1 Response to rg96stich_pioline

1. Voo de Mar says:

   December 17, 2025 at 4:52 am

   Points won by each set: | 28-24, 32-36, 31-21, 31-23 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   33 % Stich – 36 of 108
   23 % Pioline – 28 of 117

   The last match won by constant net-rushing at Roland Garros in the crucial stage of the event. Stich [16] was very intelligently applying the serve-and-volley strategy throughout the 2.5 hour contest. He avoided a clear pattern, and kept Pioline [19] guessing whether he would be at the net behind his first or second serve, occasionally after first or second ground-stroke. The Frenchman was dealing with it well for one and a half hours. He created a triple break point in the 1st game of the 3rd set, then Stich began to play in the zone – it lasted an hour approximately; he fired a half of his aces in that set (including six in two quick games, 3 each). Pioline seemed a bit disoriented in the 4th set when Stich added backhand dropshots to his game-plan. There was 4:0* when the German didn’t need to be interested in breaking another time. On his first match point he attacked the net behind his second serve, Pioline’s BH return landed in the net. Admittedly Stich was still very offensive in the semifinal vs Rosset, but that match he had under control from start to finish, and used the serve-and-volley strategy only as an element of surprise. Stich and Pioline would meet in a major match one year later, in the Wimbledon semifinal, and Pioline takes his revenge in something what eventually meant Stich’s ultimate appearance at the pro level.

   Serve & volley: Stich 16/33, Pioline 1/4

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