Lleyton Hewitt beat Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-4 in the Queen's Club final, 2000 on grass
It was Hewitt's first win over Sampras and first of 3 titles in a row at the event. Sampras was the defending champion would go onto win his 7th Wimbledon immediately after. The two had met in the semis the previous year (Sampras won) and would do so again the following year (Hewitt would win)
Hewitt won 62 points, Sampras 55
Sampras serve-volleyed off all serves
Serve Stats
Hewitt...
- 1st serve percentage (32/63) 51%
- 1st serve points won (24/32) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (18/31) 58%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/63) 32%
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (34/54) 63%
- 1st serve points won (22/34) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (12/20) 60%
- Aces 5, Service Winners 1 (a second serve)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/54) 37%
Serve Patterns
Hewitt served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 34%
- to Body 22%
Sampras served...
- to FH 50%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
Hewitt made...
- 32 (16 FH, 16 BH)
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 14 Errors, all forced...
- 14 Forced (9 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (32/52) 62%
Sampras made...
- 39 (15 FH, 24 BH)
- 3 Winners (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 7 Forced (6 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/59) 66%
Break Points
Hewitt 3/3
Sampras 1/1
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Hewitt 15 (9 FH, 5 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
Sampras 18 (6 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH)
Hewitt's FH passes - 2 cc, 2 dtl, 2 inside-out (1 return) and 1 inside-in return
- BH passes - 1 cc return and 3 dtl (1 return)
- regular FHs - 2 cc
- regular BH - 1 inside-out
- the BH1/2V was a diving shot
Sampras had 10 from serve-volley points
- 6 first 'volleys' (1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 OH, 1 FH at net)... the OH can reasonably be called a FHV
- 2 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 2 third volleys (1 FHV, 1 OH)
- FHs - 2 cc, 2 inside-in returns and 1 longline/cc
- BHs - 1 cc pass and 1 dtl return
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Hewitt 13
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 8 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44
Sampras 25
- 19 Unforced (5 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV)... with 1 FH at net & 2 BH at net
- 6 Forced (3 BH, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.9
(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
Hewitt was 4/5 (80%) at net
Sampras was...
- 30/52 (58%) at net, including...
- 28/46 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 17/29 (59%) off 1st serve and...
- 11/17 (65%) off 2nd serve
Match Report
Excellent showing from Hewitt - especially on the return, the serve and the pass - while Sampras is off in the forecourt in a peculiar way. Court is fast, but bounce is on high side for grass
Sampras serve-volleys 100% of the time, Hewitt not once. With neither player looking to come in from rallying, match is a nice showcase of both net and baseline play. Hewitt has much the better of baseline-to-baseline action (not a given) and does as well as possible return/passing (and needs Sampras floundering at net for it to lead to breaks)
Prospects & Actuality - Sampras' Serve Games
With the huge serves and serve-volleying, Sampras can count on holding regularly on strength of unreturned serves. Given Hewitt's abilities on the return, he'd likely need to be a bit more careful on the volley than usual
In the event, Hewitt returns superbly. He -
a) returns at 62% or keeps Pete to 37% unreturned rate (which is low on grass for Pete). Most returns are firm, giving Pete 'regulation+' volleys, with a few powerful ones to the feet thrown in. On top of that, he's good at just poking wide serves back in play or sending up a high floating return (which is better than yielding a return error at least)
Hewitt seems to read Sampras' serve. He's not caught out by direction. On 1 break point, he moves around a first serve to the body to hit a BH cc return winner, the movement coming as Sampras was delivering the strike and Sampras wasn't regularly serving to body off 1st serves... you don't usually see people doing things like that to Sampras. Even those who have played him many times seem to have no idea where the serve is going. This was just Hewitt's 4th match against Pete. Note also Sampras with low 5 aces (Hewitt has 9)
b) passes and chases superbly. His full run passing winners to corner volleys are first class shots and he's no less precise when he doesn't have to move that far (barely gets a stationary pass)
Just 5 passing errors from Hewitt, along with 9 non-return passing winners... and most are on the run, some extremely so. Note also Sampras needing 2 third volleys to hit winners. Again, first class from Hewitt
Pete meanwhile serves up his 2 'first' serves display. Note his winning 60% 2nd serve points and actually doing better serve-volleying behind it than the 1st serve (65% to 59%), with just 2 double faults. He experiments rarely with slower paced serves. Probably because the regular ones were getting some stick
Where Sampras is off is in forecourt and its strange. He has -
- 3 groundstroke UEs at net (1 is in a return game)
- a FH1/2V UE. Poked back return that he could step back and hit a FH to, but chooses to try to pick-up/drag for a winner and nets
- a defensive BHV UE... a high floating return that's begging to be putaway, only Sampras moves to it so sloppily he has to play it almost behind him. the shot he plays is forced, its been marked UE on movement grounds.
