The two Eurocard Open finals (however on two different surfaces in terms of the colors, both on carpet) between the same players, and twice four-setters: the first one lasted 166 minutes, the second one 115 minutes.
Points won by each set: | 46-49, 35-28, 36-33, 33-25 |
41 % Ivanisevic – 59 of 143
28 % Edberg – 40 of 141
105 aces in five matches, so 21 aces per match (!) – before Ivanisevic no-one could get such a ratio even in majors. In the quarterfinals, against the best player in the world at the time – Courier, Ivanisevic saved two match points at 4:5 and another one at *6:7 in the tie-break. The Croat didn’t lose an MP-up match almost four years since then. Ivanisevic entered the final having lost three consecutive matches to Edberg [2], finished him with five aces in the last game – served at least 30 for the first time in his career thanks to that. I’d say it was a turning point in Ivanisevic’s [9] career. The Croat went to Germany with a new Mohawk haircut – he said his aerodynamic hairstyle made him faster 😉 True or not, he was serving during the event like no-one before:
Ivanisevic’s route to his 4th title:
1 Bobo Zivojinovic 6-3, 7-6(5) – 16 aces
2 Olivier Delaitre 6-3, 7-6(7) – 13 aces
Q Jim Courier 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) – 18 aces – 3 m.p.
S Alexander Volkov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 – 26 aces
W Stefan Edberg 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 – 32 aces
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Points won by each set: | 32-35, 32-26, 26-16, 28-14 |
Points won directly behind the serve:
34 % Edberg – 33 of 96
33 % Ivanisevic – 38 of 113
The Swede [5] entered the final having lost six matches in succession to Ivanisevic [7]. After dropping the 1st set, Edberg had saved a couple of break points to open the 2nd set, and from that moment he was holding quite comfortably to the end delivering one of his best performances. Edberg appeared three times in Stuttgart-indoors, always playing the finals (2-1 record).
Edberg’s route to his 40th title:
1 Mark-Kevin Goellner 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-0
2 Jason Stoltenberg 7-6(0), 6-1
Q Magnus Gustafsson 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
S Sergi Bruguera 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
W Goran Ivanisevic 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2