1 Response to wb95ivanisevic_kafelnikov

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 5, 2025 at 10:46 am

   Points won by each set: | 35-34, 48-45, 34-24 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   53 % Ivanisevic – 59 of 111
   47 % Kafelnikov – 52 of 109

   In 1995, the 21-year-old Kafelnikov reached the Aussie Open quarterfinal & French Open semifinal primarily playing from the back of the court, and the Wimbledon quarterfinal applying the classical serve-and-volley style – it put him along with his peer Enqvist and one year younger Philippoussis among the contenders to dethrone Sampras in the future, ultimately only the Russian became the best in the world (1999). On Centre Court against Ivanisevic [7] – the two-time runner-up at the time – Kafelnikov [6] looked like an equal competitor. In the first two sets a few points separated him from a hypothetical 2:0 lead in sets: there was 5:4* in the opener for him when he lost the game at ‘love’, and squandered four set points in the 2nd set tie-break which he lost 11/13 (set points he had at 7:6, 9:8, *10:9 and 11:10). The biggest chance was at 10:9, Ivanisevic [7] broke his racquet before facing a set point as a receiver, but picked a new one and forced a FH-volley error with his BH passing-shot. Three other set points were saved by Ivanisevic with his big serves. The Croat got the break in the 3rd set at 2:1 after the longest game of the match (4 deuces)… Surprisingly, Kafelnikov wouldn’t reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in his next eight trips to London, but he usually fell against players who reached the top ten at some point in their careers.

   Log in to Reply