Andre Agassi beat Jason Stoltenberg 6-4, 6-4 in the Canadian Open final, 1994 on hard court in Toronto
Agassi would go onto win the upcoming US Open shortly afterwards. Stoltenberg was unseeded and this was his sole Masters level final. He beat 4 seeded players en route to the final
Agassi won 74 points, Stoltenberg 60
Stoltenberg serve-volleyed about half the time off first serves
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (52/60) 87%
- 1st serve points won (38/52) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (6/8) 75%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (12/60) 20%
Stoltenberg...
- 1st serve percentage (48/74) 65%
- 1st serve points won (31/48) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (13/26) 50%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/74) 30%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 28%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 3%
Stoltenberg served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 51 (23 FH, 28 BH)
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (4 FH, 3 BH)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (51/73) 70%
Stoltenberg made...
- 48 (10 FH, 38 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (48/60) 80%
Break Points
Agassi 2/7 (4 games)
Stoltenberg 0/7 (3 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 18 (7 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV)
Stoltenberg 14 (2 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 6 BHV, 1 OH)
Agassi's FHs - 2 cc, 3 inside-out (1 return pass), 1 inside-in and 1 longline at net
- regular BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl and 2 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- BH passes - 4 cc (2 returns) and 1 inside-out
- the BHV was played net-to-net
Stoltenberg had 4 from serve-volley points
- 1 first volley (1 BHV)
- 3 second volleys (2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 other BHV was a non-net shot
- FHs - 2 cc
- BHs - 2 cc and 2 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 24
- 12 Unforced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV)
- 12 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5
Stoltenberg 43
- 26 Unforced (5 FH, 17 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 17 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 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 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 6/9 (67%) at net
Stoltenberg was...
- 25/43 (58%) at net, including...
- 16/30 (53%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 14/23 (61%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/7 (29%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/2 return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Impressive showing from Agassi as he breaks down Stoltenberg's BH systematically while pounding him down from the back. Stoltenberg looks to counter with serve-volleying but faces heavy returning so doing on a court that's on slow side of normal
Stolt has 17 BH UEs (Agassi has 12 total UEs) and 5 FEs, giving him 22 BH total BH errors in play (Agassi has 24 total errors of all shots). Its not that his BH is weak - he plays wisely off it in addition to it not being weak - but Agassi's is a lot stronger
Serve & Return
Good serving from Agassi, within the context of his serve being average. Humongous 87% first serves in - he doesn't miss more than 1 first serve in a single game - placed reasonably wide more often than not. Not powerful or difficult to return, but gives him at least small initiative to start points. And that's all he needs
Stolts returns surely enough, with 80% return rate. About half his 11 errors (6 UEs, 5 FEs) are aggressive shots gone wrong. Its good thinking - he trails in play sufficiently that he needs to start the rally from advantageous position and just putting returns in play doesn't hack it. Can't execute though and most aggressive returns miss. Almost always, very narrowly
Stolts' serve is about the same strength as Agassi's, maybe a bit stronger. He has 5 aces, somewhat due to Agassi's advanced return position and his not bothering for a couple of them (late in games where he's well behind and up a break). And serve-volleying helps him get his unreturned rate up to 30%
Agassi typically looks to return ambitiously, taking second serves from inside court and taking first serves on up too. High 7 UEs is a product of very early taken returns. There's invariable misses against serve-volley points but a large lot come back to Stolt's feet. And 3 return-pass winners
In nutshell, average serving from both players- Stolts' supported by regular serve-volleying. Consistent returning from Stolts and looking (though rarely succeeding) in being damaging with the shot too. Good hefty returning from Agassi
Play - Baseline & Net
Agassi pounds groundstrokes from the back, leading with BH and looking to keep things BH-BH. Stolt's one-handed BH isn't up to it and he gets pushed back or wide, or Agassi hits deep with loopy top spin that kicks the ball up to awkward chest/shoulder height. Not only does this draw plenty of errors from Stolt, it opens up the court or draws short balls Agassi can attack more readily off either wing
BH is by far his more consistent side. He has 6 FH UEs to 5 BHs, despite playing about 3 times as many BHs. FH attacks are often inside-in point finishing shots or inside-outs which are even more pressuring (or downright forceful) than the BH cc's
Stolts is outmatched but not outhought. He tries playing BH-BH neutrally, doesn't give up errors quickly but finds himself slowly getting crunched. And then turns to going for winners dtl. In other words, he doesn't go crazy attacking with dtl's. Seeing how he's getting squeezed out, turning to it is good idea. As with the return, he can't quite deliver and again, often misses by small margins
