2 Responses to hamburg88carlsson_leconte

1. Voo de Mar says:

   April 2, 2025 at 1:13 pm

   Points won by each set: | 30-20, 30-18, 40-35 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   14 % Carlsson – 12 of 83
   21 % Leconte – 19 of 90

   The biggest title in Carlsson’s short, yet successful career. The light-blonde Swede captured nine titles, all by the age of 21, four of them after “best of five” finals, but in hindsight, Hamburg is the biggest one because two years later this event would be included to the prestigious Mercedes Super 9 series. Just like in the early 90s, Hamburg ’88 was behind Monte Carlo and Rome given the importance of clay-court events leading to the French Open, but more or less at the level of Forest Hills, an event held on green-clay, which disappeared from the calendar as a main-level tournament in 1990 (the last edition that year had an exho status)… Carlsson [14] defeated Leconte [20] in 2 hours and 12 minutes to collect the $68,000 winner check. It was quite surprising how easily he won the first two sets because one week earlier he had decisively lost to Leconte 4-6, 3-6 at Monte Carlo. In the 2nd set of their clash in Germany, the Frenchman began to attack the net with higher frequency, in vain, but he kept this attitude in the following set which finally met the expectations. Carlsson needed 7 deuces to hold in the opening game of that set, and got his only break leading 5:4 when Leconte’s backhand slice flew long on match point no. two. “I am very proud of this victory,” said Carlsson, who recently came back from an 8-month lay-off (knee injury). “I didn’t think it would go so smoothly.”

   Carlsson’s route to his 6th title:
   2 Pedro Rebolledo 6-1, 6-1
   3 Tore Meinecke 6-4, 6-2
   Q Claudio Mezzadri 6-0, 6-3
   S Jordi Arrese 6-4, 6-2
   W Henri Leconte 6-2, 6-1, 6-4

   Serve & volley: Carlsson 0, Leconte 11/25

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   April 2, 2025 at 1:34 pm

   Carlsson, the man who was using the most extreme forehand top-spin in the late 80s, having achieved very good results on clay in the years 1986-87, after claiming Madrid & Hamburg titles in 1988 not dropping a set, belonged to the favorites of Roland Garros ’88,
   but in the fourth round he was eliminated by his compatriot Jonas Svensson 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, and this is a big blow for his legacy; even though he devoted his short career entirely to the clay-courts, he never played a French Open quarterfinal

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