2 Responses to indianwells98rios_rusedski

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 4, 2022 at 5:00 pm

   Points won by each set: | 35-25, 48-45, 42-35, 37-25 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   34 % Rios – 48 of 138
   37 % Rusedski – 58 of 154

   I consider Indian Wells ’98 as an initiation of a very interesting period in men’s tennis which lasted until Hewitt’s supremacy at the end of 2001. For more than three years a few non-great players advanced to the top or were close to do that because the heroes of the first half of the 90s couldn’t be equally efficient anymore. March ’98 it was the beginning of the process: Sampras, Courier and Ivanisevic losing their sharpness, Chang injured, Becker and Muster getting old in tennis terms, Agassi making his comeback after a terrible ’97 season, and all of a sudden a bunch of very good players # (Rafter, and three left-handers: Rusedski, Rios, Korda) faced a possibility to reach the No. 1 in the world; these players could have only been delusional about it twelve months earlier. The all left-handed final, Rusedski [6] vs Rios [7], looked intriguing – the best server at the time against the best receiver, each of them facing a chance to advance to his highest position – No. 3. Their first & lone meeting, rather ugly, however, featured the second longest tie-break as far as the main-level finals are concerned (only Borg & McEnroe co-created a longer TB at Wimbledon ’80)… great quality tie-break by the way, they both delivered their best tennis # Rios was comfortably holding throughout, so losing a set despite five set points wasted, including a double SP (the Brit saved them all with winners), didn’t upset him at all. He won four straight points from *3:4 in the 3rd set tie-break and Rusedski began fading in the 4th set; admittedly his impressive serve allowed him to lead 4:3, but the second break for Rios or a tie-break won by the Chilean seemed inevitable. Rios broke in the 9th game after Rusedski’s double fault & converted his first match point with a backhand passing-shot after 2 hours 46 minutes. Rusedski had his only break points in the first game of the final. “I think I went from worse to better” Rios said of his performance, “After I broke him in his first service game of the match, I think that was big, and I think I played pretty smart, holding my serve”.

   Rios’ route to his 7th title:
   2 Hendrik Dreekmann 6-4, 7-6(4)
   3 Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-3
   Q Petr Korda 6-4, 6-2
   S Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6(3), 6-3
   W Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-7(15), 7-6(4), 6-4

   # How the set points were saved in the 2nd set tie-break:
   *6:4 – BH volley & FH volley
   *6:7 – FH passing-shot
   7:8* – double fault
   *8:9 – FH volley error (net-cord helped Rios)
   10:9* – BH volley
   *10:11 – FH passing-shot
   12:11* – ace
   *12:13 – FH passing-shot
   14:13* – overhead
   *14:15 – Rusedski netted Rios’ 2nd serve
   15:16 – Rusedski converted his seventh set point with a FH volley

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   February 21, 2025 at 3:55 pm

   # Ranking of four players who had chances to become no. 1 in March 1998, exactly one year before (Indian Wells ’97):
   7 – Rios, 27 – Korda, 36 – Rusedski, 42 – Rafter

   Rusedski’s chances at Key Biscayne were purely theoretical – he arrived as No. 5,
   and had to win the title counting that Sampras, Korda, Rios and Rafter would lose in the early rounds

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