1979 US Open – Men's Singles umpire being replaced before McEnroe ran out the winner. John McEnroe defeated Vitas Gerulaitis 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1979 US Open. The seeded players are listed below. John McEnroe is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated. 1979 US Open – Men's Singles Jimmy Connors was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to John McEnroe. Connors' loss broke a string of five consecutive men's finals reached, a record since broken by Ivan Lendl. During the second round Ilie Nastase was defaulted from his
Ivan Lendl from 1985 through 1987, Lendl's match-winning percentage was over 90%. This record was equalled by Roger Federer in 2004–2006, but Lendl remains the only male tennis player with over 90% match wins in five different years (1982 was the first, 1989 the last). From the 1985 US Open to the 1988 Australian Open, Lendl reached ten consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals — a record that was broken by Federer at the 2007 Australian Open. Lendl began 1989 by winning his first Australian Open title with a straight sets final victory over Miloslav Mečíř, and went on to win 10 titles