1 Response to kitzbuhel92sampras_mancini

1. Voo de Mar says:

   August 8, 2023 at 1:46 pm

   Points won by each set: [ 29-20, 39-29, 30-19 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   36 % Sampras – 29 of 80
   20 % Mancini – 18 of 86

   Philips Head Cup in Kitzbuhel ’92 it’s a special edition in the tournament history because players ranked as Nos. 1 & 3 appeared in the Austrian resort! It happened because both Jim Courier & Pete Sampras wanted to adjust themselves to the clay-courts before the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Almost both suffered shocking defeats in their opening matches – Courier lost to Diego Perez [157] of Uruguay # while Sampras survived a match point against a Spanish player German Lopez [104], for whom that match point turned into a career-highlight to some degree. “Lopez played very erratically and unpredictably,” Sampras said. “Besides that, I had too little patience.” In the following matches Sampras was more patient, his serve was working very well and he gained his first clay-court title beating in 1 hour 49 minutes Alberto Mancini [38] considered as one of the best clay-courters at the time. The Argentine led 5:3* in the 2nd set, serving at 5:4 he was two points away from grabbing the set. Mancini was only 23 then, but that final marked his ‘swan song’, afterwards he began to struggle with injuries and prematurely finished his career, never reaching another ATP final. The Sampras-Mancini contest featured the only Kitzbuhel final in the 90s without a European.

   Sampras’ route to his 10th title:
   2 German Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) – 1 m.p.
   3 Tomas Carbonell 6-4, 6-1
   Q Gabriel Marcus 6-3, 7-6(4)
   S Marcelo Filippini 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0
   W Alberto Mancini 6-3, 7-5, 6-3

   # Perez snapped Courier’s 20-match winning streak on clay (outdoors)

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