3 out of 5 sets in both cases (“Becker-Stich” the last three sets while “Krajicek-Phil” the first two sets & the last set without 4 games). Number of break points, aces, unreturned serves & double faults are correct for the latter match
Serve & volley (the last three sets):
53 % Becker – 31 of 58… 50 % Stich – 30 of 60
Points won by each set: [ 38-49, 45-43, ?, ?, ? ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
40 % Krajicek – 83 of 205… 50 % Philippoussis – 93 of 184
Serve & volley (three sets):
48 % Krajicek – 31 of 64… 48 % Philippoussis – 15 of 31
Atypical picture… I wanted to compare here two similar Wimbledon matches of a tennis period which I would call “hard S&V 90s” referring to the early 00s too, so the period when men’s tennis at Wimbledon was dominated by serve-and-volley players who possessed powerful serves, allowing them to get plenty of cheap points. Matches like these two, consisted of huge number of unreturned serves & deprived of baseline rallies, probably won’t come back anymore… In these two more than 4-hour matches, the victors displayed magnificent service performances: Becker wasn’t even broken in 27 service games while Krajicek lost his serve just once in 29 service games.
Becker [4] and Stich [8] entered the Centre Court to co-create the only dramatic contest off twelve they played against each other (Becker edged 8:4). The older German was three points away from winning the 2nd set tie-break and had set point at 5:4* (40/30) in the 3rd set – Stich played BH volley winner then, and took both tie-breaks 7/5. Stich lost his amazing service timing at the beginning of the 4th set and Becker jumped to 4:0* (30/15). The only break of the decider came at 1-all; in the last game Becker needed three match points & saving a break point before ultimately forcing Stich’s return error. Stich hit 13 of his 21 aces in the first two sets.
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Krajicek [1093] and Philippoussis [104] belonged to the most dangerous grass-court players in that period, so their appearance on court No. 1 in the last 16, didn’t shock despite their low rankings (Krajicek’s extremely low ranking was caused by his 1.5 year break). The Dutchman was struggling with his serve in the first hour of the match, he dropped his serve at 1-all in the 2nd set, and when he trailed *3:5 it seemed that his ‘6-7, 4-6, 4-6’ loss was inevitable. He managed to break back though, being two points away from a 0-2 deficit and hung in there winning the second tie-break with the help of two backhand passing-shots. The tie-break scores: 2/7, 7/4, 1/7, 7/5… In the 4th set, at 5-all, Krajicek withstood a double mini-match point (forcing a forehand error with his volley, and hitting an ace); in the ensuing tie-break he built a 6:3* lead before converting the third set point. He got the decisive break in the opening game of the 5th set, playing again a bit above his standards… The match was scheduled on Monday, but kicked off on Tuesday due to rain, halted at *2:1 for Krajicek in the 5th set, and finished late on Wednesday (another rainy day)
At *3:4 (40-all) in the 2nd set, Becker needed 7 tries to begin a point vs Stich (he failed the first serve, then hit the net-cord with five consecutive second serves!!) – I’ve never seen something similar
Krajicek and Stich played against each other similar match to these two described above
Tie-break frequency in careers of the best “90s” serve-and-volley players:
64% – Greg Rusedski (267 tie-breaks in 549 matches)
60% – Mark Philippoussis (311 in 517)
53% – Pete Sampras (522 in 984)
53% – Todd Martin (344 in 645)
53% – Richard Krajicek (336 in 630)
51% – Goran Ivanisevic (483 in 932)
50% – Michael Stich (283 in 561)
48% – Patrick Rafter (267 in 549)
45% – Marc Rosset (360 in 784)
45% – Guy Forget (307 in 668)
43% – Boris Becker (404 in 927)
42% – Tim Henman (329 in 770)
38% – Stefan Edberg (413 in 1071)
3 out of 5 sets in both cases (“Becker-Stich” the last three sets while “Krajicek-Phil” the first two sets & the last set without 4 games). Number of break points, aces, unreturned serves & double faults are correct for the latter match
Serve & volley (the last three sets):
53 % Becker – 31 of 58… 50 % Stich – 30 of 60
Points won by each set: [ 38-49, 45-43, ?, ?, ? ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
40 % Krajicek – 83 of 205… 50 % Philippoussis – 93 of 184
Serve & volley (three sets):
48 % Krajicek – 31 of 64… 48 % Philippoussis – 15 of 31
Atypical picture… I wanted to compare here two similar Wimbledon matches of a tennis period which I would call “hard S&V 90s” referring to the early 00s too, so the period when men’s tennis at Wimbledon was dominated by serve-and-volley players who possessed powerful serves, allowing them to get plenty of cheap points. Matches like these two, consisted of huge number of unreturned serves & deprived of baseline rallies, probably won’t come back anymore… In these two more than 4-hour matches, the victors displayed magnificent service performances: Becker wasn’t even broken in 27 service games while Krajicek lost his serve just once in 29 service games.
Becker [4] and Stich [8] entered the Centre Court to co-create the only dramatic contest off twelve they played against each other (Becker edged 8:4). The older German was three points away from winning the 2nd set tie-break and had set point at 5:4* (40/30) in the 3rd set – Stich played BH volley winner then, and took both tie-breaks 7/5. Stich lost his amazing service timing at the beginning of the 4th set and Becker jumped to 4:0* (30/15). The only break of the decider came at 1-all; in the last game Becker needed three match points & saving a break point before ultimately forcing Stich’s return error. Stich hit 13 of his 21 aces in the first two sets.
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Krajicek [1093] and Philippoussis [104] belonged to the most dangerous grass-court players in that period, so their appearance on court No. 1 in the last 16, didn’t shock despite their low rankings (Krajicek’s extremely low ranking was caused by his 1.5 year break). The Dutchman was struggling with his serve in the first hour of the match, he dropped his serve at 1-all in the 2nd set, and when he trailed *3:5 it seemed that his ‘6-7, 4-6, 4-6’ loss was inevitable. He managed to break back though, being two points away from a 0-2 deficit and hung in there winning the second tie-break with the help of two backhand passing-shots. The tie-break scores: 2/7, 7/4, 1/7, 7/5… In the 4th set, at 5-all, Krajicek withstood a double mini-match point (forcing a forehand error with his volley, and hitting an ace); in the ensuing tie-break he built a 6:3* lead before converting the third set point. He got the decisive break in the opening game of the 5th set, playing again a bit above his standards… The match was scheduled on Monday, but kicked off on Tuesday due to rain, halted at *2:1 for Krajicek in the 5th set, and finished late on Wednesday (another rainy day)
At *3:4 (40-all) in the 2nd set, Becker needed 7 tries to begin a point vs Stich (he failed the first serve, then hit the net-cord with five consecutive second serves!!) – I’ve never seen something similar
Krajicek and Stich played against each other similar match to these two described above
Tie-break frequency in careers of the best “90s” serve-and-volley players:
64% – Greg Rusedski (267 tie-breaks in 549 matches)
60% – Mark Philippoussis (311 in 517)
53% – Pete Sampras (522 in 984)
53% – Todd Martin (344 in 645)
53% – Richard Krajicek (336 in 630)
51% – Goran Ivanisevic (483 in 932)
50% – Michael Stich (283 in 561)
48% – Patrick Rafter (267 in 549)
45% – Marc Rosset (360 in 784)
45% – Guy Forget (307 in 668)
43% – Boris Becker (404 in 927)
42% – Tim Henman (329 in 770)
38% – Stefan Edberg (413 in 1071)