2 Responses to rg94bruguera_rafter

1. Voo de Mar says:

   June 8, 2023 at 5:45 pm

   Points won by each set: | 38-31, 28-21, 27-8 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   23 % Bruguera – 16 of 68
   29 % Rafter – 25 of 85

   First meeting between them, Rafter was self-confident after eliminating clay-court specialist Muster in round three, but Bruguera [6] dealt much better with serve-and-volleyers overall, and as a defending champion he was familiar with Centre Court in Paris while Rafter made his debut on the biggest court in the French capital. Only the 1st set was competitive. Once Bruguera jumped to a 2:0* lead in the 2nd set, the almost two years younger Rafter [26] seemed disinterested… Bruguera, faced two serve-and-volleyers in each edition of his twofold conquering French Open; Leconte & Sampras in 1993, the following year Damm & Rafter. None of those four players threatened the Spaniard. Bruguera and Rafter meet in Paris two more times; their match is similarly one-sided (6-3, 6-1, 7-6) in the first round of ’95, but in the semifinal ’97 Bruguera wins after entertaining four-setter.

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   June 8, 2023 at 6:58 pm

   Four weeks after their French Open clash, they face each other in the Wimbledon second round, and Bruguera
   – rather unexpectedly –
   survives 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 13-11 after 4 hours 21 minutes on court no. 1, saving 4 match points (two at *5:6, two at 10:11)

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