1 Response to uo98phil_johansson

1. Voo de Mar says:

   January 16, 2022 at 8:25 am

   Points won by each set: [ 35-39, 25-20, 39-40, 31-22, 54-48 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   42 % Philippoussis – 72 of 171
   31 % Johansson – 57 of 182

   Great opportunity for them both to reach the first major semifinal. In the Summer of ’98, Johansson [33] showed his new face; no-one before him with his height (180 cm) had been serving so hard (he recorded the fastest serve of the UO ’98 edition – 136 mph!)… An encounter based on regular holding the serve could have been expected, and indeed they produced one of the most tight & dramatic matches in the tournament history with plenty of unreturned serves & short rallies, however, already in the first 50 minutes – due to strong wind – the spectators witnessed as many as six breaks. In the deciding set, Philippoussis [22] escaped from being broken twice (four break points in total), then at 4-all he squandered five mini-match points, including 40/0. # In the 12/10 tie-break (the second longest deciding tie-break in the US Open history at the time) the Swede had three match points: *6:5 (the Aussie player forced an error with aggressive FH return), 7:6 (service winner) and 9:8 (an ace). The Australian converted his third match point with a powerful serve to finish the 3-hour 26-minute contest on Arthur Ashe stadium. Five years later, en route to his second and last major final, Philippoussis prevails again in a dramatic 5th set – that time against other unexpected quarter-finalist – Alexander Popp – with four mini-match points saved.

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