90s AO Wishlist?
- Thread starter BGod
- Start date
Becker vs Agassi 96 - just because Andre claims he tanked against Chang to not face Becker
Becker vs Sampras 97
Sampras vs Courier 93
Edberg vs Lendl 90 - we never saw the full match unfortnately. I have never seen that match either but it was said that Edberg was dominating until he was injured
I would have liked to see Agassi from 1990-94 as well, I can see him having some great matches with Courier, Sampras, Edberg, Becker
Becker vs Sampras 97
Sampras vs Courier 93
Edberg vs Lendl 90 - we never saw the full match unfortnately. I have never seen that match either but it was said that Edberg was dominating until he was injured
I would have liked to see Agassi from 1990-94 as well, I can see him having some great matches with Courier, Sampras, Edberg, Becker
HBK4life
Hall of Fame
I think Agassi had a good shot in 91 if he came into the event in good shape. But back then he didn’t train very hard and his diet was bad.
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Yeah I know. I think he would have done well through all the 90s though, that surface just fit him perfectly.
HBK4life
Hall of Fame
Not sure he could have beat Courier in 92 or 93. Jim kinda owned him.
Musterrific
Hall of Fame
97 - If Muster had gotten past Sampras in the semis, he would have faced Moya in the final (or alternately, Chang). Given how dramatically improved his hardcourt game was that season, I think he would have beaten either Moya or Chang. Bam - second slam title for him.
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
lol did Andre really say that? Not that I am surprised but I never heard of this before. And why didn't he want to face Becker, as apparently he said he had him?
Agree with the full Edberg Lendl final, that would have been something probably.
Becker Sampras in 1997 would have been great. What happened to Boris that year? Suffered an early loss didn't he, but I can't remember against who.
I don't remember whether he said it word by word in his book "Open" but he strongly implied that he tanked against Chang to not face Becker. He said he couldn't stand Becker since he allegedly did some flirty gestures to Brooke Shields during their US Open match but when I read that part it sounded more like he was afraid of losing to him.
Yeah Becker lost a tough 5 setter to Moya who later advanced to the finals. I guess that loss made Becker realize that he had to put too much work in, like he did in the past 2 years, to keep up with Sampras. He had a strong comeback after his Wimbledon injury in '96 but he probably lost focus after the AO 97 for good.
I agree Jim was a tough nut to crack from 1991-93, he even beat Agassi in the US Open. I liked his style. Too bad he couldn't keep that form for too long afterwards.
HBK4life
Hall of Fame
That’s how I remember Andres book. He said he was blowing kisses to shields. And didn’t want another “war with Becker”. But I see it as he wasn’t in the shape he was in in 1995 and went 5 with courier having already winning tough matches. He knew he couldn’t beat Chang.
HBK4life
Hall of Fame
Pretty sure Jim burned out his body training off the court. Someone in his camp should have put a governor on him.
I had a discussion with a guy about Courier once and he said it wasn't him burning out it was that he didn't delevop his game further while his rivals did. I didn't really agree with him but I am not sure whether there actually is some truth to it
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Ah yes, Moya. Never thought that he could lose against Moya, who one year later would win the French…
I agree that something happened to Boris in 1997. Was it mentally or something else, I don't know. He played really great in 1995 and 1996 and suddenly, that was it or almost. He even said to Sampras that it was his last Wimbledon after he lost against him in the quarters. He would play two more Wimbledon if I remember correctly but he seemed to say to his main rivals: I'm done. Too bad as he was only 28.
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NicoMK
Hall of Fame
I'd tend to agree with the guy you talked to. The 1991-93 version of Jim, he was a rock: hitting hard, missing few, running well and for long. In the meantime, Agassi was on and off and Pete was not quite Pistol, yet. What happened after 1993 was that Agassi won the USO and the Australian, reaching the #1 ranking in 1995 and, most of it, Sampras started to win a lot of majors. So basically, Courier's two main rivals improved a lot while Jim didn't improve quite as much as these two. I think that at the end, it may have made the difference. Some also say that Jim's defeats at the French and Wimbledon finals in 1993 + the rise of Pete Sampras affected him a lot.
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Yes… if… but Pete played really well against Thomas in the semis, as far as I recall. There's not much Muster could do that day. Lots of great rallies but in the end Pete won most of them. Tough draw. Lost in three, didn't he?
