Points won by each set: | 34-36, 42-33, 35-37, 25-11, 28-16 |
Points won directly behind the serve:
30 % Agassi – 38 of 126
15 % Corretja – 27 of 171
Fully packed crowd of the Louis Armstrong stadium was witnessing that night session encounter in disbelief: Agassi [1] was in a form of his life while four years younger Corretja [28] before winning his first round match had nine matches lost in a row on hardcourts, thus reasonable was expecting Agassi’s easy straight sets victory. The young Spaniard surprised the big favorite with his untypical mix of heavy forehand topspins and backhand slices. Agassi made plenty of baseline errors, committed two successive double faults at 5:6 (deuce) and being frustrated began the 2nd set losing the longest game (9 deuces, squandering three break points). He realised some adjustments were required, so he accelerated his first serves and implemented regular net-approaches; Corretja felt comfortable out there and the match turned into a dogfight. The Spaniard was better in a tighter set again (led 5:3 in it) but signalised problems with his thighs. He paid the price for running side to side and serving a lot more (extreme 45 points more on serve). He threw in the towel in the 4th set, but wanted to open the decider serving, yet at *0:5 (30-all) Agassi played one of the most famous shots in history as being lobbed he chased the ball and just behind his baseline he hit a perfect passing-shot above his left shoulder with a continental grip not seeing his opponent (I counted it as an overhead winner). Corretja led 2:1 on serve in the deciding set, but his legs didn’t allow him to move smoothly, and Agassi collected the final five games with ease. The Spaniard finished the 3-hour 7-minute contest with cramps… In the second half of the 90s Corretja improved his serve, offensive backhand and physical fitness which helped him to beat Agassi in their two hardcourt finals (Indianapolis ’98 and Washington ’00).
Points won by each set: | 34-36, 42-33, 35-37, 25-11, 28-16 |
Points won directly behind the serve:
30 % Agassi – 38 of 126
15 % Corretja – 27 of 171
Fully packed crowd of the Louis Armstrong stadium was witnessing that night session encounter in disbelief: Agassi [1] was in a form of his life while four years younger Corretja [28] before winning his first round match had nine matches lost in a row on hardcourts, thus reasonable was expecting Agassi’s easy straight sets victory. The young Spaniard surprised the big favorite with his untypical mix of heavy forehand topspins and backhand slices. Agassi made plenty of baseline errors, committed two successive double faults at 5:6 (deuce) and being frustrated began the 2nd set losing the longest game (9 deuces, squandering three break points). He realised some adjustments were required, so he accelerated his first serves and implemented regular net-approaches; Corretja felt comfortable out there and the match turned into a dogfight. The Spaniard was better in a tighter set again (led 5:3 in it) but signalised problems with his thighs. He paid the price for running side to side and serving a lot more (extreme 45 points more on serve). He threw in the towel in the 4th set, but wanted to open the decider serving, yet at *0:5 (30-all) Agassi played one of the most famous shots in history as being lobbed he chased the ball and just behind his baseline he hit a perfect passing-shot above his left shoulder with a continental grip not seeing his opponent (I counted it as an overhead winner). Corretja led 2:1 on serve in the deciding set, but his legs didn’t allow him to move smoothly, and Agassi collected the final five games with ease. The Spaniard finished the 3-hour 7-minute contest with cramps… In the second half of the 90s Corretja improved his serve, offensive backhand and physical fitness which helped him to beat Agassi in their two hardcourt finals (Indianapolis ’98 and Washington ’00).
Serve & volley: Agassi 1/2, Corretja 0