UEFI of 50 for Stolts is very high, given 22/26 errors are groundstrokes. He misses 11 winner attempts (Agassi misses 3), most of them BH dtl's and even a few sharply angled cc's
Stolts is at net regularly, but ups it considerably in second set. 30/43 trips to net take place there. He's decent on the volley, making most (just 3 UEs - 1 of them on hard side) and placing them well, but Agassi's very strong on the return and pass. Stolts does well to keep his 'volleying' FEs down to 6 - he has to play a lot of half-volleys first up against hard hit balls
Stolts winning just 2/7 points second serve-volleying means he won 11/18 or 61% second serve points staying back (excluding a double fault). Surprise finding and has a lot to do with Agassi missing returns, possibly half anticipating a serve-volley
18 winners, 12 UEs from Agassi, and forcing large 17 errors from Stoltenberg mostly from the baseline. And the UEs he draws are pressured out of Stolts through persistence and heavy shots. Very good showing from Agassi
Match Progression
Match starts with a bang, with Stolts holding to 15 with 3 baseline winners (FH cc, BH cc and BH dtl). He continues going for his BH shots early in match. In Agassi's second service games, he hits what should have been consecutive BH winners - the first dtl, the second cc - only the first is called out. A very poor call, the balls seems to be more inside court than on the line, let alone out
In other words, by game 4, Stolts' has hit 4 BH winners and 1 other that should have been a winner to 3 UEs (excluding the bad call) - 1 of them a relatively tough defensive shot. It doesn't look like a shot you'd want to try breaking
Not sure if Agassi knew Stolts game or was practicing his own in choosing to target Stolts BH. It works. From thereon, no more BH winners and 13 UEs for Stolts
Agassi breaks to move ahead 3-2 with 3 Stolts BH UEs and then holds from 0-40 down, saving all 4 break points he faces aggressively (winners from FH inside-in and BH cc third balls, forcing error with FH inside-out and a net point) and goes on to take the set
Stolts takes to serve-volleying much more in the second set and Agassi gives him a hard time. Early 20 point game where Stolts saves 3 break points and regularly has to make half-volleys. He's broken next service game, yielding a pair of BH errors and missing an easy BHV down break point
Not easy for Agassi after. His last 2 service games both go to deuce and he has to save 3 break points across them. Meanwhile, he gives Stolts a hairy hold too with more strong passing
Summing up, good match from Agassi with bossy, BH play and strong passing/returning. Decent from Stolenberg too... his BH is broken down but more credit to Agassi than discredit to him for it and he plays smartly attacking from the back but misses most of his aggressive shots, almost always by small amount
Stats for '94 US Open final between Agassi and Michael Stich - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...rt-agassi-vs-stich-us-open-final-1994.610510/
Stats for '95 final between Agassi and Pete Sampras - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...i-vs-sampras-canadian-open-final-1995.645682/
Agassi would go onto win the upcoming US Open shortly afterwards. Stoltenberg was unseeded and this was his sole Masters level final. He beat 4 seeded players en route to the final
Agassi won 74 points, Stoltenberg 60
Stoltenberg serve-volleyed about half the time off first serves
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (52/60) 87%
- 1st serve points won (38/52) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (6/8) 75%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (12/60) 20%
Stoltenberg...
- 1st serve percentage (48/74) 65%
- 1st serve points won (31/48) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (13/26) 50%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/74) 30%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 28%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 3%
Stoltenberg served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 51 (23 FH, 28 BH)
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (4 FH, 3 BH)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (51/73) 70%
Stoltenberg made...
- 48 (10 FH, 38 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (48/60) 80%
Break Points
Agassi 2/7 (4 games)
Stoltenberg 0/7 (3 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 18 (7 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV)
Stoltenberg 14 (2 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 6 BHV, 1 OH)
Agassi's FHs - 2 cc, 3 inside-out (1 return pass), 1 inside-in and 1 longline at net
- regular BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl and 2 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- BH passes - 4 cc (2 returns) and 1 inside-out
- the BHV was played net-to-net
Stoltenberg had 4 from serve-volley points
- 1 first volley (1 BHV)
- 3 second volleys (2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 other BHV was a non-net shot
- FHs - 2 cc
- BHs - 2 cc and 2 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 24
- 12 Unforced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV)
- 12 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5
Stoltenberg 43
- 26 Unforced (5 FH, 17 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 17 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 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 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 6/9 (67%) at net
Stoltenberg was...
- 25/43 (58%) at net, including...
