Match Stats/Report - Sampras vs Agassi, Los Angeles final, 1999

[Waspsting]

Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi 7-6(3), 7-6(1) in the Los Angeles final, 1999 on hard court

Agassi was the defending champion, and ranked #1 going into the tournament. By reaching the final, Sampras took over as #1 and set a new record for most weeks at that position by so doing. The two had recently played the Wimbledon final and would shortly after meet in Cincinnati, Sampras winning both times in straight sets. Agassi would win the US Open, which Sampras would miss through injury. Agassi would finish the year ranked #1

Sampras won 82 points, Agassi 77*
(deducing from missing game and commentary, Agassi’s total ranges 77-79)

Sampras serve-volleyed of all first serves and about half seconds

(Note: I’m missing 1 game, 1 point in full and serve direction and corresponding return data for 2 points
Missing points -
- Set 1, Game 6, Points 1 - missing serve direction and corresponding return data. Its been deduced to have been a first serve and appears to end with an Agassi FH cc winner. It has been so marked
- Set 2, Game 8 - a Sampras hold. Commentary indicates it wasn’t a deuce game. 4 points have been added to Sampras points total, but none for Agassi i.e. as if it were a love game, which is not confirmed
- Set 2, Game 9, Point 3 - an Agassi service point that he won
- Set 2, Game 10, Point 1 - a Sampras second service point, direction and return unknown. Agassi is at net for fourth ball and point has been marked a return-approach)

Serve Stats
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (51/85) 60%
- 1st serve points won (41/51) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (19/34) 56%
- Aces 9 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/85) 42%

Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (54/69) 78%
- 1st serve points won (39/54) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (12/15) 80%
- ?? serve points won (1/1)
- Aces 10 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (28/69) 41%

Serve Patterns
Sampras served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 2%

Agassi served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Sampras made...
- 40 (5 FH, 34 BH), including 3 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 10 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (40/68) 59%

Agassi made...
- 46 (20 FH, 25 BH, 1 ??), including 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 25 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 24 Forced (12 FH, 12 BH)
- Return Rate (46/82) 56%

Break Points
Sampras 1/2 (2 games)
Agassi 1/6 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sampras 19 (4 FH, 2 BH, 3 FHV, 8 BHV, 2 OH)
Agassi 15 (6 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV)

Sampras had 12 from serve-volley points
- 11 first volleys (2 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)
- 1 second volley (1 FHV)

- FHs - 1 cc return, 2 dtl (1 pass) and 1 inside-out
- BHs - 2 dtl

Agassi had 6 passes (3 FH, 3 BH)
- FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc return, 1 inside-out/dtl and 1 lob

- 3 from serve-volley points (2 FHV, 1 BHV), all first volleys... 1 FHV was a swinging shot from well behind the service line (but a genuine serve-volley)

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sampras 30
- 15 Unforced (5 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV)... with 2 FH at net
- 15 Forced (10 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52

Agassi 22
- 7 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH, 1 BHV)
- 15 Forced (5 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 1 Tweener)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.1

(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...
- 48/62 (77%) at net, including...
- 43/56 (77%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 31/41 (76%) off 1st serve and...
- 12/15 (80%) off 2nd serve
---
- 2/3 (67%) return-approaching


Agassi was...
- 9/13 (69%) at net, including...
- 4/6 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 3/5 (60%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/1 off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Top drawer match with both players at just about the top of all aspects of their respective games. Court is normal paced

If there is an area where either player is less than their very best, its Agassi hitting returns too hard. When that’s matches biggest drawback, it has to be pretty good

Agassi has slightly better of things by a whisker, not amounting to decisive advantage (meaning its not a “how the hell did that guy win the match?” deal)

I’m missing a Sampras service game - a hold to either love, 15 or 30 going by commentary (probably not love, based on what they don’t say). Assuming a love hold -

Pete wins 82/159 or 51.9% of the points, while serving 89 of them or 56.0%
Break points - Pete 1/2 (2 games), Agassi 1/6 (4 games)

Basic stats -
1st serve in - Pete 60%, Agassi 78%
1st serve won - Pete 80%, Agassi 72%
2nd serve won - Pete 56%, Agassi 80%

Just looking at that, best bet would be Agassi winning

So how are both players at their very best in all areas?

