1 Response to sydney03_milan04

1. Voo de Mar says:

   March 24, 2021 at 1:09 pm

   Two similar finals in terms of scoreline & match-time, that were won by experienced players, who claimed their sole ATP titles in dramatic fashion, and in both cases it was rather tough over the years to expect they would notch such victories some day… Stats of 1/3 of those finals included to the picture (aces, double faults, break points valid throughout) – Sydney: the entire 3rd set, Milan: both tie-breaks and six other games

   Prior to 2003, Hyung-Taik [85], the 27-year-old man from South Korea, had played only one ATP final (Houston ’01) and one semifinal (Brighton ’00). In Sydney he underwent unbelievable metamorphosis – won three tight matches in qualies against non-important players, and then all of a sudden advanced to the final not dropping a set, defeating three very good players (in the quarterfinal, potentially the toughest opponent Safin gave him a walkover). Nevertheless, in the final Hyung-Taik was a huge underdog against the rising 23-year-old Ferrero [4], who will be the best player in the world nine months later. The Spaniard took the 1st set convincingly, but weird things started to happen at the end of the 2nd set. He saved seven set points at various stages to be two points away from the title, but the Korean converted his eighth set point. Ferrero was even closer to victory in the 3rd set, but squandered a match point at 6:5* when Hyung-Taik forced a forehand error to win six points in a row in total. That one mini-break at the beginning of the tie-break was decisive – at 6:4 the Korean converted his first match point after a 14-stroke rally (Ferrero’s another FH error). “I still can’t believe it,” Lee said, speaking through a translator. “Winning in Sydney gives me a lot of pride and confidence and I’ve learned a lot of things this week.”
   The match duration: 2 hours 44 minutes. Points won in the deciding set: 45-40.

   HTL’s route to his lone title: qualies – Bachelot 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2; J.Vacek 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2; Henry 6-2, 6-7(8), 7-5
   1 Nicolas Lapentti 6-2, 6-0
   2 Andy Roddick 7-6(5), 7-5
   Q Marat Safin w/o
   S Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-3
   W Juan C. Ferrero 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) – 1 m.p.

   =============================================

   The situation with Dupuis [97] was anologous to Hyung-Taik’s. The 30-year-old Frenchman coming to Italy in February 2004, had reached only one final (Munich ’01) and one semifinal (Delray Beach ’02) at the ATP level. As opposed to Hyung-Taik, his chances in the last encounter seemed much higher because the ten-year-younger Ancic [107] was participating in his first ATP final. The only break of the final occurred at 2-all in the opener. In the 2nd set tie-break Dupuis squandered seven match points:
   6:2 (ace, volley winner, BH error, FH error)
   8:7 (service winner)
   10:9 (BH error)
   12:11 (ace)
   Exceptional misfortune, but on the fast surface Dupuis held four times easily in the decider, then at 4-all saved a mini-match point (ace) and another two mini-match points at 5-all (two service winners). In the deciding tie-break, Ancic saved match points Nos. 8 and 9 (ace, service winner), yet on the 10th match point, Dupuis fired an ace out-wide! “I cannot describe in words how happy I feel. To win an ATP title is such a big achievement for a player. I am 30 years old and feel fitter than ever. This victory gives me the motivation to work even harder in the future,” Dupuis said. “I had lost after having match points at the Australian Open (Todd Martin) and the challenger in Wroclaw (Mariusz Fyrstenberg), so obviously it was in the back of my mind after I wasted the seven match points in the second set.”
   The match duration: 2 hours 42 minutes.

   Dupuis’ route to his lone title:
   1 Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6(6)
   2 Ivo Heuberger 7-6(4), 6-3
   Q Mikhail Youzhny 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) – 2 m.p.
   S Gregory Carraz 6-4, 6-4
   W Mariio Ancic 6-4, 6-7(12), 7-6(5)

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