Remembering a tournament that featured a new surface, a new venue, anti-apartheid（反种族隔离的） protests, a return to form for Chris Evert and an epic men's final between Pat Cash and Mats Wilander

Before the 1988 tournament, the Australian Open had always been seen as the poor relation of the grand slam events. Played at the Kooyong（墨尔本地名）Tennis club on grass courts that had at times brought criticism from the world's finest players, the scheduling of the event – in December until 1985 – also proved troublesome in attracting the biggest names. Bjorn Borg played the tournament just once in his career; Jimmy Connors took part twice; and Chris Evert decided not to play between 1975-1980.

A move to a new venue was desperately needed, so when the event switched to Flinders Park (Melbourne Park) in January 1988, the rest of the tennis world sat up and took notice. A spanking new ￡28m "space-age" National Tennis Centre greeted the players and media on their arrival, with both suitably impressed by the facilities. "Australian tennis deserves to be congratulated," said Ivan Lendl, with Martina Navratilova also bowled over（bowl over：击倒，大吃一惊）: "From what I have seen so far, they have thought about everything."

It wasn't just the infrastructure of the new complex that brought compliments from the players. The playing surface, known as Rebound Ace – science bit: an acrylic surface cushioned by polyurethane rubber – was given the thumbs up（竖大拇指，自然就是表扬和赞许） by the vast majority of players. Seen as a compromise between standard hard court and indoor surfaces, Rebound Ace offered true bounce, and was perceived as not favouring either the baseliners or serve-volleyers; "the most neutral surface I have ever seen," according to Richard Evans of the Times. It was also a lot easier on the players' legs, and with some of the gruelling matches in the tournament, this was a godsend.

And finally to the retractable roof on centre court. Designed to be used in extreme situations that would bring lengthy interruptions for the paying public and television audiences, the authorities were accused at times of closing the roof at the merest(mere最高级) hint of rain, or "self-indulgence in playing with their wonderful new toy," in the words of the Times' Rex Bellamy. On one occasion the roof was closed as soon as light drizzle fell, and once play resumed indoors, all of the neighbouring courts were bathed in sunshine. It just didn't look right.

This led to a few murmurs of discontent. Many felt that the tournament should stay as an outdoor event, and the roof should only be closed if it was the last resort, with others pointing out that tournament organisers had television and the public to consider.

It was a difficult balancing act, but got everyone talking, and you could hardly blame the organisers for wanting to see their new toy in action. And it raised the prospect of something similar being considered at Wimbledon, with reports also mentioning a sports complex along the lines of Flinders Park at the proposed London Dome in the Docklands.Flinders Park definitely worked for the Australian Open; 244,859 people attended matches at the venue, compared to 140,089 at Kooyong, with gate receipts exceeding ￡840,000 – very much a case of build it and they will come. Perhaps it is still seen as the lesser of the four majors, but the tournament has not looked back since the change of location back in 1988.

The tournament had only just begun when the first whiff of controversy filled the air. Pat Cash's decision to play in the South African Open in the previous November had angered many in Australia, protesters voicing their disapproval at the recent New South Wales Open, with cries of "Pat Cash-blood money" heard throughout his matches in Sydney. The feeling of unrest continued in Melbourne, with an anti-apartheid group interrupting Cash's first round match against Thomas Muster, throwing black tennis balls on the court and shouting abuse. The protesters were removed, but the fallout continued.

It had been widely reported that Tennis Australia president Brian Tobin had met with the Anti-Apartheid Movement before the tournament, and an agreement had been reached between the parties regarding how the demonstrators could peacefully protest. This angered Cash's father, who commented "Pat's pretty disgusted with this whole episode. I believe Brian Tobin should resign", with Navratilova also furious about the deal struck between the groups: "I just can't believe they made a deal with them. To condone violence of any kind is making a deal with terrorists. It is essentially, how far do you take it, how far do you allow it?" Tobin defended his actions, but admitted that the guidelines agreed to had been breached and the protesters would not be allowed in the stadium again.

