1 Response to munich95martin_becker

1. Voo de Mar says:

   December 6, 2023 at 1:23 am

   Points won by each set: | 35-38, 33-25, 35-27, 48-45 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   37 % Martin – 55 of 147
   37 % Becker – 52 of 139

   # I’d argue it was Martin’s second and last win of this magnitude, by this I mean the stage of a “best of five” tournament, and the quality of defeated opponents (two best players of the late 80s/early 90s). Just like almost two years before, Martin needed four sets, and after dropping the opener, he was better at the end of each of the next three sets, nonetheless the sets weren’t as tight as against Edberg in Melbourne. On fast court in Munich, both Martin [18] and Becker [4] applied the same strategy, so constant attacking the net behind the first serve, but from the back of the court behind the second serves which wasn’t obvious in Becker’s case as he used to attack the net on carpet constantly; Martin’s ground-strokes were more solid than other serve-and-volleyers, Becker had felt it in their two previous matches (lost Montreal ’93, barely won in Paris a few weeks before Munich). There was 2-all in the 2nd set when Martin saved a break point, leading 4:3 (30/40) he played a fantastic backhand return off Becker’s first serve, and won four consecutive games in total (Becker opened the 3rd set with three double faults as broken at 30). The German led 4:3 on serve, yet Martin won three games in a row at the end of the set again. In they 4th set they traded breaks again, at 4-all Becker withstood a triple mini-match point, then led 5:4* (30/0) and 6:5 (30/15). There was 4-all in the tie-break when Martin played his only lob winner (backhand). On match point at 6:4 occurred the longest rally of the contest, 18th stroke meant Becker’s error (forehand sent wide). Martin didn’t show any emotions winning the match which gave him the biggest prize money in his career.

   # Comparison of Martin’s two biggest wins:
   Australian Open ’94 (SF): Martin d. Edberg 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6… 3 hour 51 minutes… Total points: 175-169… Breaks: 4-6
   Grand Slam Cup ’95 (SF): Martin d. Becker 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6… 3 hour 25 minutes… Total points: 151-135… Breaks: 4-3
   

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