Sampras at his best
- serves superbly, even better than his high norm. The first serves are as always, devastating, but the seconds aren’t far behind either

42% unreturneds is what he has to show for it. Not super high for him, but good enough to win

- returns aggressively. This part might be less than “very best”, but its up there. In first set, he misses returns aggressively, often taking Agassi’s first serve from inside the court, while looking to smack it (generally, its not unusual for him to poke and push returns back from that position)

Works to get him a break. Agassi serves well enough to make it hard going, and Pete makes a number of return UEs. For UEs, they’re not easy and they’re “good UEs”, with potential bonanza reward

Doesn’t work too well, but I’d far more credit Agassi’s serving (which we’ll get to in a bit)

On the return, Pete with 10 UEs, 8 FEs… the UEs are aggressive errors or/and against relatively not-easy serves and FEs are hard forced

- Volleys well enough. ‘Helped’ by Agassi’s over-hit returning, but that’s because he can handle that kind of power

11/12 serve-volleying winner are first volleys, which is very unusual for him
In all 13 volley winners, 7 ‘volley’ UEs (2 are FHs at net), just the 1 FE. The misses coming at uncritical times

- Strong off the ground. Both sides, hard hitting and powerful, And secure. And willing to take chances, but not to crazy or desperate degree

Just 7 UEs from the baseline, 1 more than Agassi - all of it as described above. Top notch

- moves well - and has to amidst intense action

Agassi at his best
Serves extra superbly (by his not high norm). Serving in first set is well judged - doing enough to draw errors, without risking going for more - or so it seems. With him, one suspects its not great judgement but that he can’t serve better

But in second set, he ups the ante on his serve, and serves a host of aces and draws hard forced errors. Without dropping in-count, which stands at 74%

He’s actually outaced Pete 10-9 (including a second serve for both players
First serve ace rate - Agassi 16.7%, Pete 15.7% (Pete does move ahead on unreturnables when his 2 service winners are considered)
Unreturned rates - Agassi 41%, Pete 42%

And just look at his second serve points won of 80% - as good as Pete’s first serve (of course, with much smaller number). He loses his first 2nd serve point of the match... and the next one he loses is in the second set tiebreak(!)

To be clear, Pete does serve considerably better than Agassi. He’s got Agassi lunging about all the time to get a racquet on ball, while the opposite isn’t true. But gap between the serves is a lot smaller than it usually is

- the return - he returns too powerfully for his own good. Absolutely belting the cover of anything he can reach, not infrequently from inside court (including against first serves)

Pace of Pete's serve + Agassi's early return position + Agassi's power = Sampras volleying from behind service line regularly

The problem from Agassi's point of view is he's hitting the ball so hard that it doesn't get down low. Height is comfy net level or above

Pete doesn't have to punch volleys, just blocking it sends hte ball flying through for winner. That's why he has so many first volley winners - he, who usually is a 2-part volleyer, a steer-er/guider of first volleyes more than a puncher

But that's whats mising from this match compared to other high quallity Agassi-Sampras matches; a dearth of shoelace volleying

 

[Waspsting]

Typical high quality encounters between the two feature Agassi missing lots of returns, but the returns he makes often being bullets to the feet - and the ensuing fun of Pete handling that, and the follow-up pass

There’s none of that here. Pete’s challenge is pace, not low height of the volleys he has to handle (and the pace has an advantage for him too). Just the 1 volley FE for Pete is another outcome of this dynamic, to go along with the unusually high load of first volley winners

