1 Response to vienna97ivanisevic_rusedski

1. Voo de Mar says:

   February 1, 2023 at 1:35 pm

   Points won by each set: [ 22-26, 43-48, 50-50, 30-17, 27-19 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   45 % Ivanisevic – 86 of 188
   47 % Rusedski – 69 of 144

   Incredible final under many aspects (one off a few peculiar things – the winner played on his serve 44 points more!), the first one in history in which both players delivered more than thirty aces: Rusedski edged it 37-36 (10:2, 11:11, 10:9, 4:9, 2:5), but he left the court as a defeated guy after rather unusual case that a loser had plenty of opportunities to finish the job in straights even though he wasn’t closer to win the match than three points. In the pivotal 3rd set, the Croat [15] saved 11 break points (three at 0:1, three at 2:3 and five at 3:4), and what’s really staggering, he withstood all those virtual match points without the help of an ace (six service winners – half of them after second serves; 6 out of 11 BPs saved after the first serve). Rusedski seemed unimpressed by wasted chances until the tie-break because in the previous set he’d squandered break points in three games as well before he recovered from *5:6 (15/30) to win the tie-break. In the 3rd set tie-break the Brit [4] finally lost his composure trailing 2:4*, when he missed a forehand return off second serve to award a double set point he was very irritated, and threw the 4th set in the towel as Ivanisevic saved another break point with a second serve ace at 2-all. Ivanisevic’s serve seemed impossible to be broken regardless of break point chances, however, Rusedski unexpectedly raced to a 2:0* lead in the decider (Ivanisevic’s double fault on BP helped), only to succumb his serve twice (both at ‘love’) within three service games which seemed completely improbable throughout the match! There was a chance for another twist when Ivanisevic faced a triple break point serving at 5:3 (0/40) – he fought it off with three winners. Only two years later Rusedski will lose similar match [ 7-5, 6-0, 6-7(3), 4-6, 4-6 ] to Todd Martin in the US Open fourth round, leading 5:3* (30-all) in 3rd and 4:1* in 5th set, after 3 hours 4 minutes! # Ivanisevic & Rusedski were the two best serving left-handers in the 90s, the arguably two best serving right-handers played a very similar final two years before with one vital exception: the guy who squandered his chances to finish in three, prevailed in five.

   Ivanisevic’s route to his 20th title:
   1 Fredrik Fetterlein 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
   2 Chris Woodruff 6-4, 7-6(4)
   Q Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3
   S Richard Krajicek 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(6) – 4 m.p.
   W Greg Rusedski 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3

   # Comparison of similar indoor finals of the top serves in the 90s:
   Stuttgart ’93 (F): Krajicek d. Stich 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3… 3 hours 2 minutes… Total points: 165-159 (aces: 23-12)… Breaks: 5-5
   Vienna ’97 (F): Ivanisevic d. Rusedski 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-3… 3 hours 2 minutes… Total points: 172-160 (aces: 36-37)… Breaks: 4-2
   

   Log in to Reply