wb90ivanisevic_curren

By | Published December 4, 2025 | Full size is 539 × 431 pixels

Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to wb90ivanisevic_curren

  1. Voo de Mar says:
    December 4, 2025 at 4:25 pm
    Points won by each set: | 27-34, 34-30, 32-24, 44-43, 38-29 |
    Points won directly behind the serve:
    43 % Ivanisevic – 68 of 156
    39 % Curren – 71 of 179

    The decade of the 90s featured countless encounters (outside clay) dominated by big serves from both sides of the net when the receiver could only hope that at a critical moment his opponent would commit a double fault or made an error being close at the net. One of the first matches of this kind occurred in the Wimbledon ’90 quarterfinal when the arguably best server of the 80s (Curren) faced a player (Ivanisevic) who would be considered by many as the best server of the 90s. At 5:4* (0/30) in the opener, Curren [56] played a bit beyond his abilities passing the 13 years younger opponent with a cross-court backhand making a sudden turn of his torso being lobbed, and broke Ivanisevic’s serve with another passing-shot a few points later, that time off his forehand side. Ivanisevic [38] dominated another two sets breaking at 0-all and 4-all respectively. His baseline shots were much sounder, especially his forehand (at times he used it moving forwards behind the serve instead of hitting classical volleys which was a novelty back then); they indicated the generation gap between them. Curren, the former two-time Slam runner-up on grass, accelerated his serves in the 4th set, and finally an expected tie-break took place – the young Croat led 3:0*, had a match point at 8:7, but Curren responded with an ace out-wide, and won it 10/8. Despite being a veteran, he was playing with a lot of commitment, diving to difficult balls in defence and attack. Perhaps he paid the price for it in the decider which was the most one-sided, Ivanisevic had 7 mini-match points already leading 4:1. He celebrated the 3-hour 14-minute victory when Curren’s BH return landed in the net. A few months later they face each other for the second and last time, on carpet in Munich, and Ivanisevic wins 7-6(3), 7-6(7) on his sixth match point, after trading breaks in the 2nd set (Curren led 4:2).

  2. Voo de Mar says:
    December 4, 2025 at 4:46 pm
    ☆ Detailed comparison of unreturned serves:

    .435 Ivanišević – 68… 27 aces, 1 off 2nd serve; he forced 41 return errors, 8 off second serves
    .396 Curren – 71… 17 aces; he forced 54 return errors, 13 off second serves

Leave a Reply