Just 1 FE is due to his not facing tough volleys (of height), not because he keeps making them

Maybe against another volleyer, brute power of return might be enough to draw errors or weak volleys. Against Pete, doesn’t work. Almost helps Pete. Credit to Pete for his abilities to handle pace, not the optimal way of approaching things by Agassi

Alternatives for Agassi would be looking for wide winners or getting volley in low… the former would likely lead to even lower return rate (his is just 56% as is), the latter though looks a better bet than what he goes with

Agassi does return to Pete’s feet… on the baseline. Some thunderous returns a’le Djokovic right to the back of the court, which force errors at once. Agassi’s always a hefty returner, but this type of depth is unusual for him - a step up form his high norm

- Off the ground - Same as Pete - hammering the ball off both sides, but safely

Ground battle is near even, Agassi perhaps shading things, independent of his serve giving him advantage to start rally

- net-play variety - along with the bigger serving in second set, Agassi serve-volleys some. He’s 4/6 so doing, including 1/1 behind a second serve (where he hits a winner)

And why not? He certainly serves strong enough to do it. He’s got 8 aces in the set - 1 fewer than Pete has all match. Not tested much on the volley

Other Stats
Pete serve-volleys 100% off first serves. Off seconds, he -
- double faults 3 times
- serve-volleys 15 times
- stays back 16

Serve-volleying, wins 12/15 or 80%
Stays back wins 7/16 or 44%

Lot of volleying winners behind the serve-volleying (because at least the return comes back, unlike the firsts). And just shy of 50% won staying back is good, given Agassi winning a bundle of points with error forcing returns to the baseline

Strong second serve when staying back, but even stronger return… Agassi would look to do better on this contest and credit Pete for resisting

UE breakdown is a sight
- Neutral - Pete 2, Agassi 4
- Attacking - Pete 8, Agassi 1
- Winner Attempts - Pete 5, Agassi 2

Both Pete’s very low neutral and Agassi’s very low attacking errors are product of both players barely missing anything in those categories, not not playing such shots at all

(Other possible explanations for it could have been Pete playing wildly and not hitting neutral shots at all or Agassi in kill-shot or stock-shot mode with nothing in between - that’s not what happens)

Baseline rallies are hard-hitting, dual winged affairs from both players. The norm for the pair is a patternized one of BH cc rallies - Agassi hitting firmly, Pete loopily, Pete giving up more UEs, Agassi occasionally trying to finish BH dtl, Pete going for kill-or-die running FHs

No patternized stuff here. Even BH-BH rallies are hard hitting, and Pete’s apt to take on the BH dtl for a winner as much as Agassi (neither indulges much - Pete has 2 winners that way, Agassi 0)

Agassi is more powerful of shot, and better able to aim wider to force errors. Most of Pete’s 14 ground errors are in baseline rallies, while most of Agassi’s 14 are passing attempts, so Agassi does comfortably better of them, but there's no slack, looseness or softness from Pete's end

No significant difference in ability to resist being forced into errors. Significant chunk of Pete’s FEs are attempted counter-attacking shots, particularly running FHs. As good a way as any to combat the high-intensity hitting he’s up against

One result of how intense the hitting is is almost no rallying to net. Rallying to net -
- Pete’s 3/3
- Agassi 5/6

Agassi chooses to come in early small amount of time, usually off third ball after drawing a not strong return. With Agassi’s power and depth off the ground (including the return), almost no chances for Pete to do so

The only point lost is match point

Pete possibly ends match on long run of first serve points won. Sans unconfirmed missing game, he wins his last 22 first serve points stretching back to first set tiebreak. Agassi has a run of winning 14 straight service points and also wins 12 straight second serve points (might be 13, with a point he won missing) between his first service game of the match and the final tiebreak

Match Progression
Great set of tennis to start. Pete not serve-volleying too much behind second serves and made to hit his first volley from behind service line most of the time. Agassi takes returns very early - including against first serves, sometimes a pace or so inside the court. His returns are very powerful, but at comfortable height

