1982 French Open Final

Wilander stuns Vilas The 1981 Junior French Open Champion Mats Wilander surprised everyone by reaching the final of the 1982 French Open. The seventeen-year-old Mats Wilander had astounded the Parisians earlier by knocking out the previous year’s runner-up Ivan Lendl in a marathon. Wilander, a Swede from Vaxjo, was not expected to win the championship final against the legendary Argentine veteran Guilermo Vilas. Nonetheless, the unassuming Wilander defeated Vilas in a very long four set match that spanned nearly five hours. The gritty Wilander overcame the loss of the first set to win a critical second set tiebreaker. Wilander created history by becoming the youngest male to win a Grand Slam. Wilander outlasted and outwitted the dogged Vilas in a seesaw match. Wilander’s groundstrokes comprising service returns, returns, passing shots and lobs were superior to Vilas, who could not hold a candle to Wilander that day.