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
That's true. He played very well and won the first set, then lost the second set tie-break and couldn't serve in the third. His only small chance of clinching the title would have been to win in three but it didn't happen. He actually hurt himself at the very end of his semis against Mats, not during the final.
He played only 1 more slam after 1997 wimbledon which was 1999 wimbledon. But yeah, that was a weird decline. In 1996 indoors he was 2nd best player on Tour maybe even better then Pete. Not sure why he decided not to play Slams after 1997 Wimbledon, only best of 3 tournaments
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
He didn't play Wimbledon in 1998? I can't remember actually. Weird retirement... I would have expected more from Boris as he was apparently in great shape and with a lot of tennis ahead.
He told pete at the net that it was his last match at wimbledon but broke his promise in 99. I think he made his decision during that match. He said he felt he couldnt beat Pete at slams anymore
Agassi's rise to the top came out of nowhere though in late 94. He had a great season in '95 but it was evident that he wasn't the same by '96 anymore, so he kind of went through the same burnout experience like Courier, just way faster. But yes I guess Courier didn't improve his game anymore compared to other players which was part of his decline
Right. Ironically either he thought he could do better in 1999 or he just missed being in the spotlight. But if he had never returned in '99 he would have never fathered his daughter either. ^^
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
I'm not an Agassi expert but yes, he played poorly in 1997 but he still had the gold medal in 1996 and won several Slams up until 2001, so not quite the same experience as Jim. As I said, I liked Jim and I wish he could have played at the very top longer.
Agassi played well at times in 1996 but you could sense that he wasn't as motivated as in 95. Many believe it was due to his US Open loss to Sampras which broke him. He lost twice to Chang in the AO and US Open SF and had early exits in Paris and Wimbledon, winning 3 titles in total that year. He also totally gave up or tanked in the ATP finals and again avoided playing Becker in the RR. I think he was replaced by Enqvist or Björkman.
Musterrific
Hall of Fame
Straight sets, yes. I thought Muster had an outside chance because of the surface, hot weather, and the fact that Sampras might be tired after being taken to 5 sets against Albert Costa in the quarterfinals, but Pete came out zoning in the semi. Not much Muster could do. I'm surprised he managed to get into a tiebreak with the way Pete was playing. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Muster was even up 5-2 in that set before Pete came roaring back to take it. If he had managed to win that set convincingly, I wonder if the course of the match would have changed significantly - would Sampras have started to wilt in the heat, getting sucked into more and more torturous baseline exchanges with Muster? He had a way of suffocating players with his style.
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Musterrific
Hall of Fame
It's true that Courier's game stagnated - he was a bit of a one-trick pony with the massive inside-out forehand (which was a new shot in tennis back then), so once the other top players figured him out his peak was over. Also, he prematurely got bored of tennis - it says a lot that he was reading a book during a changeover at the WTF one year. Clearly he had mentally checked out of the sport.
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Drob
Hall of Fame
It was the taxman. Very shortly after his late-season triumphs of 1996, the tax authorities came hard after him. The tax investigator sounds like Becker's own Javert, but Boris is prone hyperbole. The allegations were serious, however, and at roughly the same time period, Boris' marriage began to come apart. I would not conjecture as one poster did, that Boris sort of "gave up" trying to stay competitive with Sampras. The external pressures on him were considerable. You can see an almost immediate drop-off in participation and performance in early 1997, coming off a sensational year.
That tax investigation, incidentally resulted in Boris being exonerated on several charges, and being only very moderately penalized, as I recall. But by then it was too late for tennis.
Drob
Hall of Fame
I wish for only one thing. Erase, expung, obliterate Petr Korda from the roll of AO champions. Just leave 1998 blank.
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Very interesting. I never heard that tax story before. So that would explain why he barely played after that AO 1997? But hell he didn't have lawyers to take care of this?? What a shame, he could still have won big titles then.
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NicoMK
Hall of Fame
Well, don't blame him too much... he wasn't the only one... he just got caught.
Damn the taxes, right. I totally forgot about it. It was during that time that Steffi Graf also had even bigger problems with the federals. I remember the news around Christmas 1996, saying that tax authorities had gone to Becker's house to collect evidence, bills, contracts etc.
