1 Response to rg98rios_costa

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 26, 2020 at 5:29 pm

   Stats of the last three sets (73 %); number of aces, double faults & break points correct for the entire contest.

   Total points: 101-79 […, 35-30, 31-21, 35-28]
   Points won directly on serve:
   19 % Rios – 18 of 92
   14 % Costa – 13 of 88

   It’s been so many years years since I watched it ‘live’ so I don’t remember exactly, but I think I treated that match as a premature final. Rios [3] was the best in the world in the first half of 1998 (titles at Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Rome and the Aussie Open final) while Costa [13] – having played three five-setters against Muster (2-1 for Muster) when the Austrian seemed unbeatable on clay – was among favorites to win the French Open in the years 1996-98… he fulfilled expectations in 2002 when paradoxically not too many people counted on him. Rainy-chilly day (17 degrees), and an animated Costa [13], who withdrew from the Italian Open final vs Rios a few weeks before, led 6-4 4:2* (deuce) when Rios [3] turned the tables despite some problems with his right thigh. In the 4th set there were six breaks of serve in 9 games, Costa lost his serve four times in a row and the match after 2 hours 38 minutes. He had won 14 matches in a row, including very easy path in the first three rounds in Paris.

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