Andre Agassi beat Goran Ivanisevic 6-4, 6-4 in the Vienna semi-final, 1994 on carpet
Agassi, who had recently won the US Open, would go onto to beat Michael Stich in the final to win the title. Earlier in the year, Ivanisevic had been runner-up at Wimbledon
Agassi won 64 points, Ivanisevic 52
Ivanisevic serve-volleyed off all first serves and all but 2 seconds
(Note: I've guessed serve type for a couple of service points)
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (40/59) 68%
- 1st serve points won (31/40) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (11/19) 58%
- Aces 2 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/59) 24%
Ivanisevic...
- 1st serve percentage (33/57) 58%
- 1st serve points won (29/33) 88%
- 2nd serve points won (6/24) 25%
- Aces 19, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/57) 51%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 64%
- to Body 3%
Ivanisevic served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 22 (6 FH, 16 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 9 Errors, all forced...
- 9 Forced (4 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (22/51) 43%
Ivanisevic made...
- 45 (17 FH, 18 BH), including 3 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 6 Forced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (45/59) 76%
Break Points
Agassi 3/6 (4 games)
Ivanisevic 1/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 14 (3 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Ivanisevic 10 (5 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Agassi's FHs - 2 cc passes (1 return) and 1 inside-out
- BHs - 5 cc (3 passes - 1 a return, 1 a running-down-drop-volley at net), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in return pass and 1 lob
- the FHV was a first volley off a serve-volley point
Ivanisevic's FHs - 1 cc pass, 3 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 dtl
- 3 first volleys from serve-volley points (2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 13
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52
Ivanisevic 30
- 20 Unforced (9 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)… including 1 BH at net
- 10 Forced (5 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)… including 1 FH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.5
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Agassi was...
- 8/9 (89%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
Ivanisevic was...
- 18/33 (55%) at net, including...
- 15/29 (52%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 9/13 (69%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/16 (38%) off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
Match Report
Formula for match: high quality of Goran's serve - low quality of rest of Goran's game = net positive < quality of all of Agassi's game
Even by his standards, Goran serves up a storm - 19 aces and 1 service winner in 33 first serves and unreturned serve percentage of 51%. Also 6 double faults. Given his second serve is considerably stronger than Agassi's 1st, that's not a bad rate
Goran misses 6/24 second serves or 25%, while Agassi misses 19/59 first serves or 22%... sounds acceptable from Goran's point of view
Goran needs to serve that big though because the rest of his game is weak - returns, groundstrokes, volleys - the lot. Can't fault him for the double faults then, especially since he only wins 6/18 second serve points even without double faults. If one views his second serves as a for-anybody-else strong first serve... that's a very poor yield. That result is down to both his poor play and Agassi's strong
Suffice to say, Goran lives and dies by his serve almost completely, winning just 6 of 22 points when Agassi can make a return. And 20 of the 29 that don't come back are aces/service winners
Agassi takes to guessing serve directions and is usually moving one way or another as Goran delivers the blow. Clearly he can't read it. And he seems to guess wrong significantly more often than not to the extent that it seems possible Goran reacted to Agassi's movements in choosing a direction at last instant
Whatever the case, overwhelming as Goran's serve is, the extremely high ace count is somewhat due to Agassi guessing wrong (or maybe Goran adjusting to Agassi's waiting-to-return movement). I suppose Agassi could at least have got a racquet to some of the aces had he stood still (unlikely he could actually put them back in play)
The compensation for all the missed returns is the ones that do come back, come back meatily. 3 winners, some other decent returns and strong passing from Agassi. And Goran's poor on the volley (he only stays back off 2 serves)
4 UEs at net and 4 FEs for Goran speak both to his being poor up there and Agassi strong on returns and passes he can make. Net play is awkward for Goran for another reason... speed of his serve and Agassi's return means he's barely at service line when the ball comes back. And he struggles with easy volleys - let alone stuff at his feet or dipping or that he has to play from that far back. His first 'volley' position is such that a first groundstroke at net has been marked forced error... he has to run sideways to reach it just like one might a baseline ball (he also has another similar error, an easier shot though)
Agassi serves gently, and Goran returns not well. If Goran 2nd serve is like normal players decent first serve, Agassi's 1st serve is like a normal players decent second serve. In this light, Goran's 76% return rate is quite poor... 80-90% was manageable, given he wasn't going for much with the return
