2 Responses to uo99pioline_kuerten

1. Voo de Mar says:

   August 23, 2022 at 11:28 am

   Points won by each set: | 28-32, 48-41, 44-46, 47-45 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   25 % Pioline – 40 of 159
   38 % Kuerten – 66 of 172

   8/6, 16/14, 10/8 in three consecutive tie-breaks, there’s no other match in the Grand Slam history with so many tie-break points won by one player, so it’s quite incredible that such an unusual match took place on the biggest tennis court in a latter stage of the event! The 30-year-old Pioline [26] saved three set points in two tie-breaks, in the first of them he was two points away:
   …2nd set…
   – Kuerten [6] led 4:2*, he had a few game points when he was broken at 4:3 for the only time in the match
   – the tie-break he lost on second set point in quite controversial circumstances: the linesman called “foot fault” on his good first serve, then the Brazilian risked his second serve DTT but another linesman called it “out” – the ball could be good, it was still seven years before the hawk-eye system introduction
   …3rd set…
   – Kuerten held as many as four games at ‘love’
   – Pioline saved the set points on his serve at 6:7 (BH volley), 10:11 (smash), 12:13 (Kuerten’s BH pass ~2 cm wide)
   – earlier he led 5:2, 6:4, ultimately he converted his 8th SP
   – it’s quite remarkable that Pioline played the entire tie-break constantly attacking the net as server & receiver because earlier he had been applying regular S/V tactics only in the opener
   – the Frenchman won the point of the match to lead 10:9*, there was a 25-stroke rally, Kuerten approached the net the only time in the tie-break as a receiver, played a good high BH-volley, yet Pioline passed him with his FH down the line on the run, losing his balance in the last moment… Kuerten violated the rules, he went to Pioline’s side and congratulated him the amazing point, the umpire should have given “Guga” a warning, but he didn’t
   …4th set…
   – Kuerten needed a treatment to his left leg
   – Pioline saved a break point in the 1st game of the set, and another three set points in the tie-break, but that time two on serve: at 5:6 (smash) and 7:8 (service winner)… at 6:7* Kuerten helped him, making a backhand error

   The beginning absolutely didn’t indicate it’d be a match totally dominated by serves for the last 2.5 hours because Pioline faced break points in his opening two service games while Kuerten saved a break point at 0:1 and escaped from 0/30 at 1:2. It was the third and last meeting between these two very gifted players, Pioline won them all. Three years later Kuerten will suffer a similar loss on the same court #

   Serve & volley: Pioline 25/33, Kuerten 1/1

   # Comparison of Kuerten’s three similar 4-set defeats on US hardcourts:
   US Open 1999 (QF): Pioline d. Kuerten 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6… 3 hours 22 minutes… Total points: 167-164… Breaks: 1-2
   Miami 2000 (F): Sampras d. Kuerten 6-1, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6… 3 hours 18 minutes… Total points: 160-147… Breaks: 3-1
   US Open 2002 (4R): Schalken d. Kuerten 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6… 3 hours 14 minutes… Total points: 161-143… Breaks: 4-3

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   August 23, 2022 at 12:12 pm

   Pioline had experienced something similar already six years before when he defeated Younes el Aynaoui 7-6(8), 7-6(14) in the first round of Lyon

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