Pete himself looks to take returns early, and picks and chooses when to smack one. Usually misses, but it’s a good ploy. The baseline rallies are characterized by clean, hard hitting from both players off both wings. Agassi occasionally takes net early in rally off the third ball, always winning the point. Pete misses a couple of routine + (the ‘+’ here indicating ball he faces more powerful than average - considerably so, in fact) when up in games

Match opens with Agassi striking a BH inside-out/dtl pass winner against a second serve-volleying Pete. Good way to start (the match and for Agassi), Pete wins the next 4 points - 3 of them with unreturend serves

Superb follow-up by Pete to break in 8 point game. Points he wins include FH inside-out winner, an error drawing return-approach, a BH dtl amidst a heavy BH cc rally and a brilliant FH cc return winner against a well wide first serve… what does he have that he doesn’t show in this game alone

Survives 2 break points to hold game 3 and is doubly under the cosh serving 4-2. Game goes to 16 points before Agassi breaks - ending with a return to baseline to draw error against a second serve, and his sole return-pass winner against first serve

Both players have break points in the next 2 games. Pete misses an attacking BH on his, and game after, thwarts Agassi’s with a risky approach, with Agassi missing a pass he had a reasonable look at

Edge to Agassi going into tiebreak. He’s served 33 points, Pete 38 and had break point in 1 more game

Tiebreak. Wide return to baseline against first serve gives Pete mini-break. With 4/5 service points unreturned and the other a first volley winner, that’d be good enough, but he gets another when Agassi misses a powerful, third ball, pressuring BH attempt to end the set

If anything, play gets better in the second set. Agassi takes to serving genuinely big and sends down a host of aces - more than Sampras. Sampras serve-volleys more off second serves. Agassi takes his hand to serve-volleying a little too, including once off a second serve. He also has a second serve ace, which he unexpectedly sends down to Pete’s FH

While Agassi barely loses a point on serve, Pete drops one here and there but is also thoroughly dominant in holding. On cusp of tiebreak is the only scare. Pete faces break point in a 10 point game - the only game to go to deuce in the set (including the missing Pete hold, according to commentary). Comes away with a hold on back of good serves

Going in ‘breaker, Agassi’s served 28 points for 6 holds, Pete 28 + at least 4 more for the same

Tiebreak. Pete’s at his best, makes 4/4 first serves - 3 go unreturned, the other gets volleyed away for a winner. Agassi opens with a double fault (his only one of the match) and misses a pass against chip-charging Pete that he had a decent look at. He’s at net on what turns out to be the last point, where after a short exchange, he misses a wide FHV

Summing up, top class match with both players at their very best. Considering his serving considerably better than personal norm, you could say Agassi’s a bit beyond it even

If there’s an imperfection, its Agassi returning too powerfully, so much so that returns don’t drop down and reach the serve-volleying Sampras at comfortably height rather than low. Credit to Sampras for handling the power, which he takes in stride and uses to block volley winners away with. Probably better to get the return a little lower at cost of some power than what Agassi dishes out

For quality of play, I believe this is the best match between the two. In no other match are both players ‘on’ simultaneously and in all areas from start to stop

With bigger than usual serving, Agassi narrows the gap that invariably exists between his serve and Sampras’, enough to have by a sliver the better of action

In the tiebreakers though, Sampras extends his top quality, Agassi falters just a touch and that’s enough to settle the result

 

[jl809]

Agassi out-aceing Sampras, damn. How many times anywhere else if ever did this happen? Classic PETE clutch in the big moments though

 

[bigbadboaz]

I missed the chance to see these two in two LA finals - this one and.. was it the very next year or '01?

