Duel Match Stats/Reports - Sampras vs Agassi, Year End Championship round robins, 1991 & 1990

[Waspsting]

Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the Year End Championship round robins, 1991 on carpet in Frankfurt, Germany

Both players would advance to the semi-final, Agassi top of the group, Sampras second. Agassi would lose in the semi-finals to Jim Courier, who Sampras would go onto beat for his first title in the final. Agassi was the defending champion. The two had met at same stage previous year, with Agassi winning

Sampras won 83 points, Agassi 77

Sampras serve-volleyed off all first serves

Serve Stats
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (50/78) 64%
- 1st serve points won (39/50) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (14/28) 50%
- Aces 16
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (38/78) 49%

Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (48/82) 59%
- 1st serve points won (31/48) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (21/34) 62%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/82) 28%

Serve Patterns
Sampras served...
- to FH 47%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 1%

Agassi served...
- to FH 41%
- to BH 59%

Return Stats
Sampras made...
- 58 (22 FH, 36 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 11 Unforced (5 FH, 6 BH)
- 6 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (58/81) 72%

Agassi made...
- 38 (18 FH, 20 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 5 Winners (2 FH, 3 BH)
- 22 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (4 FH, 3 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 15 Forced (7 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (38/76) 50%

Break Points
Sampras 2/6 (5 games)
Agassi 2/6 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sampras 16 (9 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BH1/2V)
Agassi 30 (15 FH, 6 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV, 4 OH)

Sampras had 4 from serve-volley points
- 3 first 'volleys' (1 FHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 FH at net)
- 1 second volley (1 FHV)

- FHs - 3 cc (1 return), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl pass, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-in and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 1 dtl, 1 longline and 1 net chord dribbler

Agassi had 9 passes - 4 returns (1 FH, 3 BH) & 5 regular (4 FH, 1 BH)
- FH return - 1 inside-out
- BH returns - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-in
- regular FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out and 1 lob
- regular BH - 1 lob

reglar (non-pass) FHs - 5 cc (1 return), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out and 2 inside-in
regular BHs - 2 dtl

-3 from serve-volley points - 2 FHV, 1 BHV - all first volleys, all swinging shots

- 1 other FHV was a swinging shot
- 1 OH on the bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sampras 22
- 13 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.3

Agassi 28
- 16 Unforced (12 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH at net and both FHV and BHV were swinging shots
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sampras was...
- 28/44 (64%) at net, including...
- 23/34 (68%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 1/1 retreated

Agassi was...
- 11/18 (61%) at net, including...
- 4/6 (67%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves

Match Report
A simple but bright little match. Sampras serve-bots behind his big first serve. On everything else, Agassi looks to break the world record for how hard a tennis ball can be hit without exploding. Court is quick, but probably not as quick as Sampras’ serve makes it look

Both generally and here, Agassi has the tendency of making servers - particularly those in the heavyweight category, like Sampras - look even better than they are. By standing up close, the wider serves are bound to go through for aces, while he barely moves and the ones in his swing zone seem to be on him in a flash too. The impression it creates is lightning fast conditions. Its clearly not slow, but doesn’t look as frightening when anyone else is returning in this particular event - Becker, Lendl, Courier all have their cracks at Pete too. None of them get it easy, but all of them are more at ease than Agassi

Ace frequency and unreturned rates for Sampras at this event (all played on the same court) -

- vs Becker - unreturned rate 30%, ace frequency 9% of first serves
- vs Lendl - unreturned rate 39%, ace frequency 15% of first serves
- vs Courier - unreturned rate 25%, ace frequency 13% of first serves
- here vs Agassi - unreturned rate 49%, ace frequency 32%

Were the court as quick as Agassi’s returning makes it look, its unlikely that some of the wind-up groundies he throws himself into would be coming back as often as they do. Sampras isn’t exactly tapping balls either

Action can readily be divided into Pete’s first serve points and everything else

Sampras’ first serve points
The ‘botting part

Pete serve-volleys behind all first serves. 31/50 don’t come back. 16 of those 31 are aces and most of the rest are hard forced errors, not Agassi just hitting top of tape or missing lines by an inch

Pete wins 8/19 of the points when the return does come back

Agassi has 4 return-pass winners. Only 1 is well struck. The other 3 are full stretched out pokes that slide by the incoming Pete

