeah, and then flip the love over his head if I possibly could which which which was pretty successful. I think it just about hit every one of those and there's probably six or eight of them that they've received and but it was tight and tight first set tiebreaker nervous nervous but both tight and I got through that tiebreaker and great second set after that didn't lose a point on my serve for the whole set and and then the third said he got a break I managed to break back and yeah so lost lost a bit of energy momentum and sort of remember sitting down and it was at five three and 52554 Something like that. I looked up to the box thinking oh you know Linda was up a break here he's and Bach is in my sports psychologist or on their feet going into cheering me up come on, come on, come on. I mean, you'd see this a lot now but you don't You never used to see it then you know coaches never quiet and polite and all that sort of stuff and you know a little bit of yelling out but they'll both on the chair and I was like oh okay, they need me to fire up and I really had to jump around and get on my on my toes then and I've managed to break twice in a row and and hold on to win the title

Daniel Kiernan  07:09

and serving for Wimbledon you know you you train all your life you put yourself in pressurized situations on the practice court you you think these are things or you dream about it, but actually standing up to the line serving know that if you hold serve one more time, you're the Wimbledon champion forever. Tell us what's going through your head at that point. Yeah.

Pat Cash  07:35

Well, ideally not much you just focus on focus on the ball toss focus on a program says control the controllables which is basically your emotions as best you can. But you know, you're right i mean it's you cannot avoid the fact that you're out there about the surf for the for the title and you know, I've done no big occasion I've done that twice and the Davis Cup final you know didn't quite get there the Australian Open final loss too long five set matches, I never actually searched for it but you just got to go through go through your routine. I've worked with a sports psychologist so that was almost a new a new format a new discipline really is it sports psychologist at the time, he came to the Institute of Sport in Canberra where they Olympics Olympic athletes train there, I was lucky enough to work with with Jeff Jeff Bond for quite a quite a while and Quinn No, My trainer was their doctor and Queensland she was very motivational. You know, we just really positive bunch of people and, and I was pretty negative. You know, I was always seeing the bad side of my game. And, you know, most of the most of the men that picked me up, I was the worst critic. I was absolutely the worst critic to myself, but you know, you go through the routines, you're supposed to be focused, but when you stand up the crowd start roaring because I know you're serving for the Wimbledon title and you just cannot replicate that you just hope that you can put it all together and and and stick with your routines and in that was the best the best I could do and just hope that everything went according to plan, which you did just a bit. But yeah, you you play these point by point and that's it was it's really boring to hear that now players commentating or coaches or whatever it happens to be football teams or we're just taking one match at a time or it's just another match we're playing the World Cup final or FA Cup or whatever the League Cup it just but it's just another match. That was the sort of stuff that I was saying that I was I was taught to say and talk to act apologize for every every report I can no longer get anything juicy out of a coach but it works. It works that's that's why I did it. And you know, I believe that it's okay, just taking one point of time. Don't focus on anything but you stack up in my head. It straightaway came the you serving for the Wimbledon title. Don't screw it up Extra came a bit kind of a bit more exploited than that actually. It came straight to my head, which is exact opposite of how I train myself and what we did. But I laughed, I actually laughed at myself and a kind of loose kind of, because I saw the absurdity of what I was actually came straight into, into my brain. And so I giggled, and actually afterwards, my sports psychologist said, Well, I saw you laughing, and you're coming out to serving and I said, Well, this is what came straight into my head, and I whispered it, you know, told him and he's like, Oh, my God, really? I say, I know. It's hilarious. Right? Well, that's all the training we've done. He said, Well, I've worked in a reverse way he just got a lot and kind of relaxed me I suppose. But lucky I held the love so so but yeah, it got him as an experienced like you can never can never imagine is walking out onto onto the Senate court for final and then actually serving for the final. And, you know, you just pick your spots. We've got to get the ball toss, and you know, and all the rest is kind of automatic. Really. And

Daniel Kiernan  10:58

life changed forever. Well,

Pat Cash  11:00

yeah, I suppose it did. I mean, if the ironic thing was that, you know, I felt I was one of the top players anyway, you know, I was 11 seed, but two good weeks, make sure the legend for life. But I don't feel any didn't really feel any different. Just do it. You have to prove it, you actually have to do it. It's one thing to say, Oh, I'm good enough to win. The other thing actually doing it. And, and, you know, I'm one of the lucky few to actually have done it. There's not a lot of Wimbledon champions out there in singles. So yeah, you know, you need to get a bit of luck and you need things to fall your own way. And I'm the first to admit that you had a bit of luck and everything and things fell my way. And you know, and you gotta take the opportunity when it arises. And I think most players will admit that even the ones that have won multiple times, so you need a bit of luck. So there

Daniel Kiernan  11:49

we have it, another podcast shot that's come your way. And I'm gonna leave you all as we go into an exciting weekend ahead. Wimbledon women's finals day on Saturday, women's men's finals day on Sunday. And the last question I want to pause to you, is it really going to come home until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan and we are control the controllable