- offers no shot to a pass dtl that's not far from him
He does volleys well away from Hewitt, including into corners (Hewitt's apt to reach the ball anyway, even hitting winners off such shots) and there's scope for missing regulation volleys against firm returns that he doesn't do much. On the whole though... not good from Pete in forecourt
Prospects & Actuality - Hewitt's Serve Games
I would expect Sampras to be able to return with reasonable comfort, Hewitt get the better of baseline hard hitting baseline rallies probably centered on breaking down Pete's BH and Sampras having odd threatening games when his attacking groundies land in
In the event, Hewitt serves very strongly. Note the 9 aces, and they're not due to Pete letting them go as he sometimes does. He mixes up his serves but regularly serves his hardest, which aren't far short of Pete's
How big Hewitt serves is obliquely reflected in low 51% in count
Meanwhile, Pete falters on FH return, which is in line with my memory of this period and the 2000 Wimbledon. Most Hewitt serves are within reach though powerful and Sampras has a very hard time with them. Note 9 FH errors to just 2 BHs. He blocks the BHs back consistently, but falters when taking short swings off the FH
Put them together, and Hewitt comes up with a decent cushion of 32% unreturned serves (and 4 double faults), and then comes the baseline rally
That plays out as expected. Pete with match high 9 BH UEs (Hewitt has 5 total UEs). Action is hard hitting, with only Pete's BH not partaking all the time. Pete does go for point killing FHs, with some success. Enough that he might fancy it eventually getting him a break (he has 6 winners and forces 2 errors with it)... but not being secure on serve, that proves not to be good enough
Hewitt dictates the rallies and keeps things to Pete's BH as much as possible (unlike with the serve). His shots are firm to hard hitting, occasionally taking short returns to the cleaners
To be clear, Sampras gains significant counter-play on return. Note Hewitt serving 63 points to Pete's 54... 4 Hewitt games go to deuce, just 1 Sampras 1 does
Match Progression
Match starts exactly how it doesn't continue. Sampras holds to love and breaks to 15 (2 winners - 1 return and 2 double faults). Hewitt breaks right back to same score - a fantastic running FH dtl pass winner out of the corner, a lucky net chord touch that throws Pete's volley off and 2 bad forecourt shots (1 a FH) in the game
Hewitt breaks again with 4 passing winners in a deuce game, the last 3 in a row. Sampras missed a regulation BHV on game point in it. Couple of not easy holds for Hewitt in the set too where his finding an ace at important times proves vital
Poor game from Pete to get broken in second set - completely misjudging an easy BHV, a double fault and a BH at net UE puts him down break point, on which Hewitt whacks a BH dtl return winner. Pete gains irregular counter-play in return games via very powerful FHs, especially inside-in. But he struggles to make returns, is outlasted or erratic in baseline rallies and Hewitt gives away nothing (1 UE in set)
Brilliant diving BH1/2V winner by Hewitt in last game of match. He comes to net to force passing errors on back to back points to wrap up
Summing up, great showing by Hewitt, who returns, passes and runs down balls about as well as possible, while serving surprisingly strongly and playing with customary vigour from baseline. Some very weird mistakes from Sampras in the forecourt, inconsistent returning and his BH isn't up to rallying with Hewitt's
@The Guru might find this interesting
Stats for pair's '99 semi - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...vs-hewitt-queens-club-semi-final-1999.650384/
It was Hewitt's first win over Sampras and first of 3 titles in a row at the event. Sampras was the defending champion would go onto win his 7th Wimbledon immediately after. The two had met in the semis the previous year (Sampras won) and would do so again the following year (Hewitt would win)
Hewitt won 62 points, Sampras 55
Sampras serve-volleyed off all serves
Serve Stats
Hewitt...
