Points won by each set: [ 40-34, 26-13 ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
51 % Rafter – 29 of 56
28 % Damm – 16 of 57
Rafter [6] came to the Netherlands having lost 5 out of 6 matches, and he barely survived the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals he regained his good disposal to win the last three matches easily. [85] Damm’s fifth and last ATP final – lost them all. He was quite unlucky in the first set – held six times without any problems and began the tie-break with a winning overhead, but his ball was called ‘out’ and instead of leading 1:0 on serve a moment later he trailed 0:5. The Aussie finished the event with two consecutive aces.
Rafter’s route to his 2nd title:
1 Daniel Vacek 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
2 Andrei Medvedev 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(7) – 1 m.p.
Q Sjeng Schalken 6-1, 6-4
S Dennis van Scheppingen 6-3, 6-4
W Martin Damm 7-6(2) 6-2
Czech players, Vacek & Damm (serve-and-volleyers and peers) defeated by Rafter in that event, had very similar careers.
They both lost all their five ATP finals:
Vacek:
1994 – Copenhagen
1995 – Marseille, Moscow
1997 – Rotterdam
1999 – Toulouse
Damm:
1996 – Seoul, Long Island, Beijing
1997 – Copenhagen
1998 – Rosmalen
Their records in doubles finals: Vacek 25-15 (three major titles) and Damm 40-24 (one major title)