2 Responses to uo00sampras_krajicek

1. Voo de Mar says:

   May 15, 2023 at 1:47 pm

   Points won by each set: | 23-27, 46-43, 29-25, 30-18 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   35 % Sampras – 46 of 130
   43 % Krajicek – 48 of 111

   An all-serve-and-volley night session match between two 29-year-old players. Krajicek was Sampras’ toughest opponent among those best applying the S/V tactic which is not easy to explain because the Dutchman had relatively weak backhand. There was a moment in their rivalry the Dutchman led 6:2 (even 7:2 including their match of an exhibition event in Hong Kong ’94 which Krajicek won 6-3, 1-6, 6-4)… Sampras [4] entered the quarterfinal having lost just one service game in four preceding New York matches, but after 40 minutes against Krajicek, he was already broken twice. At 1:2 in the 2nd set he broke immediately back which allowed him to serve tremendously well again, to the end of the contest. However, in the tie-break he trailed *2:6. Seemingly insurmountable position to win the set against a big-server, but Krajicek [23] had lost a tie-break at the US Open ’94 leading 6:0 (!) while Sampras had recent memories of the Wimbledon final against Rafter when he trailed a set and 1:4* in the 2nd set tie-break to win in four sets. # Sampras emulated that feat withstanding the quadruple set point (perfect drop-volley, Krajicek’s misjudgment on Sampras’ FH return, perfect BH passing-shot cross court and Krajicek’s poor FH passing-shot attempt). The deciding breaks of the two following sets came at 1-all. After winning a game from 15/40, Sampras added another break at 4:2 in the 4th set to close out the match at midnight with a bunch of his fastest serves that day.

   # Comparison of Sampras’ 4th set wins in 2000, escaping from almost 0-2 in sets:
   Wimbledon (F): Sampras d. Rafter 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2… 2 hours 58 minutes… Total points: 161-138… Breaks: 3-0
   US Open (QF): Sampras d. Krajicek 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2… 2 hours 23 minutes… Total points: 128-113… Breaks: 4-2

   Log in to Reply
2. Voo de Mar says:

   May 15, 2023 at 2:22 pm

   Sampras’ H2Hs against the best S/V players of his era (tie-breaks in parentheses):

   4-6 Krajicek (4:5)
   4-5 Stich (4:7)

   12-7 Becker (11:6)
   12-6 Ivanisevic (9:10)
   12-4 Rafter (8:7)
   9-1 Rusedski (6:2)
   8-6 Edberg (4:4)
   7-3 Philippoussis (3:4)
   6-1 Henman (2:1)
   5-4 Forget (2:5)

   Log in to Reply