uo01sampras_agassi

Points won by each set: [ 48-45, 41-39, 43-38, 44-40 ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
40 % Sampras – 68 of 168
26 % Agassi – 45 of 170

A testimony of the great rivalry. The two best players of the 90s faced each other for the 32nd time during night session on the tennis biggest stadium to produce a magnificent spectacle consisted of four tie-breaks without a single break! # At the beginning nothing indicated that it’d end this way. In their previous three sets (Indian Wells & Los Angeles ’01), Agassi [2] broke Sampras [10] many times & had his opportunity in the 3rd game of the US Open quarter-final, then at 2:1* (40/0) Sampras wasted a triple break point – for another break point chance the crowd had to wait until the 3rd game of the 3rd set… Sampras led 6:3* in the tie-break, but lost it 7/9. The next two sets were actually identical, they lasted the same amount of time, and both Sampras grabbed with 7/2 tie-breaks (in the 2nd set he was two points away from a two-set deficit at 5:6). Sampras saved with an ace a mini-set point at 3:4 in the 4th set and won third consecutive tie-break 7/5 on his third match point (trailing 1:3* in it).

# Comparison of all-tie-break four-setters without a break:
Wimbledon 1999 (1R): Arthurs d. Santopadre 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6… 3 hours 1 minute… Total points: 196-171..? (aces: 24-13)
US Open ’01 (QF): Sampras d. Agassi 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6… 3 hours 32 minutes…. Total points: 176-162 (aces: 25-18)
Wimbledon ’02 (2R): Arthurs d. Dent 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6… 2 hours 54 minutes… Total points: 167-160 (aces: 32-13)

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