1 Response to rg96sampras_bruguera

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 28, 2021 at 9:06 am

   Points won by each set: | 27-20, 33-29, 39-49, 21-28, 38-27 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   34 % Sampras – 61 of 179
   31 % Bruguera – 41 of 132

   [1] Sampras’ best Roland Garros match among 37 he played there? I’d say so… # Admittedly Bruguera is one of three RG champions Sampras defeated on Centre Court in Paris (always in five-setters), but when he ousted Muster, the Austrian had been coming back from an injury being four years before his lone Parisian title while when Sampras eliminated Courier, the fellow American was already a few years after his prime (the 1991-92 champion). Bruguera, the French Open 1993-94 champion, reached the semifinals of ’95 and the final of ’97, so in the mid 90s he was always among the four best players in Paris except that 1996 year when an injury (right ankle) at the beginning of the season caused that he dropped in the ranking which made him unseeded, no. 23 in ATP. Six years later when the number of seeds was extended from 16 to 32, they could face each other the earliest in the round of last 16…
   It’s quite remarkable that Bruguera needed 15 break points (!) to get his first break, it happened in the opening game of the 4th set after a 7/2 tie-break. Sampras obtained his vital break at 1:0 in the 5th set with a bunch of furious attacks to the net. In the last game of the match he trailed 0/30 to win the last four points. Even though the match lasted “only” 3 hours, Sampras seemed exceptionally tired. He had easily lost his two previous clay-court matches to Bruguera, so he knew that his only chance to prevail was to play his best tennis: he was serving a lot (47 points more on serve!), attacking the net constantly behind the 1st serve; he was a frequent visitor at the net also behind his 2nd serve following aggressive forehands and following different types of backhands in Bruguera’s service games, so it was a super physical match for him, the energy input was maximal. Who knows what would have happened in the semifinal that year vs Kafelnikov if the exhausted Sampras had won against Bruguera in straight sets…

   # Comparison of Sampras’ five-set wins on Philippe Chatrier court against French Open champions:
   1991 (1R): Sampras d. Muster 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4… 3 hours 21 minutes… Total points: 154-144
   1996 (2R): Sampras d. Bruguera 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3… 2 hours 59 minutes… Total points: 158-153
   1996 (QF): Sampras d. Courier 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4… 3 hours 39 minutes… Total points: 154-146

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