The rest of the tournament passed by without any further ado, yet unbeknown to Cash, his coach and adviser Ian Barclay had been shielding him from threats made throughout the fortnight（＝two weeks）. Barclay's wife Jackie, detailed a phone call received that shocked the couple: "It was a well-spoken English voice who said Pat had 24 hours to send a letter saying that he wouldn't play in South Africa again. He mentioned that Pat's career would be cut short". Fortunately nothing came of the threats and Cash continued on his quest to secure a second grand slam, yet for those supporting the Australian these were worrying times.

Australian Warren Jacques knew he had his hands full as head of British tennis, but just in case he was in any doubt, the results during round one of the Australian Open highlighted the task ahead. On day one alone, seven Brits exited the tournament, "with almost as much haste as the security forces dealt with the anti-apartheid brigade", as Malcolm Folley of the Express put it.

In all, Andrew Castle, David Felgate, Chris Bailey, Monique Javer, Sarah Loosemore, Katie Rickett, Clare Wood, Annabel Croft, Teresa Catlin, Valda Lake, Sara Gomer and Julie Salmon were home before the postcards, as Tommy Docherty once said. Salmon's defeat at least assured Jo Durie of a second round place (where she too would lose).

The two British men to reach the second round made their presence felt. Jeremy Bates defeated 15th seed Kelly Evernden, but became embroiled in a slanging match with his opponent. Riled by Evernden's comments pre-match – apparently the New Zealander had openly declared that he could not of wished for a better first round match – Bates went on the offensive: "I'm just so happy I beat him here. He has been riling（rile：激怒） everyone with his arrogance." Evernden retaliated（报复）, calling Bates a wimp, and the row rumbled on until the pair had clear-the-air talks before they were pitted against each other in the men's doubles quarter-finals.

Stephen Shaw's second round match was just as volatile. His defeat of the powerful Slobodan Zivojinovic was expected, but the two clashed throughout the encounter, with Shaw angered by the unsportsmanlike behaviour of the Yugoslav. Things came to a head when Zivojinovic was heard to call Shaw "a son of a bitch", the tension continuing at the change-over（交换场地）, with Shaw bellowing "if you've got something to say, say it to me now". Shaw lost in four sets, but he had shown he had some stomach for the fight.It wasn't all doom and gloom for the Brits. Castle, partnered by Roberto Saad of Argentina, defeated Grant Connell and Glenn Michibata in a five-hour epic in the men's doubles quarter-final, winning the final set 19-17 and saving nine match points along the way. Their semi-final proved to be one match too many, but losing to Bates and his Swedish partner Peter Lundgren at least guaranteed British representation in the final. Bates and Lundgren lost to Rick Leach and Jim Pugh, but in a period of famine for British tennis, any crumb of comfort had to be consumed gratefully.

Things started to heat up on the fifth day of the championships. With temperatures reaching 100°F in the shade, and a whopping 135°F on centre court, it was little wonder that some players melted. After losing his third round match, Henri Leconte slept for an hour in a room allocated for coaches, with his pounding headache a result of playing in heat he had never experienced before. Leconte's opponent, Todd Witsken, summed up the discomfort of playing in such extreme heat: "At the end my socks were soaking wet and sliding round in my shoes." Nice.Australian Wally Masur described just how intense the conditions were, saying: "When you took a deep breath you could feel the air burning your throat." Ivan Lendl said the court surface was so hot underfoot that he tried his best not to stand in one place for too long. Temperatures dropped dramatically before any serious harm was caused, although some consideration was given to the idea of providing players with cover under umbrellas just to give them a respite（short rest） at change-overs.

Eventually the Extreme Heat Policy was introduced to the Australian Open (in 1998), preventing play from continuing on uncovered courts in extreme conditions. How the players back in 1988 could have done with this arrangement.

Seeded third for the championships, Chris Evert was not expected to progress any further than the semi-finals. The American only dropped one set on her way to the last four, where she met her old rival Navratilova. In one last performance for the ages, Evert proved that class is permanent, the Express's headline "Vintage Chris is a corker（压塞器，出色的人）!" fully alluding（allude，第二次见到这个词了，见读报（1）） to this.

