2 Responses to rg00kuerten_norman

1. Voo de Mar says:

   May 2, 2023 at 3:13 pm

   Points won by each set: | 37-29, 34-33, 21-34, 67-61 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   22 % Kuerten – 32 of 144
   10 % Norman – 18 of 172

   The two best clay-courters that year, and a third clay-court meeting between them in 2000. In the Italian Open final Norman took the upper hand 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, but on the following week Kuerten avenged it 6-4, 6-2 (Hamburg, quarterfinal). In the Parisian final, Kuerten [5] needed 11 match points in three different games (tie-breaks included) to clinch the victory after 3 hours 46 minutes (the longest four-setter in careers of them both)! Earlier on, he was serving at 2:4 in the 4th set. The 4th set, lasting 95 minutes, it is one of the longest sets in the Grand Slam finals, also the longest tie-break set I know in terms of total points played (128 points). Boris Becker, who awarded trophies to the players during the ceremony, said it was the best set he’d ever seen – Norman survived three service games in that set, fending off 11 break points (20 deuces). “What can I say?” Norman said. “I gave it all I had, 110 percent. I didn’t play my best match today, but I tried to hang in there, you know.” Following that event, Norman was never the same, admittedly he claimed three titles in the second part of the season, but that clay-court period ‘Rome-Hamburg-Paris’ when only Kuerten was able to beat him, certainly marks the peak of his tennis abilities.

   Kuerten’s route to his 8th title (2nd major):
   1 Andreas Vinciguerra 6-0, 6-0, 6-3
   2 Marcelo Charpentier 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2
   3 Michael Chang 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-4
   4 Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
   Q Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 ☆
   S Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
   W Magnus Norman 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6)

   ☆ Kuerten 5 points away from defeat to Kafelnikov and 8 points away from defeat to Ferrero

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   May 3, 2023 at 11:35 am

   ☆ The only other TB set I know when both players won more than 60 points:
   US Open 1998: Moya d. Chang 3-6, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3… 3rd set lasted 80 minutes (total points: 63-61)

   The two longest tie-break sets for over a decade had played Nicolas Massu, both in Davis Cup:
   2007: Sela 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6… 3rd set lasted 109 minutes (total points: 57-53)
   2009: Koubek 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6… 4th set lasted 108 minutes (total points: 56-51)

   His records have been overcome in Acapulco 2022
   A.Zverev d. Brooksby 3-6, 7-6, 6-2… 2nd set lasted 111 minutes (total points: 59-59)

   The longest TB set at Slams:
   US Open 2023: Djokovic d. D.Medvedev 6-3, 7-6, 6-3… 2nd set lasted 100 minutes (total points: 58-52)

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