1 Response to gstaad98corretja_becker

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 5, 2020 at 6:13 am

   Points won by each set: [ 44-41, 34-33, 30-20 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   30 % Corretja – 30 of 97
   30 % Becker – 32 of 105

   With this title, Corretja [9] entered the best six months of his life when he made a transition from one of the best clay-courters into the second best player in the world (four titles on three surfaces). # Becker’s [119] advancement to his sixth & last clay-court final was completely unexpected. Since Wimbledon ’97 he had a status of a semi-retired player, just dropped outside the Top 100 for the first time since 1984, and barely survived the first round saving a triple match point on serve against the local player (George Bastl). Becker took advantage of the high altitude risking his second serves and defeated in the next three matches players to whom he had been supposed to lose (Pioline, Mantilla, Rios – all of them in straight-setters!). And also he could hypothetically lead 2-0 in sets vs Corretja if he had converted his chances in both sets – had a double break point at 3-all in the 1st set and a triple set point at 5:4* (40/0) in the 2nd set – made three backhand mistakes, two of them returning to Corretja’s serves. It was the crucial moment, since then the Spaniard grabbed 9 of the last 12 games, finishing the contest with a volley-volley exchange. Corretja didn’t drop his serve in the last 8 sets he played in the tournament.

   Corretja’s route to his 6th title:
   1 Oliver Gross 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
   2 Slava Dosedel 6-0, 7-5
   Q Albert Costa 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
   S Filip Dewulf 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3
   W Boris Becker 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-3

   # Becker’s six clay-court final defeats:
   Monte Carlo ’89: Mancini 5-7, 6-2, 6-7(4), 5-7
   Hamburg ’90: Aguilera 1-6, 0-6, 6-7(7)
   Monte Carlo ’91: Bruguera 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-7(4)
   Rome ’94: Sampras 1-6, 2-6, 2-6
   Monte Carlo ’95: Muster 6-4, 7-5, 1-6, 6-7(6), 0-6
   Gstaad ’98: Corretja 6-7(5), 5-7, 3-6

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