1 Response to rg96stich_rosset

1. Voo de Mar says:

   May 22, 2020 at 3:57 pm

   Total points in the pic incorrect (blame the ATP website for it)

   Points won by each set: 87-66 | 28-25, 30-23, 29-18 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   36 % Stich – 30 of 82
   33 % Rosset – 24 of 71

   Stich’s majestic performance on a very hot day (32°C degrees) as he becomes the last serve-and-volleyer to advance to the French Open final (albeit he didn’t play a pure S/V tennis that year in Paris). Although he never reached No. 1 in the world, he managed to accomplish something actually reserved only for the greatest Open Era guys – namely played a major final at three different venues following his triumph at Wimbledon ’91 and a defeat in the US Open final ’94 (the other player who did it despite never reaching No. 1 is Guillermo Vilas; the Argentine took part in finals of the events held in Melbourne, Paris & New York). Against Rosset [15], Stich [16] notched a five-game winning streaks twice; in the opener from 3-all, then between *5:4 (2nd set) & 4:0* (3rd set). He needed six match points to win the semifinal which may be counted to 13 MPs required to beat the Swiss giant (Rosset had saved 7 match points in their previous encounter in Halle ’95)! 🙂 Rosset participated in as many as 51 Grand Slam events but advanced to the quarterfinals just two times, the semifinal enjoyed once – when he lost to Stich in Paris ’96.

   MultiStar’s comment from the previous version of the pic:

   I have read this match was played at the hottest recorded day in the history of the French Open. In the other semifinal that day Pete Sampras lost in straight sets to Kafelnikov. The French Open 1996 were quite remarkable in general. Because of the warm and dry weather (with the exception of maybe two days) during the fortnight, the courts were played very fast and this was to the advantage of serve & volleyers like Stich and Sampras or aggressive baseliners like Kafelnikov or Rosset. Even Stefan Edberg played a decent tournament in his last year on the tour and reached the fourth round, beating strong baseliners like Moya and Chang, before he was beaten by Rosset.

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