Couple good half-volleys by Pete, including a first ‘volley’ winner. Misses just 1 in the match. Not faced with difficult volleys. Powerful at comfy height is mode of what he’s faced with

This is all pretty common in matches between the 2; Agassi getting aced right, left (he does manage to avoid center) standing around the baseline to take serves that are on him far too quickly to react to from such a position

He hits a return-winner or 2, and off go the commentators raving about the greatest returner of all time

Reality is usually a lot closer to what happens here; The ton of freebies he’s giving up isn’t worth the odd smacked return winner (of which he has 1 in this match). Formidable as Pete’s serve is, it isn’t as formidable as Agassi makes it appear. And there are several players who return Pete more regularly than Agassi does, sans whatever gung-ho appeal there is in standing up tall and taking on the big bully (and no mention that he got creamed doing it)

 

[Waspsting]

Everything Else
All of Agassi’s service points and Pete’s second serve points are characterized by Agassi belting the cover of the ball. Including 2nd returns

He leads with FHs. Healthy, if not airy swing, and full payload delivered. Hammers BHs too, but prefers moving over to hit FHs if he can

One target is Pete’s BH at which he aims a few FH inside-out bolts. Generally, even in this period, Agassi looked to breakdown Pete’s BH with conventional, firm BH cc’s, but he’s in a wilder mood here

Its not something he sticks to. Might go FH inside-in for the winner, or turn to running Pete corner to corner, or go for a point ending shot of either side of any direction (sans BH inside-out). Barely a neutral shot to be seen from Agassi

When his BHs attacked, Pete looks to hit back firmly and slices more defensively only when he has to. His BH doesn’t lack force, but has less than Agassi’s BH and categorically less than the FH inside-outs. He is willing to counter-attack with dtl but such a shot takes some doing against the hitting he’s faced with and usually fails

Things are even more fun on the other side. Powerful wide FH cc is another attack-starter for Agassi and Pete’s even more willing to dance. If anything, his FHs are even more powerful than Agassi’s. Good lot of aggressively wide FH cc’s from both players, including counter-attackingly struck on the run, and a lot of very fast running needed to cope (which both players manage)

Both players are very fast in covering the court. And have to be

Play isn’t readily differentiable into FH and BH play. Agassi does a bit of everything aggressive - goes for point ending shots from routine positions (making more than he misses), running Pete corner to corner (on the FH corner, that’s met with opposite and more than equal re-action)

Beats down, runs around, shot making… everything’s on Agassi’s table. No grinding or breaking down, he’s not in that mood. Pete isn’t cowed and fights with spirit but he is badly beaten

With power advantage, Agassi can take net too. He rallies there 12 times to Pete’s 9. In a vicious mood there too. Almost all his volleys are swing volleys, including on his 6 serve-volley points (including a BHV he misses). 1 FHV is swing from well under the net for a winner. Can’t recall seeing a shot like that

Some great passing from Agassi too

In numbers, Agassi with 30 winners to Pete’s 16. FHs what he’s gone with and it has by far match highs of 15 winners (next is Pete’s with 9) and 12 UEs (next is Pete’s BH with 6)

Not great returning from Pete. Agassi mixes up his serves, without being able to go really big even when he strains. Pete has 11 return UEs, most of them to second serves. He looks to take returns early, from inside the court or at least on the baseline against second serves, but rarely actually hits with any conviction from there. Just misses a lot more than he need have - in that way, he’s similar to Agassi

Match Progression
The layout of the match is just a bit strange. In first set, while Pete ‘bots his way through, Agassi holds almost as easily. He’s not in full cave-man mode yet, but Pete misses a number of returns and his BH isn’t up to handling Agassi’s beat down shots

Pete grabs break in game 6 to love. A poor volley that was there to be putaway from Agassi lets Pete make a dashing running FH dtl pass, a double fault and on break point, a net chord dribbling winner do the trick. Right after though, for the only time in set, he’s challenged to hold

Some top returns and power hits from Agassi in the game. The pair trade crucial points to stay even - Pete ending an intense FH power hitting based rally with a BH longline winner into open court and Agassi managing to poke a first serve BH dtl for a return pass winner. Pete though, has his aces to fall back on. 4 of them to hold. He goes onto close out the set

