Pete Sampras beat Gustavo Kuerten 6-1, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(8) in the Miami final, 2000 on hard court
It was Sampras' 3rd title at the event and 11th Masters title and would turn out be his last. Kuerten would go onto win his first hard court title later in the year and would win the Year End Championship at after that on same surface, beating Sampras en route
Sampras won 160 points, Kuerten 147
Sampras serve-volleyed off all serves
Serve Stats
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (94/148) 64%
- 1st serve points won (75/94) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (30/54) 56%
- Aces 20 (2 second serves), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (70/148) 47%
Kuerten...
- 1st serve percentage (89/159) 56%
- 1st serve points won (60/89) 67%
- 2nd serve points won (44/70) 63%
- Aces 16 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (51/159) 32%
Serve Patterns
Sampras served...
- to FH 56%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 3%
Kuerten served...
- to FH 21%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 12%
Return Stats
Sampras made...
- 104 (20 FH, 84 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 33 return-approaches
- 34 Errors, comprising...
- 18 Unforced (3 FH, 15 BH), including 9 return-approach attempts
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (104/155) 67%
Kuerten made...
- 69 (34 FH, 35 BH), including 1 return-approach
- 9 Winners (7 FH, 2 BH)
- 49 Errors, all forced...
- 49 Forced (30 FH, 19 BH)
- Return Rate (69/139) 50%
Break Points
Sampras 3/13 (7 games)
Kuerten 1/6 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sampras 35 (4 FH, 2 BH, 6 FHV, 13 BHV, 10 OH)
Kuerten 37 (21 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
Sampras had 24 from serve-volley points
- 13 first 'volleys' (2 FHV, 6 BHV, 4 OH, 1 FH at net)... 1 BHV was a net chord flicker
- 11 second volleys (2 FHV, 4 BHV, 5 OH)
- 5 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-in
- BH passes - 2 cc
Kuerten had 26 passes - 9 returns (7 FH, 2 BH) & regular 17 (7 FH, 10 BH)
- FH returns - 4 cc (1 possibly not clean), 2 dtl and 1 inside-out
- BH returns - 1 cc and 1 dtl
- regular FHs - 5 cc, 1 lob and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- regular BHs - 4 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 2 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs
- non-pass FHs - 3 cc (1 at net), 2 inside-out, 1 longline and 1 drop shot at net
- non-pass BH - 1 drop shot at net
- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sampras 50
- 26 Unforced (12 FH, 7 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)... with 2 FH at net (1 pass attempt)
- 24 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH, 7 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 3 BH1/2V)... 1 FH at net that can reasonably be called a FH1/2V
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.3
Kuerten 51
- 13 Unforced (6 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV)
- 38 Forced (17 FH, 18 BH, 3 BHV)... with 2 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 53.1
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sampras was...
- 113/164 (69%) at net, including...
- 84/118 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 56/75 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 28/43 (65%) off 2nd serve
---
- 19/33 (58%) return-approaching
- 0/1 retreated
Kuerten was...
- 20/29 (69%) at net, including...
- 6/8 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 5/6 (83%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/2 off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Match Report
Relentless net seeking by Sampras - he serve-volleys 100% of the time, return-approaches as much as possible and looks to take net from baseline rallies - shapes action in a high quality affair on a quick court and in hot, humid conditions. Kuerten is simply overwhelmed by it for most of 2 sets, before getting slightly better grip on returning and making necessary adjustments in his service games to make things competitive. Pete though remains the stronger player and the one more likely to score a break until almost the end
You could say its a 3 part match with phases A, B and C or better A, B1 and B2
In phase A, Pete's in all-out killer mode and completely overwhelms Guga. Huge serving - 1st and 2nd - that'd be tough to cope with even without 100% serve-volleying sees him hold like clockwork. Constant chip-charging second serves and looking for appraoches from rallies see him break or threaten to regularly
Guga plays normally - big serve and looking to get a 'normal' baseline rally going. No chance to on second serve points because Pete returns of the approach. And Pete's on look out in rallies to approach
Pete sweeps out to a 6-1, 5-4, 30-15 lead as he serves for a 2 set lead. At that stage, his unreturned rate stands at 60% and he's broken 3/6 games
Guga whacks 3 passing winners to break completely against run of play. He'd won 1 point in 4 return games in the set prior to the game. Thus begins Phase B1. For rest of match, Pete's unreturned rate falls to 42%
Kuerten solidifies the adjustments to his game that he'd tepidly made in Phase A. He -
- takes something of his own big serve to keep higher in-count to keep from having to make passing shots agaisnt Pete's chip-charge returns against 2nd serve
This allows Pete to return 1st serves with reasonable comfort. Guga's unrestrained 1sts serves are in same ball park as Pete's for pace and would almost certainly overwhelm the returner
