2 Responses to daviscup90usa_australia

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 30, 2023 at 10:59 am

   Stats without the first six games (number of aces valid for the entire match)

   Points won by each set: | X, 33-26, 35-38, 29-21, 36-37 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   ~15 % Agassi – 20 of 150
   ~20 % Fromberg – 35 of 160

   Two biggest tennis nations of the 20th Century and a game of chess between the team captains, former Davis Cup players at the level of finals: Tom Gorman (b. 1946) and Neale Fraser (b. 1933). The Americans chose clay (unnatural surface for them) to reduce a potential impact of the Australian experienced serve-and-volleyers (Masur & Cash), Fraser designated Fromberg (debutante, finished the regular season with 7 consecutive defeats) and Cahill (just one Davis Cup win in singles prior). A few months before, Fromberg [32] had defeated Agassi [4] in Cincinnati, and being full of confidence he raced to a 5:2* lead. Agassi had a triple game point to level at 5 games apiece, but failed. In the 3rd set there was only one break, it occurred in the tenth game, earlier Agassi couldn’t convert a double mini-set point at 4-all. In 1990 during vital Davis Cup rubbers there was still a 10-minute break after the first three sets when both teams left the court, it was the aftermath of old rules (until 1989 no tie-breaks in Davis Cup rubbers, thus in theory the first three sets could be much longer than normal three sets in “the best of five” format – Becker vs McEnroe it’s the best exemplification of that). That break helped Agassi, he returned to the court as a different animal and overcame Fromberg with his baseline prowess. The American already led *5:2 in the decider when lost two games at “love”. Serving for the second time to clinch the opener, Agassi blew a double match point (an attack behind the second serve to the net included), but on his third match point he hit a forehand winner to get the 3-hour 36-minute victory (at the time his longest) in front of ~18K US fans. “I felt like I was losing it more than he was winning it,” Agassi said referring to the flu that haunted him a week before. “There’s no question the virus has taken a toll on me. I was tired. I was much weaker than I thought I would be.” It was the reason Agassi retired in a dead rubber after winning a set. “It was my first Davis Cup match and my first break, and when I came back out I was a little bit cold,” Fromberg said referring to the 10-minute break. “I felt the first game was really crucial.” – he lost his serve at 30 to start the 4th set.

   USA d. AUSTRALIA 3-2 in Sun Coast Dome, St Petersburg, FL, USA: Clay (Indoor)
   Andre Agassi (USA) d. Richard Fromberg (AUS) 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
   Michael Chang (USA) d. Darren Cahill (AUS) 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-0
   Rick Leach / Jim Pugh (USA) d. Pat Cash / John Fitzgerald (AUS) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(2)
   Darren Cahill (AUS) d. Andre Agassi (USA) 6-4, 4-6 ret.
   Richard Fromberg (AUS) d. Michael Chang (USA) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

   Serve & volley: Agassi 1/3, Fromberg 1/1

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   October 30, 2023 at 11:33 am

   Fromberg it’s a special case in terms of Davis Cup finals, he took part in two (second in 1993) even though he never played a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and never advanced to the Top 20. Actually in 1990 he reached his pinnacle at the age of 20. At the time he was in the mix with his peers like Magnus Larsson and Marc Rosset, all three ~200 cm players with powerful serves and huge forehands (interestingly Fromberg collected his first two titles defeating them in the finals). Both Larsson and Rosset triumphed in very prestigious events (Grand Slam Cup & the Olympics) and reached major semifinals (both in Paris). Fromberg was nowhere near to achieve that, enough said he reached just two “Mercedes Super 9” quarterfinals (Cincinnati ’90 and Rome ’91). Their ranking at the end of 1990:
   22 – Rosset, 32 – Fromberg, 56 – Larsson

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