Pete’s broken to go down 0-2 in second set. Misses a pair of winner attempt FHs (dtl and inside-in), Agassi has a swasbuckling return winner against a second serve and on is second break point, manages again to poke a first serve past Pete for a winner

Agassi continues to hold with ease. From when he was broken in first set, he wins 16/18 service points. While breaking again in between - a strong game from him, where he faces first serves 7/8 points. Smacks a FH inside-out winner on the only baseline point of the game, and 3 passing winners in the rest, including his sole firmly struck return-pass one. On break point, a surprise slower first serve from Pete almost catches Agassi out but his unconvincing response leaves Pete a half-volley to make. He makes it, but Agassi finishes with a running FH lob winner

As with previous set, against run of play, there’s a tussle for Agassi near the end. He serves out in a 10 point game, saving 2 break points. Takes net to do it, including a serve-volley where he swings away a FHV winner. Finishes the set with an ace

Third set is most enjoyable of the bunch. Agassi, ups the aggression still more from earlier. The winners come, the errors are forced out of Pete, but so do the aggressive UEs. While Pete holds comfortably, Agassi’s living dangerously. His first 3 service games last 14, 12 and 8 points, though he only has to save 2 break points across all 3

Some great shots from both players in this part of the match, particularly Agassi. Game 4 starts with the pair trading 5 FH cc winners in a row (counting 2 swinging FHVs by Agassi as FHs). Agassi adds an inside-in one later on

Break finally comes in game 8. To the well once too many times for Agassi. He misses his swinging FHV serve-volleying and on break point, misses the easiest of FH putaways at net. Pete isn’t a bystander and wins 2 net points, including with a lovely FH1/2V winner

And just like previous 2 sets, the serve out is tough. Pete makes just 4/12 first serves, double faults early and is on back foot against an Agassi coming forward as well as rampaging on the return and off the ground. First 2 break points are served away (1 ace), but Pete’s in big trouble on the third as he defensively sky hooks a ball gently into play while retreating from net to leave Agassi with a sitter of a FH moving forward. And Agassi, for the second time in as many games, misses the sitter

Pete wins the match with a net chord dribbling winner. Same way he’d gained the sole break of the first set

Summing up, quick paced and fun match. Between Sampras’ overpowering serves, his faulty return errors and Agassi’s hurry to attack, lots and lots of quick games in first two sets. The last though has more rallies and Agassi is almost wild in his attacking play on them. Though taking all eyes, Sampras has much better of it in terms of looking likely to break - and eventually does to take the match

Brutal serving from Sampras, not leaving him much to do on the volley. His returning is ‘iffy with lots of routine misses. From the back, he looks to give as good as he gets, particularly off the FH, and gets his licks in while coming off second best

Brutal everything bar serving from Agassi - returning, groundstrokes and even volleying. He leads play with FH and does everything aggressive that can be done - beat-down play, moving-opponent-around play, shot-making - all of it well against not inconsiderable resistance

Very fast movement from both players. A fun watch

Stats for the final between Sampras and Jim Courier - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...ier-year-end-championship-finals-1991.651712/
Stats for Sampras’ semi with Ivan Lendl - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...year-end-championship-semi-final-1991.659979/
Stats for bot players round robin matches with Boris Becker - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...ear-end-championship-round-robin-1991.646669/

 

[Waspsting]

In 1990, Agassi beat Sampras 6-4, 6-2 in the round robin on carpet in Frankfurt, Germany

Agassi would go onto win the event, beating world #1 Stefan Edberg in the final and #2 Boris Becker in the semis. He’d finish second in the group, behind Edberg. Sampras would finish third in the group and be eliminated

Agassi won 61 points, Sampras 45

Sampras serve-volleyed off all but 1 first serve

(Note: I’m missing 1 point in full and 1 partially

Missing points -
- Set 1, Game 4, Point 1 - deduced to have been a first serve point. Serve direction and corresponding return data is unknown, ending is recorded
- Set 2, Game 4, Point 1 - completely missing - an Agassi serve point that he won)

Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (30/52) 58%
- 1st serve points won (24/30) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (12/22) 55%
- ?? serve points won (1/1)
- Aces 10
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/52) 37%

Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (29/53) 55%
- 1st serve points won (19/29) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 8 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/53) 36%

Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 36%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 4%

Sampras served...
- to FH 55%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 30 (20 FH, 10 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 FH)
- 9 Forced (3 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (30/49) 61%

