1 Response to basel93stich_edberg

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 21, 2023 at 2:28 pm

   Points won by each set: | 31-27, 46-53, 31-23, 30-18 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   36 % Stich – 52 of 141
   32 % Edberg – 38 of 118

   It was their third meeting in 1993, in each of the previous two, Stich lost just two games (6-2, 6-0 at WTC and 6-1, 6-1 – dead DC rubber). Even though both those matches were played on clay (Edberg’s least favorite surface), it was really staggering that the Swede [5] couldn’t hold against the German [6], also not a clay-court specialist. In Basel the story was different, until the mid 3rd set Edberg actually looked as a more convincing player. In the 2nd set he wasted plenty of chances: break points at 3:0 and 4:1, four set points at 5:2, two set points on serve at 5:3, ultimately he took the tie-breaker after his eighth set point. A break for Stich (after two deuces) as he led 3:2 in the 3rd set was decisive. Since that moment the German was freely swinging on his serve. In the 4th set he had held three times “at love” before being forced to save a break point in the last game of the match with a stretch-volley. Stich & Edberg would meet three times more that Autumn in Europe (Stich won their H2H 5-1 that year). With the title in Switzerland, Stich began his supremacy over all other players in the last quarter of the season, indoors. # He’d add another two titles, and each time he was winning the finals against top players in four-setters (always ‘6-2’ in the last set).

   Stich’s route to his 10th title:
   1 Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-2
   2 Rodolphe Gilbert 6-4, 7-6(5)
   Q Magnus Larsson 6-2, 6-1
   S Martin Damm 7-6(6), 6-4
   W Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2

   # Comparison of Stich’s three indoor titles in autumn ’93:
   Basel: Stich d. Edberg 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2… 2 hours 41 minutes… Total points: 138-121… Points behind the serve: 36-32%
   Stockholm: Stich d. Ivanisevic 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2… 2 hours 33 minutes… Total points: 140-131… Points behind the serve: 41-45%
   Frankfurt: Stich d. Sampras 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2… 2 hours 57 minutes… Total points: 142-132… Points behind the serve: 40-25%
   

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