...When would the two sides (USA and Europe) last have been broadly at parity? Let's assume a contest involving 6 men's singles matches (I won't complicate it with doubles), so 6 players per side. I assume at the moment Europe would be winning that contest comfortably; when the US had Agassi, Sampras and Courier would they have been on top? In the 80s, Lendl, Wilander, Mecir and Becker edging it for Europe, but in the 70s would the Americans have been on top despite Borg?
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If tennis had a Ryder Cup ....
When you go back to the 70s, the Aussies would make such a tournament seem to be missing major participants.
Surface would also matter a great deal, and you would see the Euros always wanting to play on clay, which the Americans generally struggled with. Lots of home wins, I would think. -
If tennis had a Ryder Cup ....
Broadly speaking, Europe would have been utterly dominant in the 80s - the US didn't have much depth below McEnroe and Connors, compared to Borg, Lendl, Willander, Becker and Edberg.
In the 90s though, as Becker and Edberg faded, and only clay courters emerged in Europe, the mantle would have swung strongly to the US, with Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang able to compete on all surfaces. After that though it would be all Europe.
Difficult to say who'd win in the 60s and 70s, as Ursus says, the dominant players in the world were from the Southern Hemisphere.
Obviously in women's tennis, the US record would be much better.Comment
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