Navratilova was below-par, only making 55% of her first serves, but Evert, executing a number of passing shots（穿越球） and lobs（挑高球，慢速球）, did not allow the favourite any breathing space. "This was a great victory for me. It meant a lot," said an elated（elate） and slightly surprised Evert after her 6-2 7-5 win. She had reached her first grand slam final since 1986 and would now have the daunting task of trying to derail（de+rail 使脱轨，出轨） the 18-year-old German juggernaut Steffi Graf. Be afraid, be very afraid.

"I hadn't thought about playing Steffi but I'll have to think about it now, because I haven't found a way to beat her," admitted a refreshingly honest Evert. The final would go as expected, but Evert was not the first, and she definitely wouldn't be the last, who experienced the full force of Graf.

The German's route to the final highlighted just how ruthless she was. In her first four matches she lost just 13 games, before crushing defending champion Hana Mandlikova 6-2 6-2 in the quarter-finals, and her compatriot Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in just 45 minutes in the semi-finals. Graf's second round opponent, Janine Thompson, summed up the general feeling of the field when describing her experience at the hands of the German: "We had played only one game when I asked myself 'What the hell am I going to do?'"

It had been almost two years since Evert had beaten Graf and their last four matches had resulted in straight-sets wins for the 18-year-old starlet（小星星，新星）. So it wasn't all that surprising when the final – played under the closed roof after rain interrupted play after just three games, for a first grand slam final indoors – started to go in Graf's favour. After the rain came the storm for Evert. Graf won eight games and only lost 10 points in the process. At 5-1 down in the second set, Evert looked to be going the way of everyone else.

Perhaps Graf lost concentration with the finishing line in sight, but Evert deserved great credit in fighting back, winning five games in a row before bravely losing the set and the final on a tie break. The manner in which Graf marched to her Australian Open title, demolishing all before her, showed that this was the start of something special. The start of a golden slam year as it would transpire.

The men's competition had gone as the seeding system had planned. Swedes Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg, winners of the last four Australian Opens between them, met in the first semi-final, with No1 seed Ivan Lendl taking on Cash in the other. Both matches went the distance, with Wilander defeating Edberg in three hours and 19 minutes and Cash winning after three hours and 55 minutes of high-pressure tennis. Neither match got the ending it deserved however, the victors both winning the final-set deciders with ease. The real drama was just a couple of days away.

Despite suffering two rain delays – "conversational pauses in a feast we had no wish to finish," as Bellamy described it – the final was an epic. Wilander took the first set 6-3, and when the Swede raced into a 4-1 lead in the second, the final looked like being a damp squib. Luckily for Cash, the rain came, slowing the Wilander charge, and bringing with it a change of fortunes. Cash took the second set on a tie break, and the to and fro nature of the match had now been established.

Cash took the third 6-3, but back came Wilander, winning the fourth set to take the final into a decider after three hours and 15 minutes of action-packed drama. When Wilander broke Cash at the start of the decider – taking his streak to eight games out of the last nine – the title was there for the taking.

In a final set that took 74 minutes to complete, Cash broke back in the fourth game as both players then took turns to demonstrate startling skills under the most intense pressure. Twice Wilander had to serve to stay in the match, and at one point he was just two points from defeat. But Wilander was made of stern stuff（形容人性格坚毅）, and when he broke Cash in the 13th game, the decisive moment of the final had been reached. Wilander held his service game to love to win the marathon final 8-6 in the decider.

"If I ruined the party just a little bit, that's too bad," said Wilander, who was aware that Australians were celebrating the 200th anniversary of their country just two days after the final. "I played pretty well, but Mats was too good on the day," admitted Cash, both men deservedly taking the plaudits for their part in a classic final at the end of a championship at Flinders Park which changed the image of the Australian Open for the better.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2014/jan/13/1988-australian-open-new-era-grand-slam