- 1st serve percentage (32/63) 51%
- 1st serve points won (24/32) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (18/31) 58%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/63) 32%
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (34/54) 63%
- 1st serve points won (22/34) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (12/20) 60%
- Aces 5, Service Winners 1 (a second serve)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/54) 37%
Serve Patterns
Hewitt served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 34%
- to Body 22%
Sampras served...
- to FH 50%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
Hewitt made...
- 32 (16 FH, 16 BH)
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 14 Errors, all forced...
- 14 Forced (9 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (32/52) 62%
Sampras made...
- 39 (15 FH, 24 BH)
- 3 Winners (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 7 Forced (6 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/59) 66%
Break Points
Hewitt 3/3
Sampras 1/1
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Hewitt 15 (9 FH, 5 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
Sampras 18 (6 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH)
Hewitt's FH passes - 2 cc, 2 dtl, 2 inside-out (1 return) and 1 inside-in return
- BH passes - 1 cc return and 3 dtl (1 return)
- regular FHs - 2 cc
- regular BH - 1 inside-out
- the BH1/2V was a diving shot
Sampras had 10 from serve-volley points
- 6 first 'volleys' (1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 OH, 1 FH at net)... the OH can reasonably be called a FHV
- 2 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 2 third volleys (1 FHV, 1 OH)
- FHs - 2 cc, 2 inside-in returns and 1 longline/cc
- BHs - 1 cc pass and 1 dtl return
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Hewitt 13
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 8 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44
Sampras 25
- 19 Unforced (5 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV)... with 1 FH at net & 2 BH at net
- 6 Forced (3 BH, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.9
(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
Hewitt was 4/5 (80%) at net
Sampras was...
- 30/52 (58%) at net, including...
- 28/46 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 17/29 (59%) off 1st serve and...
- 11/17 (65%) off 2nd serve
Match Report
Excellent showing from Hewitt - especially on the return, the serve and the pass - while Sampras is off in the forecourt in a peculiar way. Court is fast, but bounce is on high side for grass
Sampras serve-volleys 100% of the time, Hewitt not once. With neither player looking to come in from rallying, match is a nice showcase of both net and baseline play. Hewitt has much the better of baseline-to-baseline action (not a given) and does as well as possible return/passing (and needs Sampras floundering at net for it to lead to breaks)
Prospects & Actuality - Sampras' Serve Games
With the huge serves and serve-volleying, Sampras can count on holding regularly on strength of unreturned serves. Given Hewitt's abilities on the return, he'd likely need to be a bit more careful on the volley than usual
In the event, Hewitt returns superbly. He -
a) returns at 62% or keeps Pete to 37% unreturned rate (which is low on grass for Pete). Most returns are firm, giving Pete 'regulation+' volleys, with a few powerful ones to the feet thrown in. On top of that, he's good at just poking wide serves back in play or sending up a high floating return (which is better than yielding a return error at least)
Hewitt seems to read Sampras' serve. He's not caught out by direction. On 1 break point, he moves around a first serve to the body to hit a BH cc return winner, the movement coming as Sampras was delivering the strike and Sampras wasn't regularly serving to body off 1st serves... you don't usually see people doing things like that to Sampras. Even those who have played him many times seem to have no idea where the serve is going. This was just Hewitt's 4th match against Pete. Note also Sampras with low 5 aces (Hewitt has 9)
b) passes and chases superbly. His full run passing winners to corner volleys are first class shots and he's no less precise when he doesn't have to move that far (barely gets a stationary pass)
Just 5 passing errors from Hewitt, along with 9 non-return passing winners... and most are on the run, some extremely so. Note also Sampras needing 2 third volleys to hit winners. Again, first class from Hewitt
Pete meanwhile serves up his 2 'first' serves display. Note his winning 60% 2nd serve points and actually doing better serve-volleying behind it than the 1st serve (65% to 59%), with just 2 double faults. He experiments rarely with slower paced serves. Probably because the regular ones were getting some stick
Where Sampras is off is in forecourt and its strange. He has -
- 3 groundstroke UEs at net (1 is in a return game)
- a FH1/2V UE. Poked back return that he could step back and hit a FH to, but chooses to try to pick-up/drag for a winner and nets
- a defensive BHV UE... a high floating return that's begging to be putaway, only Sampras moves to it so sloppily he has to play it almost behind him. the shot he plays is forced, its been marked UE on movement grounds.