They get into baseline rallies on Agassi's game. Goran's consistency is poor. Short-ish to medium length rallies usually end with him making routine errors of both sides. Agassi isn't overly commanding from the baseline, nor is he just putting balls in play.... something in between, closer to just putting balls in play. That proves to be enough to consistently end point due to Goran's weak play
Next to no attempt by Goran to take net from rallies. In fact, its Agassi who comes in more - 7 times to 3 - in that situation. Goran's strength is in the odd, go-for-broke big shot from regulation position that comes off. Couple of very strong winners doing that, particularly with FH inside-out... but he doesn't do it near enough. Given how error prone, going this route would have been good strategy - he had nothing to lose and everything to gain with it
Agassi slightly prefers playing to Goran's BH, the less explosive wing. Curiously, he does so more with his BH longline and inside-outs than with FH cc
Handful of memorable shots. The pick of them for Goran isn't a winner, but a near perfect longline BH slice that clings ankle high to the ground. Agassi, who has to move to the ball, can't control it. 3 shots stand out from Agassi - all of them just about perfect - a running-down-drop-volley BH cc at net, a BH inside-out and a BH lob - all winners. In general, his BH cc is the cleanest hit of his groundstrokes - stronger and more consistent than Goran's FH cc
Match Progression
Goran holds game 3 to love with 4 aces, and follows with first break of the match on the back of aggressive shots from regulation positions. 3 winners, including a FH inside-out from the doubles alley, for Goran in it. Agassi breaks back at once though, finishing with a return BH cc pass winner
Goran holds next service game to love again with 4 unreturned first serves - 3 of them aces. And is broken the time after that, when he makes just 2/8 first serves. Misses a easy FHV by a long way and a routine FH, while Agassi slaps a return winner and forces a volley error. On break point, Goran double faults going for an ace
Goran has 2 break points early in the second set, but is outlasted in baseline rallies on them, before Agassi whacks a BH cc winner from regulation position. Goran holds next game to love with 3 unreturned serves and a putaway first volley winner
Agassi breaks to love next chance in a 4 second serve point game, half due to his play (2 great BH passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl), half Goran's (double fault and missing routine first volley). He has break point next game too, but those are power served away
Goran opens game 9 with 3 aces. Last of these was a typical bullet on the T, with Agassi not having moved and initially called out before the chair overrules. It takes a couple of seconds for the players to follow whats happened and change sides. Agassi tells the chair he would have got the serve if it hadn't been called out... chair seems to respond earnestly, either with professional decorum or not realizing Agassi was joking
With Agassi serving for the match, Goran moves to 0-30 with 2 winners, before missing makeable returns. Match ends with back to back routine errors from Goran
Summing up, steadily strong from Agassi from the baseline and powerfully so on the pass against a weak playing Goran + demonic serving from the lefty makes up the match. Agassi watches the serve storm go by, and does what he needs to when Goran misses first serves to get the win
Agassi, who had recently won the US Open, would go onto to beat Michael Stich in the final to win the title. Earlier in the year, Ivanisevic had been runner-up at Wimbledon
Agassi won 64 points, Ivanisevic 52
Ivanisevic serve-volleyed off all first serves and all but 2 seconds
(Note: I've guessed serve type for a couple of service points)
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (40/59) 68%
- 1st serve points won (31/40) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (11/19) 58%
- Aces 2 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/59) 24%
Ivanisevic...
- 1st serve percentage (33/57) 58%
- 1st serve points won (29/33) 88%
- 2nd serve points won (6/24) 25%
- Aces 19, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/57) 51%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 64%
- to Body 3%
Ivanisevic served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 22 (6 FH, 16 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 9 Errors, all forced...
- 9 Forced (4 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (22/51) 43%
Ivanisevic made...
- 45 (17 FH, 18 BH), including 3 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 6 Forced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (45/59) 76%
Break Points
Agassi 3/6 (4 games)
Ivanisevic 1/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 14 (3 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Ivanisevic 10 (5 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Agassi's FHs - 2 cc passes (1 return) and 1 inside-out
- BHs - 5 cc (3 passes - 1 a return, 1 a running-down-drop-volley at net), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in return pass and 1 lob
- the FHV was a first volley off a serve-volley point
Ivanisevic's FHs - 1 cc pass, 3 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 dtl
- 3 first volleys from serve-volley points (2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 13
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52
Ivanisevic 30
- 20 Unforced (9 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)… including 1 BH at net
- 10 Forced (5 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)… including 1 FH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.5
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Agassi was...
- 8/9 (89%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
Ivanisevic was...
- 18/33 (55%) at net, including...
