1 Response to masters00_kuerten_agassi

1. Voo de Mar says:

   November 19, 2020 at 9:23 am

   Points won by each set: | 32-28, 36-27, 32-31 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   35 % Kuerten – 35 of 98
   30 % Agassi – 27 of 88

   A one year trip to Portugal, and the first time under the ‘Tennis Masters Cup’ name (just like the previous three editions: indoor hard) after 10 years in Germany. The final lasted 2 hours 6 minutes, eight minutes longer than their ’round robin’ match won by Agassi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 (one break of serve decided each set). Guga broke: in the opening game, at 2-all in the 2nd and 3rd sets. He saved break points in each set… Thanks to the triumph Kuerten finished the 2000 season as the best player in the world. At the beginning of the tournament it seemed quite unpredictable because No. 1 Marat Safin was considered a better indoor player, and after Kuerten’s loss to Agassi, Kuerten’s another round robin defeat would mean Safin’s automatic confirmation/coronation. The Russian lost in the semifinals, and then the Brazilian needed to win the semifinal and the final against the ageing, yet best players of the previous decade: Sampras & Agassi – with the help of the Portuguese crowd, the Portuguese native speaker somehow managed to do it! “This is the happiest day of my life. After my opening match of the tournament for a few hours I already felt I was out” said Kuerten, “I was really hurt. But every day I woke up things went better and better and I think I finished it in the perfect way. I felt amazingly relaxed on the court but I was also full of energy all the time.” Kuerten finished the year 75 points ahead of Safin. In retrospect, their epic Hamburg final was decisive.

   Kuerten’s route to his 10th title:
   rr. Andre Agassi 6-4, 4-6, 3-6
   rr. Magnus Norman 7-5, 6-3
   rr. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-3, 6-4
   S Pete Sampras 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4
   W Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

   # Kuerten 7 points away from losing to Sampras at *3:4 (30/15) in the 3rd set

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