Points won by each set: | 27-33, 28-32, 42-34, 42-37, 43-31 |
Points won directly behind the serve:
25 % Gasquet – 45 of 179
34 % Roddick – 59 of 170

Court no. 1. Amazing match due to several factors: first of all it’s such a rarity that a player who wins the first two sets, loses another three being within a few points from winning them all. Another interesting thing that Roddick [3] had established a record in number of tie-breaks won in a row before the match – 18, including four in that Wimbledon, every time clinching the previous round with the help of a tie-break. So it seemed like a good pattern, certainly Roddick didn’t worry after dropping a 4:2* lead in the 3rd set. At 5-all Gasquet [14] won a spectacular rally diving to his awesome backhand, and from that moment, his best stroke was magnificiently working to the end. With a backhand-volley he saved a mini-match point in that game. Another vital moment came at *3:4 (15/30) in the following set – Gasquet avoided another mini-MP with beautiful tennis in two straight points. Being two points away from defeat at 5:6 (30-all), the Frenchman got the point using his backhand in two consecutive strokes, then fired an ace and just like in the previous tie-break he delivered a thunder backhand down the line on set point. I still didn’t believe he would win the match because his five-set record was 3-6 at the time (Roddick’s 9-9). Meanwhile, in the decider Gasquet was serving better than Roddick (!), he easily held seven times (two deuces at 5-all, his only challenging game), and led 7:6 after three consecutive aces. Serving for the third time to stay in the match, Roddick played poorly, and lost the last two points with hopeless attacks to the net. # You may assume that a player wins/loses such a match just once in the lifetime, but Gasquet will win similar match again while Roddick will lose similar too (Federer, Wimbledon ’09).

Serve & volley: Gasquet 4/7, Roddick 4/8

# Comparison of Gasquet’s two similar wins (in parentheses points away from losing the sets he won):
Wimbledon ’07 (QF): Gasquet d. Roddick 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3), 8-6… 3 hours 34 minutes… Total points: 182-167… (5, 2, 6)
US Open ’13 (4R): Gasquet d. Raonic 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(9), 7-5… 4 hours 40 minutes… Total points: 195-207… (2, 1, 4)