- beefs up his second serve to discourage the chip-charges. That doesn't work and Pete keeps coming, but its not an easy serve to chip-charge. More errors from Pete trying and easier passing shots for Guga are end result - though Pete continues to be a nuisance
- hits harder from the baseline, hard enough to keep Pete pinned back. Pete hammers his own FH too, but Guga gets much better of the baseline rallies that Pete's net-thirst has pushed him to play with high intensity hitting. Anything less, and Pete's likely to take net
Guga also starts coming in proactively. He has room to due to outhitting Pete from back and is sure up at net
- Returning, Guga moves further back from his intial, considerably back position. Pete adjusts to Guga's adjustment too and eases up on looking for aces in favour of less powerful but wider serves that move Guga miles wide of court to set up potentially easy volley winners
Guga's able to make use of the greater angles thus opened up too to hit return winners more often and gest more rturns in play than he'd been able to against the full blast serving. Good adjustments by Guga, but Pete remains master of his service games. There's not much anyone could do to have that not be the case, but better prospects for Guga
Phase B2 is continuation of B1, but with Pete tiring. Its a typically hot, humid Miami day. Process of Pete's power (particulalry on the serve) and movement (particularly to net) declining is smooth - there's no one point where there's a transition to Pete's standard falling markedly. He's not serving as hard or moving as well or even volleying with as much care by middle of third set, but hte drop is small. It gets more pronounced with time and by middle of 4th set, his second serve is potentially thrashable. Wouldn't come as a shock to see a strong returner slap a bunch of return-pass winners off them or regularly return bullets to the service line. Guga's returning gets stronger due to fall in Pete's serving, but short of that thrashing degree
Worth noting is Guga's standard drops too, but within natural and normal degree that comes from playing a long match. Pete's is something beyond that. Stamina issues were common problem for Pete, especially in late stages of his career
That's playing dyanmcis. As far as result goes, 3 remaining sets all come down to cauldron of tiebreak. Point here, point there stuff... calling it 'choking' or 'clutching' would be a dramatic way of putting it. Guga sweeps the first to 2 and though scoreline is close in the next 2 ('breakers read 7-5 and 10-8), Pete's in control of them from start
How does it look in numbers?
It was Sampras' 3rd title at the event and 11th Masters title and would turn out be his last. Kuerten would go onto win his first hard court title later in the year and would win the Year End Championship at after that on same surface, beating Sampras en route
Sampras won 160 points, Kuerten 147
Sampras serve-volleyed off all serves
Serve Stats
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (94/148) 64%
- 1st serve points won (75/94) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (30/54) 56%
- Aces 20 (2 second serves), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (70/148) 47%
Kuerten...
- 1st serve percentage (89/159) 56%
- 1st serve points won (60/89) 67%
- 2nd serve points won (44/70) 63%
- Aces 16 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (51/159) 32%
Serve Patterns
Sampras served...
- to FH 56%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 3%
Kuerten served...
- to FH 21%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 12%
Return Stats
Sampras made...
- 104 (20 FH, 84 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 33 return-approaches
- 34 Errors, comprising...
- 18 Unforced (3 FH, 15 BH), including 9 return-approach attempts
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (104/155) 67%
Kuerten made...
- 69 (34 FH, 35 BH), including 1 return-approach
- 9 Winners (7 FH, 2 BH)
- 49 Errors, all forced...
- 49 Forced (30 FH, 19 BH)
- Return Rate (69/139) 50%
Break Points
Sampras 3/13 (7 games)
Kuerten 1/6 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sampras 35 (4 FH, 2 BH, 6 FHV, 13 BHV, 10 OH)
Kuerten 37 (21 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
Sampras had 24 from serve-volley points
- 13 first 'volleys' (2 FHV, 6 BHV, 4 OH, 1 FH at net)... 1 BHV was a net chord flicker
- 11 second volleys (2 FHV, 4 BHV, 5 OH)
- 5 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-in
- BH passes - 2 cc
Kuerten had 26 passes - 9 returns (7 FH, 2 BH) & regular 17 (7 FH, 10 BH)
- FH returns - 4 cc (1 possibly not clean), 2 dtl and 1 inside-out
- BH returns - 1 cc and 1 dtl
- regular FHs - 5 cc, 1 lob and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- regular BHs - 4 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 2 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs
- non-pass FHs - 3 cc (1 at net), 2 inside-out, 1 longline and 1 drop shot at net
- non-pass BH - 1 drop shot at net
- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sampras 50
- 26 Unforced (12 FH, 7 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)... with 2 FH at net (1 pass attempt)
- 24 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH, 7 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 3 BH1/2V)... 1 FH at net that can reasonably be called a FH1/2V
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.3
Kuerten 51
- 13 Unforced (6 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV)
- 38 Forced (17 FH, 18 BH, 3 BHV)... with 2 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 53.1
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sampras was...