Anyway, I had just moved out in late '99 and was in a completely out-of-tennis phase. When I reconnected just a few years later, man was I pissed at myself for missing matches like that. But I did get to see Agassi up close there in the subsequent years. Of course, watching him demolish Jan-Mike Gambill in a final isn't nearly the same.

I'll have to put some time aside and YouTube this '99er.

 

[WCT]

With such unreturned serve rates, from both players. I was expecting you to say that it was a fast court. I've seen the same thing about Connors. That his shots were easier to volley, than someone like Borg, because it was hit so hard that it didn't go as low below the net. Whatever the reason, only 1 ue volley error in 2 long sets against someone like Agassi seems pretty impressive.

 

[Waspsting]

Agassi out-aceing Sampras, damn. How many times anywhere else if ever did this happen? Classic PETE clutch in the big moments though

1990 Year End Championship round robin

With such unreturned serve rates, from both players. I was expecting you to say that it was a fast court. I've seen the same thing about Connors. That his shots were easier to volley, than someone like Borg, because it was hit so hard that it didn't go as low below the net. Whatever the reason, only 1 ue volley error in 2 long sets against someone like Agassi seems pretty impressive.

Agassi's unreturneds are a surprise, but wouldn't draw any conclusions about court speed from Sampras'

he's got 43% in Osaka '94 on what might be the slowest hard court I've ever seen
43% in Monte Carlo '98
45% in Houston '02 on clay

Generally speaking, Agassi does not return Sampras well. The whole 'best server vs best returner' hype was just that... hype
Gets few good returns off, misses a ton trying is about the sum of it

With the returns of Connors and Borg... yes, Borg's loopier trajectory is a bit tricker to put away, but I don't see Borg getting them down low any more often than Connors does

Its more about the trajectory - the loop vs the straight line - than height

Powerful as Connors returns, vollyer still has to punch it to get it through. If he just holds out the racquet, its a plonk volley (Borg plonks a good few against Connors in this way)

This match is a whole other extreme. Get racquet on ball and the volleys flys through because of sheer pace of Agassi's hits

Also, Sampras isn't a big puncher to begin with. He likes to guide the first volley to open court. Usually, receiver can reach it comfortably on the run (as in, its not a touch & go if he can reach the ball deal. you know he'll reach the ball. If Sampras wasn't at net, I'd mark an error against a shot like that a UE)

You see this in stats with low first volley winners for Sampras (and good lot of them are OHs and FHs at net)

Not here. Racquet intercepts something going that fast, and off she goes for the winner

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

He’s actually outaced Pete 10-9 (including a second serve for both players

I always thought their RR match at the YEC 90 was the only match where Andre outaced Pete so I looked it up, ultimatetennisstatistics says for their 99 LA match that Pete had 11 aces to Andre's 10, so the one service game of Pete you are missing he apparently hit two aces.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Agassi out-aceing Sampras, damn. How many times anywhere else if ever did this happen? Classic PETE clutch in the big moments though

Agassi even outaced Goran once even though it was not fair as it was their Miami 96 final where Goran retired at 0-3 in the first.

 

[socallefty]

I remember attending this match when I was still a young man. Time flies and sadly the memory goes too. I don’t remember too many of the details anymore.

 

[Waspsting]

I always thought their RR match at the YEC 90 was the only match where Andre outaced Pete so I looked it up, ultimatetennisstatistics says for their 99 LA match that Pete had 11 aces to Andre's 10, so the one service game of Pete you are missing he apparently hit two aces.

Pity

I like finding quirky, outlier tidbits and this is the second one from an incomplete match that's turned out just short

Suspected it though. When someone posts a match with 1 game missing, its usually an easy hold - and with these two, that'd probably be Sampras banging down aces and other freebies

I remember attending this match when I was still a young man. Time flies and sadly the memory goes too. I don’t remember too many of the details anymore.

