1 Response to queens97rusedski_rafter

1. Voo de Mar says:

   June 22, 2025 at 8:24 pm

   Points won by each set: | 24-29, 38-30, 28-18 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   42 % Rusedski – 37 of 87
   43 % Rafter – 35 of 80

   One of those rare matches that have different value in hindsight. At the time it was just a casual quarterfinal of serve-and-volleyers, who didn’t impress at majors in the mid 90s, being ranked 44 [Rusedski] and 17 [Rafter]. Yet they both were significantly improving their games, and a few months later faced each other in the US Open final turning into elite players in the late 90s. Improvement of their skills (mainly ground-strokes) is one thing, another is the vacuum for offensive players which was created in the second half of the 90s – Edberg & Stich finished their careers while Becker & Ivanisevic deteriorated (Sampras lost his sharpness too) – Rafter & Rusedski seized their opportunity to replace them.
   Rafter – the more skilful at the net among these two English native speakers – was on his way to notch a routine victory at Queens in their first meeting in four years. He managed to break Rusedski’s serve at 3-all in the 2nd set when the Brit stayed on the baseline twice in one game (neither of players did it once before or after that game), yet lost his serve immediately at ‘love’. Rusedski got a decisive break at 1:0* (30/40) in the decider thanks to three straight return winners.

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