1 Response to antwerp90ivanisevic_leconte

1. Voo de Mar says:

   November 30, 2021 at 10:16 pm

   Points won by each set: | 27-18, 48-44, 24-32, 29-31, 26-13 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   41 % Ivanisevic – 61 of 146
   30 % Leconte – 44 of 146

   The most prestigious exhibition event of the 80s… The first (penultimate) edition of the 90s was very special due to a few factors:
   # two players who had won all the previous editions (5 titles Lendl, 3 titles J.McEnroe) skipped the event as well as a three-time runner-up Mecir (retired after Wimbledon ’90)
   # the first edition with courts without tramlines
   # the strongest line-up in history (all seeded guys were in the Top 20, four unseeded – former Top 10ers)… looking in retrospect only Pimek (took part as the best Belgian) didn’t achieve anything interesting in tennis
   # tie-breaks at 6-all in the decider (previously a two-game advantage required)
   # for the first time the champion received a check which was an equivalent of the total prize money in the majority of the ATP events at the time ($225,000)!
   It’s been also a special tournament to me because the first one I consciously followed (since quarterfinals).
   I’d argue that it was a tournament which made a huge impact on the rest of career of the 19-year-old Ivanisevic [11]. The Yugoslav won two matches facing match points, in the final he saved a mini-set point with an ace, he also struck an ace on set point in the tie-break, and it all perhaps allowed him to realize that his tricky lefty serve was the key to win tight sets & matches which ultimately turned into a double-edged sword because when he fully matured physically, he was able to risk his second serve a lot and paid for it many times in the 90s. For the 27-year-old Leconte [22] that event marked the end of his stable position in the broader tennis elite. After seven years of being a Top 30 player, he dropped outside the Top 100 the following year and because of injuries in the years 1991-96 he wasn’t a regular ATP player.

   Results:

   First round:
   Masur d. Haarhuis 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5)
   Woodbridge d. Novacek 6-4, 6-3
   Cahill d. Korda 6-3, 6-4
   Leconte d. Prpic 6-3, 6-4
   Cash d. Fromberg 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
   Hlasek d. Davin 6-1, 6-2
   Gustafsson d. Pimek 6-1, 6-4
   Mansdorf d. Mayotte 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

   Second round:
   (1)Edberg d. Masur 6-3, 6-1
   (8)Aguilera d. Woodbridge 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
   (5)Chesnokov d. Cahill w/o
   Leconte d. (3)B.Gilbert 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(2)
   Cash d. (6)Perez-Roldan 7-6(3), 6-3
   (4)Ivanisevic d. Hlasek 6-4, 7-6(3)
   (7)Courier d. Gustafsson 6-3, 6-2
   Mansdorf d. (2)Gomez 6-2, 7-6(6)

   Quarterfinals:
   (1)Edberg d. (8)Aguilera 6-4, 6-3
   Leconte d. (5)Chesnokov 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
   (4)Ivanisevic d. Cash 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 – 2 m.p.
   Mansdorf d. (7)Courier 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3)

   Semifinals:
   Leconte d. (1)Edberg 7-5, 3-6, 6-0
   (4)Ivanisevic d. Mansdorf 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(7) – 2 m.p.

   Final:
   (4)Ivanisevic d. Leconte 6-2, 7-6(6), 4-6, 4-6, 6-1

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