Sampras made...
- 32 (10 FH, 21 BH, 1 ??), including 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH), a return-approach attempt
- 8 Forced (6 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (32/51) 63%

Break Points
Agassi 4/6 (4 games)
Sampras 1/1

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 9 (4 FH, 4 BH, 1 BHV)
Sampras 8 (2 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)

Agassi's FHs - 1 cc return pass and 3 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc return pass and 3 dtl (1 pass)

Sampras' FHs - 1 cc and 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc pass (that Agassi left), 3 dtl (1 return, 1 pass) and 1 inside-out

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 17
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 12 Forced (4 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48

Sampras 28
- 21 Unforced (13 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- 7 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.5

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Agassi was 2/6 (33%) at net

Sampras was...
- 19/30 (63%) at net, including...
- 14/24 (58%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 12/21 (57%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/3 (67%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching

Match Report
Another fun one. Match is a study in what Agassi vs Sampras might look like if they had the same calibre serve, and the result speaks for itself

Agassi serves huge when he wants to. Unreturanbly so. Like Sampras does habitually

First serve aces - Agassi 10, Pete 7 (he has a second serve ace too)
First serve ace rate - Agassi 33%, Pete 24%

Its not a one off. In the semis, he’s out-ace/service winner Boris Becker 10-7 and 50% - 21% (no, the 50% isn’t a typo. Just aces he’s at 40%)

In 2 matches against Stefan Edberg
- final - Agassi leading aces/service winners 14-13, Edberg rate 16% - 13%
- round robin - Agassi leading 8-4 and 13% - 6%

He’d served as harmlessly as can be in US Open, French Open, Indian Wells and Miami earlier in the year. What got into him for this tournament, God knows. He’d return to his norm following year

Whatever the reason, Andre Agassi, champion big server of the 1990 Year End Championship. Wonders will never cease

It’s a very fast court, probably faster than the year after. Or according to commentary from another match, the fast pace is due to the balls

Unlike Pete, Agassi doesn’t go for the big serve every time. In fact, he telegraphs the effort serve so that its easy to spot. Not much to do about if the ball hits the line though. He goes for it about half the time, with the rest being standard, good serving on a fast court. Pete by contrast, serves big all the time

Unreturneds are virtually equal - Agassi 37%, Pete 36%
Just 3 return UEs between the pair (Pete’s sole one is a chip-charge attempt), and even those aren’t particularly easy
Bit of a double faulting problem for Pete, who has 4 from just 24 second serves. Agassi has 1

Pete serve-volleys off all but 1 first serve, and rarely off seconds (just 3 times), so play can be divided into Pete’s first serve points and everything else (starting on baseline)

Not much volleying going when Pete serve-volleys, which isn’t unusual for the match-up. He draws return error, or Agassi hits powerful return that wins him point. No winners for Pete coming out of serve-volleying - and he does it 24 times

His first serve is very powerful and well placed (normal for him). Agassi’s left to lunge about after it. Agassi takes his shot on whatever he can reach without lunging to good effect - couple of solid return winners, or Pete faced with a bullet shoe-lace volley to make first up

Pete’s 1st serve-volley points
- unreturned 8
- returned and won 4
- returned and lost 9

…and dd 1 to each category for his 3 second serve points to get full serve-volleying breakdown

 

[Waspsting]

Rest is baseline stuff. Agassi hits powerfully, hits deep, but plays sensibly, unlike the wild showing of ‘91. Its Pete whose the more aggressive

Pete is very quick around the court. Faster than Agassi (who in ‘90 was still very fast), who’d be quicker than the ever fleet Edberg in the final. As in ‘91, he’s a power match for Agassi off the FH, but can’t keep it in play for long

The winners highlights reel is Pete’s. Characteristic amazing running FH cc. Out of left field BH inside-out. Best of all, a gorgeous, running, touch FH lob

The bulk of points are Agassi’s though, with Pete's FH either beat down or off target

Ground UEs -
- Agassi BH 1
- Agassi FH 4 & Pete BH 5
- Pete FH 13 (including a running-down-drop-shot at net)

Ground UE types
- Neutral - Agassi 3, Pete 9
- Attacking - Pete 2
- Winner Attempts - Agassi 2, Pete 7