- 15/29 (52%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 9/13 (69%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/16 (38%) off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
Match Report
Formula for match: high quality of Goran's serve - low quality of rest of Goran's game = net positive < quality of all of Agassi's game
Even by his standards, Goran serves up a storm - 19 aces and 1 service winner in 33 first serves and unreturned serve percentage of 51%. Also 6 double faults. Given his second serve is considerably stronger than Agassi's 1st, that's not a bad rate
Goran misses 6/24 second serves or 25%, while Agassi misses 19/59 first serves or 22%... sounds acceptable from Goran's point of view
Goran needs to serve that big though because the rest of his game is weak - returns, groundstrokes, volleys - the lot. Can't fault him for the double faults then, especially since he only wins 6/18 second serve points even without double faults. If one views his second serves as a for-anybody-else strong first serve... that's a very poor yield. That result is down to both his poor play and Agassi's strong
Suffice to say, Goran lives and dies by his serve almost completely, winning just 6 of 22 points when Agassi can make a return. And 20 of the 29 that don't come back are aces/service winners
Agassi takes to guessing serve directions and is usually moving one way or another as Goran delivers the blow. Clearly he can't read it. And he seems to guess wrong significantly more often than not to the extent that it seems possible Goran reacted to Agassi's movements in choosing a direction at last instant
Whatever the case, overwhelming as Goran's serve is, the extremely high ace count is somewhat due to Agassi guessing wrong (or maybe Goran adjusting to Agassi's waiting-to-return movement). I suppose Agassi could at least have got a racquet to some of the aces had he stood still (unlikely he could actually put them back in play)
The compensation for all the missed returns is the ones that do come back, come back meatily. 3 winners, some other decent returns and strong passing from Agassi. And Goran's poor on the volley (he only stays back off 2 serves)
4 UEs at net and 4 FEs for Goran speak both to his being poor up there and Agassi strong on returns and passes he can make. Net play is awkward for Goran for another reason... speed of his serve and Agassi's return means he's barely at service line when the ball comes back. And he struggles with easy volleys - let alone stuff at his feet or dipping or that he has to play from that far back. His first 'volley' position is such that a first groundstroke at net has been marked forced error... he has to run sideways to reach it just like one might a baseline ball (he also has another similar error, an easier shot though)
Agassi serves gently, and Goran returns not well. If Goran 2nd serve is like normal players decent first serve, Agassi's 1st serve is like a normal players decent second serve. In this light, Goran's 76% return rate is quite poor... 80-90% was manageable, given he wasn't going for much with the return
They get into baseline rallies on Agassi's game. Goran's consistency is poor. Short-ish to medium length rallies usually end with him making routine errors of both sides. Agassi isn't overly commanding from the baseline, nor is he just putting balls in play.... something in between, closer to just putting balls in play. That proves to be enough to consistently end point due to Goran's weak play
Next to no attempt by Goran to take net from rallies. In fact, its Agassi who comes in more - 7 times to 3 - in that situation. Goran's strength is in the odd, go-for-broke big shot from regulation position that comes off. Couple of very strong winners doing that, particularly with FH inside-out... but he doesn't do it near enough. Given how error prone, going this route would have been good strategy - he had nothing to lose and everything to gain with it
Agassi slightly prefers playing to Goran's BH, the less explosive wing. Curiously, he does so more with his BH longline and inside-outs than with FH cc
Handful of memorable shots. The pick of them for Goran isn't a winner, but a near perfect longline BH slice that clings ankle high to the ground. Agassi, who has to move to the ball, can't control it. 3 shots stand out from Agassi - all of them just about perfect - a running-down-drop-volley BH cc at net, a BH inside-out and a BH lob - all winners. In general, his BH cc is the cleanest hit of his groundstrokes - stronger and more consistent than Goran's FH cc
Match Progression
Goran holds game 3 to love with 4 aces, and follows with first break of the match on the back of aggressive shots from regulation positions. 3 winners, including a FH inside-out from the doubles alley, for Goran in it. Agassi breaks back at once though, finishing with a return BH cc pass winner
Goran holds next service game to love again with 4 unreturned first serves - 3 of them aces. And is broken the time after that, when he makes just 2/8 first serves. Misses a easy FHV by a long way and a routine FH, while Agassi slaps a return winner and forces a volley error. On break point, Goran double faults going for an ace
Goran has 2 break points early in the second set, but is outlasted in baseline rallies on them, before Agassi whacks a BH cc winner from regulation position. Goran holds next game to love with 3 unreturned serves and a putaway first volley winner
Agassi breaks to love next chance in a 4 second serve point game, half due to his play (2 great BH passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl), half Goran's (double fault and missing routine first volley). He has break point next game too, but those are power served away
Goran opens game 9 with 3 aces. Last of these was a typical bullet on the T, with Agassi not having moved and initially called out before the chair overrules. It takes a couple of seconds for the players to follow whats happened and change sides. Agassi tells the chair he would have got the serve if it hadn't been called out... chair seems to respond earnestly, either with professional decorum or not realizing Agassi was joking
With Agassi serving for the match, Goran moves to 0-30 with 2 winners, before missing makeable returns. Match ends with back to back routine errors from Goran
Summing up, steadily strong from Agassi from the baseline and powerfully so on the pass against a weak playing Goran + demonic serving from the lefty makes up the match. Agassi watches the serve storm go by, and does what he needs to when Goran misses first serves to get the win
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