- offers no shot to a pass dtl that's not far from him
He does volleys well away from Hewitt, including into corners (Hewitt's apt to reach the ball anyway, even hitting winners off such shots) and there's scope for missing regulation volleys against firm returns that he doesn't do much. On the whole though... not good from Pete in forecourt
Prospects & Actuality - Hewitt's Serve Games
I would expect Sampras to be able to return with reasonable comfort, Hewitt get the better of baseline hard hitting baseline rallies probably centered on breaking down Pete's BH and Sampras having odd threatening games when his attacking groundies land in
In the event, Hewitt serves very strongly. Note the 9 aces, and they're not due to Pete letting them go as he sometimes does. He mixes up his serves but regularly serves his hardest, which aren't far short of Pete's
How big Hewitt serves is obliquely reflected in low 51% in count
Meanwhile, Pete falters on FH return, which is in line with my memory of this period and the 2000 Wimbledon. Most Hewitt serves are within reach though powerful and Sampras has a very hard time with them. Note 9 FH errors to just 2 BHs. He blocks the BHs back consistently, but falters when taking short swings off the FH
Put them together, and Hewitt comes up with a decent cushion of 32% unreturned serves (and 4 double faults), and then comes the baseline rally
That plays out as expected. Pete with match high 9 BH UEs (Hewitt has 5 total UEs). Action is hard hitting, with only Pete's BH not partaking all the time. Pete does go for point killing FHs, with some success. Enough that he might fancy it eventually getting him a break (he has 6 winners and forces 2 errors with it)... but not being secure on serve, that proves not to be good enough
Hewitt dictates the rallies and keeps things to Pete's BH as much as possible (unlike with the serve). His shots are firm to hard hitting, occasionally taking short returns to the cleaners
To be clear, Sampras gains significant counter-play on return. Note Hewitt serving 63 points to Pete's 54... 4 Hewitt games go to deuce, just 1 Sampras 1 does
Match Progression
Match starts exactly how it doesn't continue. Sampras holds to love and breaks to 15 (2 winners - 1 return and 2 double faults). Hewitt breaks right back to same score - a fantastic running FH dtl pass winner out of the corner, a lucky net chord touch that throws Pete's volley off and 2 bad forecourt shots (1 a FH) in the game
Hewitt breaks again with 4 passing winners in a deuce game, the last 3 in a row. Sampras missed a regulation BHV on game point in it. Couple of not easy holds for Hewitt in the set too where his finding an ace at important times proves vital
Poor game from Pete to get broken in second set - completely misjudging an easy BHV, a double fault and a BH at net UE puts him down break point, on which Hewitt whacks a BH dtl return winner. Pete gains irregular counter-play in return games via very powerful FHs, especially inside-in. But he struggles to make returns, is outlasted or erratic in baseline rallies and Hewitt gives away nothing (1 UE in set)
Brilliant diving BH1/2V winner by Hewitt in last game of match. He comes to net to force passing errors on back to back points to wrap up
Summing up, great showing by Hewitt, who returns, passes and runs down balls about as well as possible, while serving surprisingly strongly and playing with customary vigour from baseline. Some very weird mistakes from Sampras in the forecourt, inconsistent returning and his BH isn't up to rallying with Hewitt's
@The Guru might find this interesting
Stats for pair's '99 semi - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...vs-hewitt-queens-club-semi-final-1999.650384/
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