- 16/30 (53%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 14/23 (61%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/7 (29%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/2 return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Impressive showing from Agassi as he breaks down Stoltenberg's BH systematically while pounding him down from the back. Stoltenberg looks to counter with serve-volleying but faces heavy returning so doing on a court that's on slow side of normal
Stolt has 17 BH UEs (Agassi has 12 total UEs) and 5 FEs, giving him 22 BH total BH errors in play (Agassi has 24 total errors of all shots). Its not that his BH is weak - he plays wisely off it in addition to it not being weak - but Agassi's is a lot stronger
Serve & Return
Good serving from Agassi, within the context of his serve being average. Humongous 87% first serves in - he doesn't miss more than 1 first serve in a single game - placed reasonably wide more often than not. Not powerful or difficult to return, but gives him at least small initiative to start points. And that's all he needs
Stolts returns surely enough, with 80% return rate. About half his 11 errors (6 UEs, 5 FEs) are aggressive shots gone wrong. Its good thinking - he trails in play sufficiently that he needs to start the rally from advantageous position and just putting returns in play doesn't hack it. Can't execute though and most aggressive returns miss. Almost always, very narrowly
Stolts' serve is about the same strength as Agassi's, maybe a bit stronger. He has 5 aces, somewhat due to Agassi's advanced return position and his not bothering for a couple of them (late in games where he's well behind and up a break). And serve-volleying helps him get his unreturned rate up to 30%
Agassi typically looks to return ambitiously, taking second serves from inside court and taking first serves on up too. High 7 UEs is a product of very early taken returns. There's invariable misses against serve-volley points but a large lot come back to Stolt's feet. And 3 return-pass winners
In nutshell, average serving from both players- Stolts' supported by regular serve-volleying. Consistent returning from Stolts and looking (though rarely succeeding) in being damaging with the shot too. Good hefty returning from Agassi
Play - Baseline & Net
Agassi pounds groundstrokes from the back, leading with BH and looking to keep things BH-BH. Stolt's one-handed BH isn't up to it and he gets pushed back or wide, or Agassi hits deep with loopy top spin that kicks the ball up to awkward chest/shoulder height. Not only does this draw plenty of errors from Stolt, it opens up the court or draws short balls Agassi can attack more readily off either wing
BH is by far his more consistent side. He has 6 FH UEs to 5 BHs, despite playing about 3 times as many BHs. FH attacks are often inside-in point finishing shots or inside-outs which are even more pressuring (or downright forceful) than the BH cc's
Stolts is outmatched but not outhought. He tries playing BH-BH neutrally, doesn't give up errors quickly but finds himself slowly getting crunched. And then turns to going for winners dtl. In other words, he doesn't go crazy attacking with dtl's. Seeing how he's getting squeezed out, turning to it is good idea. As with the return, he can't quite deliver and again, often misses by small margins
UEFI of 50 for Stolts is very high, given 22/26 errors are groundstrokes. He misses 11 winner attempts (Agassi misses 3), most of them BH dtl's and even a few sharply angled cc's
Stolts is at net regularly, but ups it considerably in second set. 30/43 trips to net take place there. He's decent on the volley, making most (just 3 UEs - 1 of them on hard side) and placing them well, but Agassi's very strong on the return and pass. Stolts does well to keep his 'volleying' FEs down to 6 - he has to play a lot of half-volleys first up against hard hit balls
Stolts winning just 2/7 points second serve-volleying means he won 11/18 or 61% second serve points staying back (excluding a double fault). Surprise finding and has a lot to do with Agassi missing returns, possibly half anticipating a serve-volley
18 winners, 12 UEs from Agassi, and forcing large 17 errors from Stoltenberg mostly from the baseline. And the UEs he draws are pressured out of Stolts through persistence and heavy shots. Very good showing from Agassi
Match Progression
Match starts with a bang, with Stolts holding to 15 with 3 baseline winners (FH cc, BH cc and BH dtl). He continues going for his BH shots early in match. In Agassi's second service games, he hits what should have been consecutive BH winners - the first dtl, the second cc - only the first is called out. A very poor call, the balls seems to be more inside court than on the line, let alone out
In other words, by game 4, Stolts' has hit 4 BH winners and 1 other that should have been a winner to 3 UEs (excluding the bad call) - 1 of them a relatively tough defensive shot. It doesn't look like a shot you'd want to try breaking
Not sure if Agassi knew Stolts game or was practicing his own in choosing to target Stolts BH. It works. From thereon, no more BH winners and 13 UEs for Stolts
Agassi breaks to move ahead 3-2 with 3 Stolts BH UEs and then holds from 0-40 down, saving all 4 break points he faces aggressively (winners from FH inside-in and BH cc third balls, forcing error with FH inside-out and a net point) and goes on to take the set
Stolts takes to serve-volleying much more in the second set and Agassi gives him a hard time. Early 20 point game where Stolts saves 3 break points and regularly has to make half-volleys. He's broken next service game, yielding a pair of BH errors and missing an easy BHV down break point
Not easy for Agassi after. His last 2 service games both go to deuce and he has to save 3 break points across them. Meanwhile, he gives Stolts a hairy hold too with more strong passing
Summing up, good match from Agassi with bossy, BH play and strong passing/returning. Decent from Stolenberg too... his BH is broken down but more credit to Agassi than discredit to him for it and he plays smartly attacking from the back but misses most of his aggressive shots, almost always by small amount
Stats for '94 US Open final between Agassi and Michael Stich - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...rt-agassi-vs-stich-us-open-final-1994.610510/
Stats for '95 final between Agassi and Pete Sampras - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...i-vs-sampras-canadian-open-final-1995.645682/
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