1 Response to rg89chesnokov_wilander

1. Voo de Mar says:

   April 15, 2024 at 9:09 pm

   Points won by each set: | 34-27, 29-15, 42-36 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   5 % Chesnokov – 5 of 86
   9 % Wilander – 9 of 98

   Quite interesting H2H between these two guys playing very similar tennis on clay. They faced each other six times (always straight-setters on their favorite surface); despite Wilander [4] being much more accomplished player, Chesnokov [27] won three meetings, and what’s more interesting, he destroyed Wilander twice in Paris when the Swede was a defending champion! First it happened in 1986 (6-2, 6-3, 6-2) on court no. 1 when Chesnokov was relatively unknown, and again three years later on Centre Court when the Russian was in better form that season (Wilander admitted that in 1989 he was playing 80-90% of that he could deliver a year before). So the Russian edged their rivalry 8-6 in sets… For the first 90 minutes, on very slow wet court, Chesnokov was dealing better with long, steady rallies, presenting more power with ground-strokes. Then trailing 4-6, 0:5*, Wilander changed his tactics, he began mixing up (slices, more aggressive baseline shots, attacking the net), but wasted many chances to win the 3rd set: first he led 4:1* (30/15), then blew four set points – one at 5:2 (BH error) and a triple SP serving at 5:3 (two FH passing-shots & BH error).

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