Site data updated: 2026-05-28 18:14 UTC

John McEnroe #4 def. Arthur Ashe #13

6-7 6-3 7-5

Match Information

Date	Jan 18, 1979*
Tournament	Masters
Category	ATP Finals
Surface	Carpet
Round	F
Winner	John McEnroe
Score	6-7 6-3 7-5
Loser	Arthur Ashe

No match stats are available for this match.

Pre-match Comparison

Field	John McEnroe	Arthur Ashe
Country	USA	USA
Birth date	Feb 16, 1959	Jul 10, 1943
Age	19	35
Height	180	185
Handedness	Left-Handed	Right-Handed
Backhand style	—	—
Ranking (entering)	4	13
Ranking points (entering)	0	0
Elo (entering)	2,139	2,002
Career W-L	833–189	800–258
Career earnings	$12,552,132	$1,584,909

Pre-match H2H

John McEnroe 1 – 0 Arthur Ashe

Path

John McEnroe's path

Date	Round	Opponent	Score	W/L	H2H	Match data
Jan 17, 1979	SF	Eddie Dibbs	6-1 6-4	W	H2H	Match data
Jan 10, 1979	RR	Harold Solomon	6-3 6-2	W	H2H	Match data
Jan 10, 1979	RR	Arthur Ashe	6-3 6-1	W	H2H	Match data
Jan 10, 1979	RR	Jimmy Connors	7-5 3-0 (ret.)	W	H2H	Match data

John McEnroe's next match

No later same-event match found for the winner.

Arthur Ashe's path

Date	Round	Opponent	Score	W/L	H2H	Match data
Jan 17, 1979	SF	Brian Gottfried	7-5 3-6 6-3	W	H2H	Match data
Jan 10, 1979	RR	Harold Solomon	6-1 6-4	W	H2H	Match data
Jan 10, 1979	RR	Jimmy Connors	(w/o)	W	H2H	Match data