kucera vs sampras 98 aussie

[obsessedtennisfandisorder]

man some sick points in this match

kucera was nailing some of shots and painting lines.

is it just me or does he remind me of david bryne of talking heads lol

high ball toss btw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWFvIfrEvbk

[vllaznia]

Does anyone remember why Sampras didn't shake umpire's hand?

[obsessedtennisfandisorder]

Originally Posted by vllaznia

Does anyone remember why Sampras didn't shake umpire's hand?

some pretty tough calls against pete in that final game...his bh looked in and then earlier in match a few of kucera's serve looked out.

[vllaznia]

Originally Posted by obsessedtennisfandisorder

some pretty tough calls against pete in that final game...his bh looked in and then earlier in match a few of kucera's serve looked out.

Thank you for the info.

[Gonzalito17]

Nice to watch the first ten minutes of that old ESPN telecast, thanks for posting, miss the old team of Cliff Pat and Fred, they were the best together. Miss Fred Stolle. Remember that match, Kucera played one of the best matches of that year, Pete was visibly frustrated very early on. I remember reading an interview with Kucera and he cited that match as the best he ever played as a pro. Will try to find the quotes, it was a cool story from Double K.

[Mustard]

The way Kucera beat Agassi at the 2000 French Open was extremely impressive, by 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0. Agassi had won 3 of the previous 4 majors. That and this 1998 Australian Open win over Sampras, were his best victories.

[Tagg]

kucera was always a player who could threaten. just wasn't focused or interested enough to do it constantly

taking nothing away from his performance, which was great

sampras was just weird for the whole of the AO 98. i don't know exactly what it was, but he looked and played as if not really interested. he also looked exhausted

despite being the defending champion, he didn't look at all like he was a shoe-in to defend it

perhaps being cheated out of a 3 slam year in 97 by a doping korda affected him, i don't know

but in mid-late 97 his serve went up a notch, his volleys were subtle and touch, the forehand was lethal on any hard court

it's strange, but in hindsight it was a strange year for sampras

that AO was a hint

[Moose Malloy]

some stats from espn.
after 3 sets:
Kucera 38 winners, 17 unforced(he was 14/2 in the 2nd set)
Sampras 40 winners, 37 unforced

The way Kucera beat Agassi at the 2000 French Open was extremely impressive, by 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.

really?

PARIS (AP) -- Defending French Open champion Andre Agassi, hobbled by a blistered big toe, limped out of the tournament with a stunning second-round loss Thursday.

Karol Kucera won 16 of the final 17 games to upset the top-seeded Agassi 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.

Agassi controlled the match early and led 5-3 in the second set before two blisters on the big toe of his right foot began to bother him. Agassi requested a trainer at 5-4, Gilbert said, but didn't receive treatment until falling behind 4-1 in the third set.

Gilbert said the blisters tore open and Agassi couldn't move, even after he had the toe taped.

"We put our heart and soul into all of this and just get bad luck sometimes," Gilbert said.

As the match progressed, Agassi occasionally winced in pain and became increasingly erratic with his shots. On break point in the opening game of the fourth set, he didn't try for a shot by Kucera down the line.

Agassi won only six points in the final set and finished with 60 unforced errors.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by Tagg

perhaps being cheated out of a 3 slam year in 97 by a doping korda affected him, i don't know

There's no proof of Korda being "doped" in that match. Besides, Sampras had a fantastic year in 1997, including after the US Open. This is a year where Sampras won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, the Grand Slam Cup, Paris Indoors and the World Championships in Hannover. Sampras was the strong favourite for the 1997 US Open, but Korda was just better at taking the big points late in the match.

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

really?

I haven't seen the match since the event, but I remember being impressed with Kucera's shotmaking in the match, the third and fourth sets in particular. Kucera was ruthless, especially when Agassi struggled with the toe blister later on in the match. It's interesting that Gilbert says that Agassi's toe was bothering him from the exact moment where Kucera dominated for the rest of the match. I seem to remember that Kucera was already on a run of form when Agassi's movement was getting affected by the toe blister, and Kucera didn't ease off at all. There was also a bit of a fuss when Agassi didn't show up at the presser after this match, and I think he got fined $10,000.

[BrooklynNY]

The volley at 21:17 is unreal. Pete made it look like it required 11% effort too.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWFvIfrEvbk#t=21m16s