1 Response to rome89mancini_agassi

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 18, 2023 at 12:32 pm

   Points won by each set: | 29-23, 27-34, 21-31, 39-33, 28-14 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   23 % Mancini – 32 of 139
   18 % Agassi – 26 of 140

   Amazing period in a career of 20-year-old Mancini [25]. Just a few weeks after capturing Monte Carlo title, Mancini claimed another big title on clay (the following year called ‘Mercedes Super 9’), and it seemed he’d be a multiple Roland Garros champion. Nothing like this happened though, at Roland Garros ’89 he lost in the quarterfinals to Edberg, which is not surprising in retrospect given Edberg’s 10-0 record over Muster. In my opinion, Mancini was a right-handed version of Muster, so in a top physical shape they were very difficult to be outplayed from the back of the court with their heavy-topspins, emotional involvement and patience, but with their moderate speed off both wings and operating a few meters behind the baseline, their passing-shots couldn’t be lethal against the top serve-and-volleyers… Mancini completely lost his form in the aftermath of Edberg’s loss. Admittedly he reached the Top 10, but one and a half years later he was outside the Top 100!

   19-year-old Agassi [5] was looking for his first title of the season after a phenomenal year 1988 when he became one of the most successful teenagers of the 20th Century. After dropping the 1st set, he slowed down the pace, and his patience in baseline rallies almost paid off. At 3-all (30-all) in the 4th set he won a long rally which gave him a break point – Mancini broke his racket hitting the bottom part of his shoe which cost him a penalty point and losing the serve because earlier he had received a warning for coaching. Agassi led 5:3 (30-all), then at 5:4 he had a match point on his serve not being broken since the end of the 1st set. There was an 11-stroke rally, Agassi made an error, and the Argentine caught his second wind. Since the point penalty he was supported by the local fans like an Italian (his paternal great-grandfather came to Argentina from Southern Italy in the late 19th Century, Mancini speaks Italian). In the tie-break Agassi led 2:0 only to lose seven straight points. The teenage American had huge problems to play at the same level for three hours, in the decider he was struggling with a back pain, and the last three games he actually didn’t try to fight. Mancini finished the contest with a forehand return winner and celebrated the biggest title of his career on the knees.

   Mancini’s route to his 3rd & last title:
   1 Francisco Clavet 6-3, 6-2
   2 Lawson Duncan 6-2, 6-1
   3 Emilio Sanchez w/o
   Q Omar Camporese 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3
   S Jordi Arrese 6-2, 6-4
   W Andre Agassi 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-1 – 1 m.p.

   Serve & volley: Mancini 0, Agassi 1/1

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