- 113/164 (69%) at net, including...
- 84/118 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 56/75 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 28/43 (65%) off 2nd serve
---
- 19/33 (58%) return-approaching
- 0/1 retreated
Kuerten was...
- 20/29 (69%) at net, including...
- 6/8 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 5/6 (83%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/2 off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Match Report
Relentless net seeking by Sampras - he serve-volleys 100% of the time, return-approaches as much as possible and looks to take net from baseline rallies - shapes action in a high quality affair on a quick court and in hot, humid conditions. Kuerten is simply overwhelmed by it for most of 2 sets, before getting slightly better grip on returning and making necessary adjustments in his service games to make things competitive. Pete though remains the stronger player and the one more likely to score a break until almost the end
You could say its a 3 part match with phases A, B and C or better A, B1 and B2
In phase A, Pete's in all-out killer mode and completely overwhelms Guga. Huge serving - 1st and 2nd - that'd be tough to cope with even without 100% serve-volleying sees him hold like clockwork. Constant chip-charging second serves and looking for appraoches from rallies see him break or threaten to regularly
Guga plays normally - big serve and looking to get a 'normal' baseline rally going. No chance to on second serve points because Pete returns of the approach. And Pete's on look out in rallies to approach
Pete sweeps out to a 6-1, 5-4, 30-15 lead as he serves for a 2 set lead. At that stage, his unreturned rate stands at 60% and he's broken 3/6 games
Guga whacks 3 passing winners to break completely against run of play. He'd won 1 point in 4 return games in the set prior to the game. Thus begins Phase B1. For rest of match, Pete's unreturned rate falls to 42%
Kuerten solidifies the adjustments to his game that he'd tepidly made in Phase A. He -
- takes something of his own big serve to keep higher in-count to keep from having to make passing shots agaisnt Pete's chip-charge returns against 2nd serve
This allows Pete to return 1st serves with reasonable comfort. Guga's unrestrained 1sts serves are in same ball park as Pete's for pace and would almost certainly overwhelm the returner
- beefs up his second serve to discourage the chip-charges. That doesn't work and Pete keeps coming, but its not an easy serve to chip-charge. More errors from Pete trying and easier passing shots for Guga are end result - though Pete continues to be a nuisance
- hits harder from the baseline, hard enough to keep Pete pinned back. Pete hammers his own FH too, but Guga gets much better of the baseline rallies that Pete's net-thirst has pushed him to play with high intensity hitting. Anything less, and Pete's likely to take net
Guga also starts coming in proactively. He has room to due to outhitting Pete from back and is sure up at net
- Returning, Guga moves further back from his intial, considerably back position. Pete adjusts to Guga's adjustment too and eases up on looking for aces in favour of less powerful but wider serves that move Guga miles wide of court to set up potentially easy volley winners
Guga's able to make use of the greater angles thus opened up too to hit return winners more often and gest more rturns in play than he'd been able to against the full blast serving. Good adjustments by Guga, but Pete remains master of his service games. There's not much anyone could do to have that not be the case, but better prospects for Guga
Phase B2 is continuation of B1, but with Pete tiring. Its a typically hot, humid Miami day. Process of Pete's power (particulalry on the serve) and movement (particularly to net) declining is smooth - there's no one point where there's a transition to Pete's standard falling markedly. He's not serving as hard or moving as well or even volleying with as much care by middle of third set, but hte drop is small. It gets more pronounced with time and by middle of 4th set, his second serve is potentially thrashable. Wouldn't come as a shock to see a strong returner slap a bunch of return-pass winners off them or regularly return bullets to the service line. Guga's returning gets stronger due to fall in Pete's serving, but short of that thrashing degree
Worth noting is Guga's standard drops too, but within natural and normal degree that comes from playing a long match. Pete's is something beyond that. Stamina issues were common problem for Pete, especially in late stages of his career
That's playing dyanmcis. As far as result goes, 3 remaining sets all come down to cauldron of tiebreak. Point here, point there stuff... calling it 'choking' or 'clutching' would be a dramatic way of putting it. Guga sweeps the first to 2 and though scoreline is close in the next 2 ('breakers read 7-5 and 10-8), Pete's in control of them from start
How does it look in numbers?