Don't think anyone remembers 'details' of a match they watched awhile ago - and by awhile, I mean a hell of lot shorter than 25 years. All I tend to remember is 'good/bad match' and "I enjoyed it/didn't enjoy it"

I would like to hear your impressions from the live experience - vague, detailed doesn't matter

 

[socallefty]

I would like to hear your impressions from the live experience - vague, detailed doesn't matter

I hadn’t seen the two play each other in about four years. Before the match there was a lot of talk about the #1 ranking changing hands if Pete won. Agassi served better than usual and while it is not unusual for Sampras to serve many aces/winners, it was a surprise on how many service winners Agassi got. In fact my main memory of the match is that there were hardly any points to watch as half the points were unreturned serves. Glad that they slowed down the courts a few years later. Otherwise, we got what we wanted - S/V against pounding baseline tennis. Sampras had some memorable volleys and maybe a couple of his famous running FHs while Agassi’s BH on the rise was always a highlight.

When the TBs started in each set, the crowd expected Sampras to win and he sure enough did just enough to do so. The crowd was largely rooting for Sampras as he is a local kid and so we all went home happy. Better memory than my last sighting of Sampras a year later when he was upset in a Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic - he won the decider a couple of days later, but I saw only the opening day loss.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Pity

I like finding quirky, outlier tidbits and this is the second one from an incomplete match that's turned out just short

Suspected it though. When someone posts a match with 1 game missing, its usually an easy hold - and with these two, that'd probably be Sampras banging down aces and other freebies

Yea. I remembered a discussion here on the board where someone (I think it was NonP) mentioned that the RR match in YEC 90 was the only match where Agassi outaced Pete, so I was sceptical.

 

[Waspsting]

I hadn’t seen the two play each other in about four years. Before the match there was a lot of talk about the #1 ranking changing hands if Pete won. Agassi served better than usual and while it is not unusual for Sampras to serve many aces/winners, it was a surprise on how many service winners Agassi got. In fact my main memory of the match is that there were hardly any points to watch as half the points were unreturned serves. Glad that they slowed down the courts a few years later. Otherwise, we got what we wanted - S/V against pounding baseline tennis. Sampras had some memorable volleys and maybe a couple of his famous running FHs while Agassi’s BH on the rise was always a highlight.

When the TBs started in each set, the crowd expected Sampras to win and he sure enough did just enough to do so. The crowd was largely rooting for Sampras as he is a local kid and so we all went home happy. Better memory than my last sighting of Sampras a year later when he was upset in a Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic - he won the decider a couple of days later, but I saw only the opening day loss.

Nice, thanks

I'd have expected the flurry of freebies to a hazy, generalized memory - there just isnt' much to remember about that stuff other than it happened
Thought sheer power of Agassi's returning might have struck a chord. I don't think I've ever seen him hit the ball so hard so regularly - and ther's a lot of competition for that accolade

Yea. I remembered a discussion here on the board where someone (I think it was NonP) mentioned that the RR match in YEC 90 was the only match where Agassi outaced Pete, so I was sceptical.

Probably. I've statted all but 4 of their matches and that's the only 1 I know of - and I'm suprised there's even 1, but God knows what got into Agassi in that tournament. He not only out-aced Boris Becker as well, but I think 40-50% of his first serves were aces. Also Stefan Edberg twice, but that's not so surprising

This is after serving like a girl at the US Open and earlier in the year. And he went right back to it next year

Generally, Agassi is one of the easiest people to ace there is for either a big server or a good spot server. And Sampras is both

Sampras for that matter, is measured in how he uses the serve (as opposed to say Goran or Krajicek, who go for aces all the time), and happy to draw hard forced return errors with safer serves than on-the-line stuff that's bound to go for aces if they land in

Its good move. Always him to keep higher in count, while still winning the point. But against Agassi, who stands very close in and isn't the quickest at moving sideways to reach wide serves, those powerful and short of on-the-line wide serves that typically draws 'hard forced' return errors are likely to go for aces anyway (on top of Pete's substantial usual lot of aces)