Seeing as he only has 3 ground-to-ground winners, that’s a bad miss rate from Pete. He’s the better mover, at least as powerful of shot (probably a bit more) but hitting winners against strong balls is clearly not working

The rallies are intense. Even BH-BH is hard hitting. Both players willing to move aside and strike even more powerful FH inside-out to break through the others BH (Pete more). FH rallies tend to lead to opening of court by both players going wide - Agassi better at it, hence the extra scope for Pete to demonstrate his foot-speed

Neither player returns second serves gently either - booming stuff, particularly from Agassi, who gets a good lot of returns hard and deep

Net play isn’t a help for Agassi. He’s just 2/6 rallying, thanks to some fabulous Pete passes. Pete’s 4/5. Doesn’t have too much chance to come in, but probably isn’t looking to. Generally, Pete seems to enjoy trading groundstrokes with the reputed heavy hitters and on his day, can outgun them

Doesn’t happen often with Agassi - and this day certainly isn’t an exception

Match Progression
Very little in first set. Agassi endures a long 14 point hold in game 4 (no break points), Pete’s broken in a 10 pointer - otherwise, comfy holds

Lot of big, untouchable serving from Pete, that don’t come back, some powerful returns that test him on the tough volley. Even at regulation height, wouldn’t be easy to control and they’re usually low

Good times on second serve points. Both players hammer returns, both players hit wide and they engage in lively rallies. Agassi limits his aggression to beat-down + strong hitting, Pete counter-attacks going for winners

Pete has 0-30 in game 4, with a couple of net points (including his sole return-approach) supporting his powerful groundies. Game goes on to 14 points without him seeing a break point though. Agassi ends it by coming in and hitting his sole volley winner

The break comes in game 7, despite Pete making 6/10 first serves. Lot of tough play - unreturend serves and shoelace ‘volley’ errors, but its Pete’s missing point-enders that opens the door a bit too wide. Misses a third ball FH inside-out winner, followed by a horrific putaway, swing volley miss to bring up break point. Rally develops on it, ending with an Agassi FH inside-out winner. Pete thinks the shot before was out and isn’t a happy bunny about it. He gets into it with the Chair on another occasion regarding the fault calling machine going off, a longer conversation than incident warranted

Second set is a step down of quality. Pete actually has a much better in-count in it (64%, up from first sets 48%) but gets broken 3 times and is down 0-4 in a jiffy

He’s down 0-40 in opener, double faulting to open and missing a first volley OH he tried to move over to get into better position for. Saves 2 break points, but misses his BH dtl winner attempt from a BH-BH rally

Second break is also to 30 - there’s a double fault, but rest is on Agassi - a BH dtl winner, an impossible volley and on break point, a perfectly put BH cc return pass winner

Agassi meanwhile holds to love twice

Pete snags a break back, with Agassi’s sole double fault and both winner attempt UEs. The BH cc one on break point had been well set up and was there for shot into open court

No trouble as Agassi responds with another break - he’s got Pete staying back off a first serve after another return winner, and Pete doubles to give up the game

Agassi serves out to 15, fittingly, ending with an ace

Summing up, another fun match and a better one in the sense that its not played with exhibition wantonness. Which isn’t to say it lacks for liveliness - baseline rallies feature hard-hitting play off both sides by both players. Sampras is just as powerful off the ground as Agassi, but can’t keep the ball in play for very long, taking risks against difficult stock balls that don’t pay

Most eye-catching and important part of the match though is Agassi’s serve, which is a league or 2 above his norm. Not quite Sampras’ level, but not too far behind. The aces rain down on Sampras the way they always do on Agassi when the two meet and with that part of things level, Agassi has considerably better of court action

Big serving + hard hitting off the ground (including with the return - against serve-volley or otherwise) from Agassi, Big serving, serve-volleying + hard hitting off the ground from Sampras

The big serving cancels out, Agassi pinches a few counter-serve-volley points and has better of baseline rallies against dangerous, but inconsistent Sampras

Stats for Agassi's matches with Stefan Edberg (final and round robin) - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...-championship-finals-round-robin-1990.646450/
Stats for Agassi's semi-final with Boris Becker - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...year-end-championship-semi-final-1990.668670/

 

[Mainad]

Curious factoid about Sampras is that he never won any of his 5 YEC titles without losing a match in the round robin stage.